Lando Norris outpaced McLaren title rival Oscar Piastri in Dutch Grand Prix first practice, which saw both Kimi Antonelli and Max Verstappen end up in the gravel.
Norris, who cut Piastri’s championship lead to nine points before Formula 1’s summer break four weeks ago, was 0.292s faster than the Australian in a surprisingly incident-packed opening session in Zandvoort.
Mercedes teenager Antonelli beached his car early while four-time world champion Verstappen peculiarly entered the gravel after the chequered flag in his Red Bull.
They were not the only ones struggling for grip. Yuki Tsunoda spun off track before the session was red-flagged.
Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton‘s mission to inject some fun into his Ferrari career was put to an early test.
The seven-time world champion said on Thursday that he was determined to enjoy his driving again, after describing himself as “absolutely useless” and suggesting Ferrari should replace him after he started and finished 12th in Hungary before the sport’s summer break.
But the 40-year-old’s bid to bring back the fun-factor did not start well as he spun just over 10 minutes into the weekend’s opening running before managing to keep the car out of the gravel.
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Neither Hamilton nor his teammate Charles Leclerc could extract any pace out of the struggling Ferrari as they ended the session 14th and 15th — with the British driver a staggering 1.682s adrift of Norris.
“We should focus about what we are doing now, we are miles off, like miles off,” said a despondent Leclerc on the team radio.
Alex Albon was fifth for Williams but almost nine tenths off the pace, with George Russell over a second adrift in seventh.
Aston Martin were surprising third and fourth through Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso, while Verstappen could offer little to excite the fervent Dutch fans in sixth.
He ended the session in bizarre fashion, becoming beached in the gravel at turn one following a practice start after the chequered flag.
Information from PA contributed to this report.
