Max Verstappen puts Dutch F1 fans' hearts in mouths as Lewis Hamilton thwarted

25 August 2023 , 13:24

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Max Verstappen puts Dutch F1 fans' hearts in mouths as Lewis Hamilton thwarted

Max Verstappen had his adoring fans on the edge of their seats with a trip through the Zandvoort gravel at the end of FP1.

But he survived to top the timesheets in the first practice session of the Dutch Grand Prix weekend. And that was greeted with a roar of approval from the 'Orange Army' which turned out in huge numbers even for the non-competitive action on Friday.

A win this weekend would be three in a row for Verstappen at his home race, and nine consecutive victories overall – matching the current Formula 1 record. And he got off an encouraging start by going quickest in FP1.

Sergio Perez was half-a-second off his team-mate's pace and was fourth quickest in the session. Between the two Red Bull drivers were Fernando Alonso, in an encouraging first preview of Aston Martin's upgrades this weekend, and Lewis Hamilton.

The Brit had battled with his old F1 rival Verstappen on the hard tyres and resumed their fight by the time they had both switched to the softer compound. Hamilton briefly topped the timesheets, but Verstappen soon restored his authority.

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The Mercedes driver threatened to upstage Verstappen in front of his home crowd with a promising lap which saw him fly through the first two sectors. But he never got to see whether it was enough to secure top spot.

Nico Hulkenberg, fresh from signing a contract extension, lost control of the rear end of his Haas and span into the gravel. He only lightly tapped the tyre wall but became beached in the gravel, and so the session was red-flagged seconds later.

Hamilton was forced to abort that promising flying lap he was on, settling for third on the timesheets. Behind him and Perez was Alex Albon, while Logan Sargeant went seventh quickest in a positive session for Williams.

Ferrari did not show their hands too much, with Charles Leclerc only 16th quickest while rookie Robert Shwartzman, standing in for Carlos Sainz for that one session, was 19th and last of all those who set a time. The only driver who didn't was Lance Stroll, who suffered a suspected power unit issue.

Daniel Moxon