Max Verstappen leads the way in quiet FP1 session at Dutch Grand Prix

Max Verstappen finished on top in the first free practice session at the Dutch Grand Prix, finishing ahead of Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton in Zandvoort. The Dutchman finished with a lap time of 1:11.852.

The session itself didn’t have much action for the first 30 minutes, as Verstappen stormed out into the lead. The Mercedes duo of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell were able to steal the top spot of the Dutchman, but it wasn’t long before Verstappen had already pushed back ahead of the Brits.

As FP1 moved into the second half of the hour, teams switched to soft tyres to try and see how effective they would be on the quick and short circuit. The Williams duo of Alex Albon and Logan Sargeant found this extremely helpful as they were able to find purple sectors and slot into the top three, with Sergio Perez heading the session.

However, with it seeming like a quiet session, Nico Hulkenberg lost control of the rear of his car at Turn 13 and was sent spinning into the gravel trap. Luckily, minimal damage was caused to the Haas as he was able to avoid a large collision with the barrier, with only the front wing having damage done to it.

The session then restarted with 10 minutes to go and it wasn’t long until Verstappen was back on top, as he switched to the soft tyres and moved almost half a second ahead of his teammate.

Robert Shwartzman stepped up and completed the first rookie FP1 session of the season, with Carlos Sainz sitting out. The Israeli driver finished 19th but was the final placed driver with a time set as Lance Stroll was unable to compete in the session due to an issue with his car.