Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Liveupdated

F1 practice LIVE: Charles Leclerc fastest in FP2 as Oscar Piastri signs for McLaren

Follow all the reaction to second practice this afternoon at the Dutch Grand Prix after Mercedes went fastest in FP1

Kieran Jackson
Formula 1 Correspondent
Saturday 03 September 2022 11:10 BST
Comments
'Smelly Dutch GP' Mick Schumacher on the 'Orange F1 Army'

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

The Formula 1 season continues after its return in Belgium last week with this weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort, with Max Verstappen holding a healthy 93-point lead in the World Championship with eight races to go.

The Red Bull star stormed to victory at Spa-Francorchamps at the weekend, winning by a margin of 18 seconds to team-mate Sergio Perez despite starting in P14 due to an engine penalty; Carlos Sainz took the other podium spot as he held off George Russell late on, while Charles Leclerc finished sixth.

Lewis Hamilton retired for the first time this season following a first-lap collision with the Alpine of Fernando Alonso; the Mercedes star admitted responsibility for the incident afterwards and despite Alonso’s “idiot” comment over team radio, the former McLaren duo have since buried the hatchet.

This weekend sees F1 roll into Zandvoort, which returned to the calendar last year when Verstappen comfortably won his home Grand Prix in front of his adoring home fans amid a fever-pitch atmosphere on the Dutch coast. The Mercedes duo of Russell and Hamilton earned Mercedes a one-two in first practice with Sainz third and Verstappen stopping after just 10 minutes due to a transmission issue. Second practice saw Leclerc lead a Ferrari one-two ahead of Sainz, with Hamilton third and Verstappen down in eighth with the news of Oscar Piastri signing for McLaren the main talking point from Friday.

Follow all the action here with The Independent:

F1 practice: Red flag! 🛑

One of the AlphaTauri’s has run off the track at turn 10. It looks like Yuki Tsunoda.

It is. He’s flown into the gravel and beached the car. The red flag comes out with 10 minutes of the session left to go.

Michael Jones2 September 2022 16:05

F1 practice: Ricciardo’s car is leaking

Daniel Ricciardo’s practice is over after a leak on his McLaren. There’s a lot of mechanics huddled around his ca trying to find a solution but they’ve been unable to identify where the leak is.

Michael Jones2 September 2022 16:03

F1 practice: Ferrari lead the way

15 minutes to go. Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz are currently sat one-two for Ferrari as FP2 enters it’s final quarter of an hour.

Max Verstappen is down in P8 over half a second slower than Leclerc.

Michael Jones2 September 2022 16:01

F1 practice: Issues for Gasly

AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly has only completed five laps during this session after having an issue with something underneath his seat.

Daniel Ricciardo’s McLaren is also undergoing intense work in the garage. This hasn’t been the best session for the Australian.

Michael Jones2 September 2022 15:56

F1 practice: Perez struggling

Red Bull’s Sergio Perez isn’t having the best of times on the Zandvoort circuit today. He’s +1.148 away from the top of the leaderboard.

He’s has been running on medium tyres but doesn’t seem to have built up any kind of momentum.

Michael Jones2 September 2022 15:51

F1 practice: Norris up to fourth

It’s been a pretty tame practice session for McLaren after impressing earlier today but Lando Norris has had enough of that. He splits both Mercedes with a time that’s +0.103 second away from the leader.

That leader? Charles Leclerc. He’s just set a time of 1:12.345 which is -0.004 quicker than Carlos Sainz.

Michael Jones2 September 2022 15:48

F1 practice: Russell and Alonso move up

With 34 minutes left to go in the session there are quite a few changes in the leaderboard. George Russell has moved up to P2 +0.306 seconds behind Sainz.

Fernando Alonso is also quick and sits just +0.499 behind the leader.

A rapid 1:12.417 from Lewis Hamilton’s most recent lap shoots him above both drivers but Sainz is still the quickest in FP2.

Michael Jones2 September 2022 15:43

F1 practice: Sainz goes quicker

Carlos Sainz has come out of the pits on a set of soft tyres and has already improved on his previous quickest time. He’s set a time of 1:12.349.

Verstappen is more than half a second back and Haas’ Mick Schumacher is up to fourth just +1.255 behind the Ferrari.

Michael Jones2 September 2022 15:40

F1 practice: Seeing orange

Some of the fans have managed to smuggle flares into the circuit and set them off when Max Verstappen whizzed by. The atmosphere here must be incredible for the Dutchman.

Michael Jones2 September 2022 15:37

F1 practice: Leclerc improving

Charles Leclerc has improved to move into second place by just two hundreths of a second behind team mate Carlos Sainz.

Most of the cars have pulled into the pits and now there’s just one Williams out on track.

Michael Jones2 September 2022 15:34

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in