FP1: Norris heads Verstappen and Hamilton amid mixed conditions during first practice in Zandvoort

Lando Norris set the pace during the opening practice session of the Dutch Grand Prix weekend, with the McLaren driver coming out on top in an hour that featured changing track conditions following early rainfall.

Four weeks on from F1’s last pre-summer break outing in Belgium, it was a wet and windy start to the second half of the season when the lights went green for FP1 in Zandvoort at 1230 local time, meaning that there was no great rush for cars to leave the pit lane.

PADDOCK INSIDER: The battle at the front heats up as driver market questions remain – the climax to the 2024 season starts now

Pierre Gasly was the first to explore the track with the wet weather tyres bolted onto his Alpine, just a few hours after it was confirmed that the Frenchman’s team mate in 2025 will be the squad’s current reserve driver Jack Doohan.

While Gasly described the conditions as “pretty wild”, Nico Hulkenberg discovered this for himself when he locked up and sent his Haas across the gravel before returning to the circuit. Others were also testing the limits and amongst those early on track was Robert Shwartzman, running as a rookie behind the wheel of Valtteri Bottas’ Kick Sauber.

Despite the rain disappearing 10 minutes into the hour, the wind and standing water still posed a challenge as the session progressed. Hulkenberg again ran off the circuit, with the VF-24 seemingly experiencing some issues, while others continued to kick up spray as the track evolved.

Max Verstappen suffered a spin as he became one of the first to run the intermediate tyres, briefly bringing out the yellow flags. There was no harm done for the Dutchman, though, who put himself at the top of the timesheets before being pipped by George Russell, also on the intermediates.

READ MORE: Doohan promoted to F1 for 2025 as Alpine confirm he will partner Gasly

As the track dried out further and drivers started to push more – resulting in further off-track excursions for some – a few took a gamble on slick tyres for the final 10 minutes. Amongst these was Norris, who promptly went fastest with a lap three seconds quicker than his effort on the intermediate rubber.

The Briton didn’t stay on top for long, however, as the times rapidly continued to tumble amid the majority of the pack switching to slicks. After a flurry of laps coming in and plenty of traffic on track, it was Norris who returned to P1 via a time of 1m 12.322s on the soft tyre, putting him 0.201s clear of Verstappen’s Red Bull.

Lewis Hamilton went third fastest for Mercedes, while Carlos Sainz slotted into fourth after running the medium tyre on his Ferrari. Russell took fifth, followed by Alex Albon in an eye-catching sixth for Williams and Oscar Piastri in seventh for McLaren.

The Haas pair of Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen were eighth and ninth respectively, while Zhou Guanyu rounded out the top-10 in the Kick Sauber. This put him ahead of Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, the Red Bull of Sergio Perez, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, Yuki Tsunoda in the RB and the Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso from P11 to P15.

READ MORE: Verstappen expecting his toughest Dutch Grand Prix yet as he assesses challenge posed by ‘many more teams’

Shwartzman ended his appearance for Kick Sauber in P16, ahead of Williams’ Logan Sargeant in P17 and the Alpine of Esteban Ocon in P18. Daniel Ricciardo was 19th for RB, while Gasly brought up the rear in 20th place.

With the first practice session of the weekend complete, the teams and drivers will have the opportunity to debrief and take a pause before returning to the track for second practice at 1600 local time.