George Russell edged a tight contest to head the timesheets as Mercedes and McLaren stole a march in the second practice session at Formula 1’s Dutch Grand Prix.
The rain that disrupted proceedings during the opening practice hour had subsided as the bright sunshine that had been expected made an appearance at Zandvoort.
However, the wind remained intense and several top names were caught out at Turn 1 as both Russell and then also Sergio Perez experienced trips through the gravel.
But their excursions were mild in comparison to what Nico Hulkenberg encountered as the rear wheels on his Haas locked up under braking and he spun into the wall.
Multiple drivers traded time at the top as the Soft compound runs began once the session resumed, with Mercedes’ Russell ending the session as the lead contender.
The Briton ended up 0.061 seconds faster than Oscar Piastri, who sandwiched the Mercedes drivers as Lewis Hamilton wound up third, 0.111s behind his team-mate.
Lando Norris, who headed the opening hour, was fourth in the second McLaren, while home hero Max Verstappen rounded out the top five runners in the lead Red Bull.
Fernando Alonso propelled his Aston Martin up to an impressive sixth, four-tenths behind Verstappen’s time, with RB’s Yuki Tsunoda less than two-hundredths behind.
Kevin Magnussen in the sole remaining Haas came eighth on the timesheets as Ferrari endured a challenging session with Charles Leclerc languishing down in ninth.
Alex Albon utilised the updated Williams FW45 to complete the top 10, with Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and an underpressure Perez in the Red Bull trailing in his wake.
Daniel Ricciardo was next up in the second RB as Pierre Gasly in the Alpine in 14th spot was the last driver to be less than a second behind Russell’s benchmark time.
Logan Sargeant was unable to match team-mate Albon and was 15th. Sauber’s struggles have continued as Zhou Guanyu was 16th and Valtteri Bottas ended in 18th.
Esteban Ocon divided the Saubers in 17th place, with Carlos Sainz, who reported a gearbox issue and didn’t complete a Soft run, and Hulkenberg sitting at the bottom.
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