F1 Dutch GP: Kimi Antonelli tops sole Zandvoort practice as Red Bull struggles

F1 Dutch GP: Kimi Antonelli Leads Solo Zandvoort Practice as Red Bull Struggles

Kimi Antonelli secured the fastest time in practice for the Dutch Grand Prix, maintaining his lead as the season championship contender continued his momentum following the F1 season break.

Mercedes driver set a 1m12.949s lap at Zandvoort and remained the sole driver to post sub-1min12s, while second-place was claimed by McLaren’s reigning World Champion Lando Norris with a 1m13.070s.

Drivers quickly prepared for the sole practice session of this sprint weekend—Zandvoort bidding farewell to Formula 1—with intermediate stints on the initially damp seaside circuit.

However, conditions dried rapidly, and Nico Hulkenberg noted “I think it’s slicks,” prompting an immediate move away from intermediates; Oscar Piastri responded with mediums just moments later.

The McLaren driver established the pace with a 1m23.311s, nearly 2.251s quicker than Lewis Hamilton’s fastest intermediates, before cutting that time to 1m20.480s on his subsequent lap.

That dramatic improvement signaled what lay ahead on the evolving compound, as Antonelli surged ahead with 1m18.264s, then 1m15.531s across his opening three laps.

Lewis Hamilton briefly topped the timings for Ferrari

Photo by: Alastair Staley / LAT Images via Getty Images

The lap times steadily descended as Hamilton, George Russell and Charles Leclerc each topped the leaderboard, while Antonelli encountered a dramatic 360 at Turn 10 roughly halfway through the hour-long session.

“I don’t know what the heck happened there,” the Mercedes driver commented.

Acceleration increased naturally during the soft tyre phase, with ten minutes remaining allowing Piastri to equal the benchmark for Leclerc (1m14.146s) before setting a 1m13.608s.

Piastri was not in control for much longer as Leclerc reclaimed the lead by 0.261s, before Hamilton—also running Ferrari—took just 0.208s to overtake him.

Further adjustments unfolded in the final five minutes on the demanding layout as Norris recorded the opening lead with a 1m13.105s, soon edged past by Antonelli, who finished 0.156s faster.

This gave the championship frontrunner—who held a 50-point gap over runner-up Hamilton—to stay atop as Norris failed to improve on his closing lap.

Yuki Tsunoda made his F1 return with Racing Bulls

Photo by: Bryn Lennon / Formula 1 via Getty Images

Additional shifts occurred late toward the end as Antonelli’s teammate George Russell closed in at 1m13.074s, coming 0.065s ahead of fourth-placed Hamilton.

Leclerc rounded out the top five with a lap 0.289s slower than the pace and trailed Tiangelli by 0.659s.

Consequently, the top three—Mercedes, Ferrari and McLaren—occupied places one through six as usual, while third belonged to Audi’s Nico Hülkenberg who posted a 1m13.784s using intermediates late on.

Team-mate Gabriel Bortoleto adopted a comparable strategy with a 1m13.992s at the end, securing ninth, and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly matched him, both splitting the sixth position with a 1m13.911s on hards.

Racing Bulls rookie Arvin Lindblad (1m14.285s) rounded out the top ten in a shaky session for Red Bull, which finished eleventh and thirteenth via Max Verstappen and the stand-in for Liam Lawson.

The four-time world champion—who on Thursday confirmed his contract extension—reported challenges with downshifts and oversteer, leaving an off-line start into the final corner.

Sprint qualifying returns on Friday afternoon.

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