FP2: Leclerc leads the way with Ferrari taking the lead in Zandvoort

It was Ferrari’s 1-2 match in the second practice session at the Dutch Grand Prix this weekend, with Charles Leclerc narrowly beating teammate Carlos Sainz to set the fastest time, with rival Red Bull for a breakup day.

On a bright, sunny afternoon in Zandvoort, the drivers set off on track for the first round of lap, and the majority were on the medium tyres, with Sainz early leading with a time of 1m and 13.412sec to lead Leclerc by 0.025sec.

And after 15 minutes of running, the drivers were back on the pit lane – leaving a silent lane – to fit a brand new set of soft tires in preparation for the usual Friday afternoon qualifying simulation.

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And it was Sainz, with a time of 1 million 12.349 seconds, who set up the early challenge, as Scuderia’s rivals tried and failed to beat the Spaniard’s time. However, it was Leclerc in the end who set the fastest lap, passing the streak 0.004 seconds faster than his teammate.

McLaren’s Lando Norris continued his fine form of FP1 by setting the fourth fastest time, as the Briton caught the Mercedes duo of rookie Lewis Hamilton and George Russell, third and fifth, respectively.

Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin came in sixth, ahead of soon-to-be teammate Fernando Alonso in seventh. Esteban Ocon, in the other Alps, was ninth, more than four-tenths slower than his teammate.

It wasn’t a great day for Red Bull, as Max Verstappen – who missed most of FP1 due to a transmission problem – was eighth fastest, and teammate Sergio Perez was down in P12.

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Daniel Ricciardo – who had an oil leak in his McLaren radiator in the later stages of the course – finished the top 10, just ahead of 11th-placed Yuki Tsunoda – who knocked out red flags in FP2 after hitting AlphaTauri in the race. Gravel at the exit of turn 10.

Haas’ Mick Schumacher was 13th fastest overall, directly ahead of Sebastian Vettel in 14th, eight tenths slower than his Aston Martin teammate in sixth.

Zhou Guanyu – who is looking to make up for lost time after missing the first part of FP1 – was off in P15, although he was half a second faster than his Alfa Romeo teammate Valtteri Bottas in 18th.

AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly – who missed FP2 due to a technical issue under his seat – was 16th overall in the session, ahead of Williams’ Alex Albon in 17th.

Haas was second from Kevin Magnussen in P19, ahead of Nicholas Latifi, who finished the session nearly a second slower than his teammate Williams Albon.