Norris pips Verstappen to P1 in a fast-paced FP2 after red flag

After a three-week hiatus, Formula 1 has returned from the summer break for the Dutch Grand Prix, ready for the second half of the 203 season.

Rain has been forecast for FP3 on Saturday, but qualifying later in the day may stay dry, so it was a vital session for everyone at the Circuit Zandvoort, with many teams and drivers wanting to set as many laps as possible to acclimatise for a dry qualifying session.

Both Australians crash out at turn three

A red flag was brought out just 15 minutes into the session, as both Oscar Piastri and Daniel Ricciardo were forced to retire after colliding with the barrier at the banked turn three, as they both lost grip on the outside of the track.

Ricciardo tried to avoid Piastri's car on track, which caused him to oversteer straight into the turn three barrier, with that crash meaning he had to go to the medical centre.

Soft tyres cause a congested leaderboard

After a ten-minute break on track, all drivers went onto the softs for their qualifying simulation runs, and the fastest laps kept falling, highlighting the competitiveness of all 20 drivers on the grid.

However, it was Lando Norris in his upgraded McLaren that topped the leaderboard during that stint, challenging Max Verstappen and his RB19. The young Brit set the pace on the softs behind the home hero, continuing McLaren's pace shown before the summer break.

Norris was able to hold on to the top spot as the session concluded, with drivers and teams using the final 15 minutes of the session to gain important data for the race on Sunday.

Verstappen stayed in P2, and it was another superb performance from Alexander Albon, who looks to continue his sublime for, as he put his williams in P3. Yuki Tsunoda also had a great session as he finished in P5, with Lewis Hamilton splitting Albon and Tsunoda in P4.