Mercedes Lead First Free Practice At The Dutch GP

George Russell led teammate Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz Jr. in the first free practice session of the weekend at the FIA Formula 1 World Championship Dutch GP.

Russell finished 0.240s ahead of Hamilton with a time of 1:12.455, while Sainz was a further 0.150s behind the British leader.

It was an impressive session for Mercedes, with Russell and Hamilton running a 1-2 finish. However, it wasn’t without controversy. Seven time FIA Formula 1 World Champion Hamilton was seen to impede a number of cars around the circuit with him reporting issues of a loss of radio throughout his practice runs.

Max Verstappen set the pace early on the hard tyre but his session was cut short just ten minutes in after an issue with his gearbox that forced him to stop on track and bring out the red flag.

McLaren were impressive throughout the session and both drivers were setting the pace early on and setting good times throughout the session. Lando Norris ended the session in a respectable fourth place with a time of 1:12:929 on the soft compound tyre, while teammate Daniel Ricciardo put in a strong showing in fifth place with a time of 1:13:077, which was set on the hard tyre.

With Verstappen out of the session, Red Bull struggled to find the pace with second driver Sergio Perez, who had a challenging session that included nearly putting the car in the wall after going wide at turn nine. Perez ended the session in seventh with a time of 1:13:416, which was almost a second behind the leader.

The Alpine pair of Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso had a strong showing in eighth and ninth respectively albeit behind Championship rivals McLaren by nearly half a second, while the Williams of Alex Albon rounded out the top ten.

Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel has been given a summons by the FIA due to alleged impeding during the hour of the practice, along with Hamilton.