Lando Norris sets swift pace in Zandvoort practice
- Chloe Buckley
- Aug 29
- 2 min read
Updated: Aug 30
Written by Chloe Buckley, Edited by Meghana Sree
As Formula One returns from its annual summer break, McLaren set the standard in Zandvoort. Lando Norris went quickest in both Free Practice sessions with Oscar Piastri following behind his teammate.
Following the impressive performance at the last race in Hungary, Aston Martin continued with their momentum when Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso both placed in the top three over both sessions.
Free Practice 1
The first session at Zandvoort this year started with a few incidents, the first being Lewis Hamilton spinning out at Turn 2.
Kimi Antonelli brought out the first red flag of the weekend after understeering at Turn 9 and ended up beached in the stones.
Yuki Tsunoda and George Russell both spun into the gravel after the restart, but they managed to get going again without putting a stop to the session.
Topping FP1 was Norris who set the fastest lap time with a 1:10:278. He was followed by his teammate Piastri, and in third was Stroll in the Aston Martin.
After the chequered flag, an unusual incident occurred when Max Verstappen beached his Red Bull at Turn 1 of his in-lap, not affecting his sixth place in FP1 at his home round.
Free Practice 2
Despite his stellar P3 in FP1, Stroll went out early in the second practice of the day. The Canadian driver suffered a huge crash in Turn 3 - a disappointing end to his session following a great result in the morning.
Isack Hadjar’s practice was also cut short after his Racing Bull car lost power on the circuit which then brought out a Virtual Safety Car.
The current leader of the World Drivers’ Championship was on the verge of receiving a penalty in FP2. As he came into the pit lane, Piastri briefly turned into the wrong pit box and quickly turned back out. He bumped into Russell who was coming into the pits behind him. Luckily for Piastri, he did not receive a penalty.
Norris topped the session again, but this time in P2 was two-time World Champion, Alonso, who split the McLarens with Piastri in P3.
Looking ahead
Going off what was seen today in both practice sessions, Norris and Piastri should be qualifying towards the front of the grid. However, with the speed of Aston Martin, they could be the underdogs in the mix to shake up the order and make for an exciting race on Sunday.
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