Lando Norris dominates practice again from McLaren team mate Oscar Piastri

Lando Norris completed a clean sweep of fastest Free Practice times ahead of the Dutch Grand Prix, finishing more than two-tenths clear of McLaren team mate Oscar Piastri in the third session.

The duo stamped their authority on proceedings ahead of Qualifying on Saturday afternoon, finishing well clear of the rest of the field, which was headed by George Russell and Carlos Sainz.

Heavy overnight rain left the track damp at the start of the one-hour session, with drivers in no rush to head out on to the Zandvoort Circuit for several minutes.

Isack Hadjar was eventually the first to venture out, the Racing Bulls driver keen to make up for a lack of running in FP2 after coming to a stop on track with no laps under his belt.

But the Frenchman completed just one lap on the intermediate tyre before pitting, stating over the radio that “the track is very green” as Kimi Antonelli was the next to explore the circuit but on medium Pirelli rubber.

Antonelli moved back to the top with a 1m 13.740s and times began to tumble with the majority of the field performing installation laps approaching the 10-minute mark, with Franco Colapinto and Gabriel Bortoleto both jumping to the head of the standings on the hard tyre.

Lance Stroll in his repaired Aston Martin – after a heavy shunt in FP2 which required a survival cell change overnight – became the first driver to use the soft tyre and set a sub 1m 12s time, registering a 1m 11.854s, which was quickly beaten by Antonelli and then Fernando Alonso, the latter with a 1m 11.082s.

Friday pacesetter Norris set a new benchmark just after the 20-minute point, moving clear at the top of the times with a 1m 10.262s, with McLaren team mate Piastri less than one-tenth slower on his first lap with the soft tyre.

Max Verstappen moved back up to third with the medium compound, just over four-tenths slower than Norris as track conditions continued to improve approaching the halfway point, although free air was at a premium with 20 cars out on circuit.

With his second set of soft tyres, Piastri moved to the top with a 1m 10.120s, the Australian showing himself to be consistently quicker than Norris in the opening sector before losing time over the remainder of the lap.

Qualifying simulations became the focus for all teams in the final 15 minutes, with Norris setting a new benchmark – a 1m 08.972s – which was comfortably quicker than any of his Friday efforts.

Piastri was left trailing his team mate by more than two-tenths with his next effort, which proved to be the pair’s best laps.

Verstappen’s first lap on softs left him nearly a full second slower than Norris, as Russell just slotted ahead of the Red Bull driver.

Russell then suffered a bizarre moment as he was nearly collected by the Aston Martin of Alonso at high-speed as both headed towards the pit lane entrance, with the incident placed under investigation.

Sainz slotted his Williams ahead of Verstappen, with the home hero left in fifth from Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari and the second Williams of Alex Albon. Stroll, Hadjar and Alonso completed the top 10.

Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls), Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull) and Bortoleto (Kick Sauber) finished 11th-13th, with Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari only 14th.
Oliver Bearman (Haas) and Hulkenberg finished ahead of Antonelli, who was blocked by Stroll and Tsunoda on his final lap.

Esteban Ocon (Haas) finished ahead of the Alpine pair, led by Pierre Gasly and then Colapinto, ahead of Qualifying later this afternoon.