F1 Dutch GP: Verstappen leads Alonso, Hamilton in first practice

Sergio Perez was fourth in the other Red Bull, nearly half a second slower than Verstappen, with the Ferrari drivers well down the field after eschewing running the soft tyres throughout FP1.

Verstappen topped the early running on the harder tyres that made up the opening quarter of the one-hour session – the home hero moving to the top of the timesheets with his first flying lap and then regaining the top spot after George Russell and Hamilton had brief spells in front.

Running the hard tyres throughout that period, Verstappen, with the upper aerodynamic surfaces on his RB19 covered in yellow flow-viz paint, gained over two seconds during his initial nine-lap stint and finished it with a best time of 1m13.191s.

After a short spell in the pits, where he was joined by the majority of the field, Verstappen re-emerged to complete a subsequent stint still on the hards, but this time with a heavier fuel load as he lapped slower and the Mercedes drivers closed in a touch with a series of then personal best efforts.

Williams driver Logan Sargeant led the switch to soft tyres just before the halfway point, which vaulted him to the head of the pack on a 1m12.814s.

Perez then moved ahead with a 1m12.439s with his first soft-shod flier, which he improved with a second effort on the red-walled rubber a short while later to lead on a 1m12.323s, as Verstappen continued his high-fuel running – interrupted at one stage by coming across the Alpine pair going slowly through the undulating first sector.

Entering FP1's final third, Hamilton was heading towards toppling Perez's time with his first flying lap on the softs after setting a purple first section when the session was suspended after Hulkenberg spun off backwards at high speed going through the penultimate corner.

After an eight-minute delay as Hulkenberg's Haas was craned away over the track to the inside of Turn 13 and its massive, steeply banked gravel trap, FP1 resumed for an effective 10-minute final run to the flag.

Verstappen started this on the softs for the first time and he duly blitzed to the top of the times with a 1m11.852s, with Hamilton and then Alonso edging ahead of Perez on their first soft fliers.

After completing several tours to cool their softs, the leaders appeared to be preparing for a series of final fliers, but these did not come to pass bar Hamilton attempting a late effort that began with another purple sector one before he backed off late on.

Verstappen's otherwise smooth session ended with a trip across the gravel at Turns 11/12 as he completed his last lap before the post-FP1 practice start sequences on the grid.

The Ferrari drivers finished down in 16th and 19th, with Charles Leclerc ahead of Robert Shwartzman, who completed FP1 in place of Carlos Sainz as part of the Scuderia's plan to complete its 2023 rookie practice running requirements.

Hulkenberg finished 18th having not been able to complete his first softs run due to his off, with Aston Martin's Lance Stroll not even setting a time at all after having to pit during the early stages when the team spotted a problem with his engine.

Main Information Additional Data Driver Info Driver Info

       

Driver Info			Main Information Additional Data
Cla	Driver	#		Chassis	Engine	Laps	Time	Interval	km/h
1	M. Verstappen Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing	1		Red Bull	Red Bull	31	1'11.852		213.388
2	F. Alonso Fernando Alonso Aston Martin Racing	14		Aston Martin	Mercedes	22	+0.278	0.278	212.566
3	L. Hamilton Lewis Hamilton Mercedes	44		Mercedes	Mercedes	24	+0.373	0.095	212.286
4	S. Perez Sergio Perez Red Bull Racing	11		Red Bull	Red Bull	27	+0.471	0.098	211.998
5	A. Albon Alex Albon Williams	23		Williams	Mercedes	25	+0.595	0.124	211.636
6	L. Norris Lando Norris McLaren	4		McLaren	Mercedes	22	+0.608	0.013	211.598
7	L. Sargeant Logan Sargeant Williams	2		Williams	Mercedes	30	+0.765	0.157	211.140
8	O. Piastri Oscar Piastri McLaren	81		McLaren	Mercedes	21	+0.806	0.041	211.021
9	Y. Tsunoda Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri	22		AlphaTauri	Red Bull	21	+0.897	0.091	210.757
10	E. Ocon Esteban Ocon Alpine	31		Alpine	Renault	29	+0.950	0.053	210.604
11	G. Russell George Russell Mercedes	63		Mercedes	Mercedes	23	+0.961	0.011	210.572
12	P. Gasly Pierre Gasly Alpine	10		Alpine	Renault	30	+1.043	0.082	210.335
13	D. Ricciardo Daniel Ricciardo AlphaTauri	3		AlphaTauri	Red Bull	26	+1.138	0.095	210.061
14	K. Magnussen Kevin Magnussen Haas F1 Team	20		Haas	Ferrari	30	+1.470	0.332	209.110
15	V. Bottas Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo F1 Team KICK	77		Alfa Romeo	Ferrari	30	+1.596	0.126	208.751
16	C. Leclerc Charles Leclerc Ferrari	16		Ferrari	Ferrari	26	+1.667	0.071	208.550
17	Z. Guanyu Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo F1 Team KICK	24		Alfa Romeo	Ferrari	20	+1.974	0.307	207.682
18	N. Hulkenberg Nico Hulkenberg Haas F1 Team	27		Haas	Ferrari	13	+2.171	0.197	207.130
19	R. Shwartzman Robert Shwartzman Ferrari	39		Ferrari		25	+2.951	0.780	204.970
20	L. Stroll Lance Stroll Aston Martin Racing	18		Aston Martin	Mercedes	2
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