Charles Leclerc led a Ferrari 1-2 during second practice for Formula 1’s Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort as World Champion Lewis Hamilton suffered a rare mechanical issue.
Ferrari is in the midst of a near two-year win drought but has shown glimpses of speed so far in the 2021 season.
Leclerc claimed back-to-back pole positions in Monaco and Azerbaijan and led the majority of the race in Britain before classifying second.
Leclerc posted a time of 1:10.902s during second practice in warm and sunny conditions to finish 0.154s up on team-mate Carlos Sainz.
Alpine’s Esteban Ocon was an eye-catching third, as both title contenders were hampered by factors outside of their control.
Hamilton exits FP2 early
Hamilton narrowly fronted Max Verstappen in Friday’s first practice session, which ran green for only 23 minutes owing to a prolonged delay due to Sebastian Vettel’s stoppage.
But Hamilton’s second session lasted only three laps before he suffered a loss of power from the W12.
Hamilton toured around for a few corners before bringing the car to a halt at the behest of his team.
It meant Hamilton missed out on the bulk of running in the session, both on low and high fuel, having completed only one push lap on Mediums prior to the stoppage.
That early banker lap meant Hamilton finished down in 11th spot.
Verstappen fifth on home soil
Zandvoort has not featured on Formula 1’s schedule since 1985 and the class of 2021 are competing at a circuit that has been heavily renovated and reprofiled during that hiatus.
The majority of the 70,000 in attendance have come in support of Verstappen but he placed fifth, almost four-tenths off the pace.
Verstappen had been on a quick lap during the session when a second red flag was flown due to Nikita Mazepin beaching his Haas VF-21 in the Turn 11 gravel.
Verstappen was able to register a hot lap on Softs but completed it in only fifth place, behind the Ferrari drivers, Ocon and Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas.
Fernando Alonso backed up a promising session for Alpine by classifying sixth, just 0.016s behind Verstappen, while AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly continued his fine form in seventh.
McLaren’s Lando Norris was eighth, in front of Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi, who consolidated a strong Friday by taking ninth.
Vettel rounded out the top 10 for Aston Martin.
Perez, Russell off the pace
Sergio Perez has struggled for one-lap speed at times with Red Bull this year and that trend continued on Friday as the Mexican was 12th.
Yuki Tsunoda, Lance Stroll and Daniel Ricciardo trailed their respective team-mates while the retiring Kimi Räikkönen was a low-key 16th.
Williams and George Russell claimed a shock front-row spot and podium at a rain-hit Spa-Francorchamps last weekend but were off the pace on Friday at Zandvoort.
Haas’ Mick Schumacher eclipsed lead Williams driver Nicholas Latifi while Mazepin classified ahead of Russell despite his Turn 11 off.
Saturday’s final practice session is scheduled for 12:00 local time.
[motorsport_result id=’72108′]
