Ricciardo, Piastri crash at same turn in Norris-led Dutch GP FP2

Lando Norris narrowly beat Max Verstappen to the fastest time in second practice for the 2023 Dutch Grand Prix, as Ferrari continued to struggle and Daniel Ricciardo injured himself in a crash.

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Key moments:

> Norris 0.023s clear of Verstappen

> Piastri and Ricciardo crash on the banking

> Both Ferraris outside the top 10 again

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Verstappen was three tenths clear of the pack (using medium compound Pirellis) when Oscar Piastri and Ricciardo both crashed at the banked Turn 3 and brought out red flags just 10 minutes in.

Piastri crashed on his own after losing control of the rear on entry to the heavily banked left-hander. Ricciardo then had to take evasive action and deliberately crash into the wall on the right-hand side after he “didn’t see the McLaren” stricken on the racing line, despite yellow flags being displayed for Piastri’s accident.

Neither could return to the pits under their own steam and almost 15 minutes were lost to the clean-up operation, while Ricciardo was spotted leaving the circuit medical centre with his left arm in a sling before heading to hospital for further checks.

🚩 RED FLAG 🚩

Piastri and Ricciardo are stopped by the barriers on the banking! #DutchGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/ZO4e6ntCM5

— Formula 1 (@F1) August 25, 2023

If he failed to take his hands off the steering wheel before striking the barrier there’s a chance he will have injured his hand/wrist in the impact.

When running finally resumed, Sergio Perez vaulted to the top of the timesheet on soft Pirellis, as the field focused on qualifying simulations, but he wound up only seventh fastest ultimately as others improved.

Alex Albon continued Williams’s impressive early form at this track by claiming the third-fastest time, just under three tenths off the pace set by Norris, while Logan Sargeant was 12th in the second Williams.

Just six tenths of a second blanketed Norris in first to Sargeant in 12th.

Verstappen had two attempts at trying to dislodge Norris from the top of the timesheet but fell 0.023s short with the second of those efforts.

After his first attempt left him two tenths shy of the McLaren’s pace, Verstappen complained his RB19 was doing some “weird things” at medium speed.

However, during the high-fuel race runs undertaken later in the session, Verstappen’s Red Bull looked ominously fast compared to the McLaren.

Lewis Hamilton was fourth quickest in the best of the Mercedes, while Yuki Tsunoda’s AlphaTauri and Pierre Gasly’s Alpine completed the top six, ahead of Perez.

The upgraded Aston Martins of Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso (running a new floor here) sandwiched the Alfa Romeo of Valtteri Bottas in rounding out the top 10, while Charles Leclerc was only 11th quickest in the best of the two Ferraris.

Leclerc ran slightly out of sequence for his qualifying simulation, but even with theoretically slightly better track conditions was still 0.585s off the pace.

Carlos Sainz – who skipped FP1 so rookie Robert Shwartzman could drive – was only 16th, more than seven tenths off the pace. He survived several off-track moments too – including a trip through the gravel at the Turn 11/12 chicane and running through the gravel at the penultimate corner.

Esteban Ocon and George Russell both failed to make the top 10, never mind the top six as their team-mates did, while the upgraded Haas cars of Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg were 17th and 18th – both a decent chunk slower than Sainz’s Ferrari.

Hulkenberg is under investigation for impeding Verstappen’s Red Bull in the early running.

Verstappen had to slam on the brakes to avoid rear-ending the Haas heading into the fast penultimate corner, leading Verstappen to declare “my god! These ***** are unbelievable!” over team radio.

Practice 2 Results