Max Verstappen fastest in FP1 ahead of the Dutch Grand Prix

Verstappen, 2023, Nederland, Red Bull — Photo: © LAT Images

Dutch Grand Prix

Home hero Verstappen fastest in FP1 ahead of the Dutch Grand Prix

The world champion topped the timesheet in the first session back after the summer break

Dan Davis

Friday 25 August 2023 13:39 Updated: 23:16

Max Verstappen ensured it was business as usual for Red Bull after topping the timesheet in FP1 ahead of the Dutch Grand Prix.

Determined to impress in his home race and in front of a sea of orange, the world champion and this year's runaway leader was fastest with a time of 1:11.852.

Fernando Alonso finished second, two-tenths behind Verstappen's best effort.

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Lewis Hamilton took third, with a blistering effort in the latter stages of the session hamstrung by an untimely crash from Nico Hulkenberg's Haas at Turn 13.

Sergio Perez settled for fourth but impressed after switching to the soft tyres.

Alex Albon's Williams ended the hour in fifth, meanwhile.

Rounding off the rest of the top 10 were Lando Norris, Logan Sargeant, Oscar Piastri, Yuki Tsunoda and Esteban Ocon.

Charles Leclerc could only finish 16th in his visibly sluggish Ferrari, while rookie Robert Shwartzmann, drafted in for the session, propped up the standings.

Verstappen was fastest in front of his passionate home crowd

Hulk smash

The red flags were waved with a quarter of the session remaining after Hulkenberg's Haas crashed at the penultimate corner.

Replays showed Hulkenberg losing the rear of his car on entry and brushing the barrier. He was then unable to escape the gravel trap.

The rapid Hamilton, who had pulled on softs and gone purple in sector one, was forced to abandon his lap after slamming on the brakes.

His front wing sustained damage, a major blow to Guenther Steiner due to the limited numbers of the part. Stones may have ripped the floor, too.

Hulkenberg brushed the barrier after sliding off the circuit the day after signing a new Haas deal

Rookie run out

Ferrari opted to hand an opportunity to Shwartzmann for the session, with the rookie jumping behind the wheel instead of Carlos Sainz.

Shwartzmann has been a member of the Ferrari Driving Academy since 2017 and serves as the Scuderia's reserve driver after leaving Formula 2 in 2021.

Teams will turn to their young drivers for the final 10 rounds, with the rules stipulating they must let their talents race in at least two FP1 sessions per year.

Ultimately, Shwartzmann struggled in the session and finished the hour comfortably adrift of the pace. Leclerc also struggled to find pace.

Upgrade testing

Venturing out for the first few exploratory laps, several cars weaved around the circuit sporting various pieces of extra furniture and aero rakes.

Seemingly, teams attempted to discover if the upgrades introduced this weekend were effective, with McLaren among those looking to push their boundaries.

The extra additions were stripped from Norris' machine halfway through the hour, allowing him to run clean and provide further invaluable data.

Highlighter paint was also spotted on the Red Bull while Alfa Romeo fixed aero rakes to the bottom of their cars, with testing continuing across the session.

McLaren trialled several additions on Norris' car throughout the session

Stroll to the pits

Lance Stroll is enduring a stop-start season in comparison to team-mate Alonso and this fortune was encapsulated neatly in the first runnings on Friday.

Forced to wait until 30 minutes in before leaving his garage, Stroll was then promptly summoned back to the pits after an issue was discovered.

"There is a funny noise," Stroll reported over team radio.

Stroll sat out of his media duties yesterday as he recovers from an infection and to add insult to illness, he was not able to re-emerge in FP1.