George Russell pips Oscar Piastri in F1 second practice for Dutch Grand Prix

George Russell pipped Oscar Piastri to top spot in second F1 practice for the Dutch Grand Prix.

Conditions were close to perfect in FP2 at Zandvoort - in stark contrast to the earlier in the day.

This allowed all 10 teams to complete their usual Friday running with the initial runs on the mediums before switching to the softs to complete their qualifying simulations.

It was a tight battle at the front between Mercedes, McLaren and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.

Verstappen was the first driver out on the softs following the red flag period caused by Nico Hulkenberg’s shunt at Turn 1.

The Dutchman’s 1m10.986s was immediately beaten by Lando Norris, with less than a tenth between the pair.

Oscar Piastri put in a cleaner lap than Norris to give him a 0.198s advantage over his teammate.

The Mercedes duo completed their runs last out of that group of five as Russell stormed to the top of the order.

His advantage over Piastri was just 0.061s, highlighting how close it’s likely going to be in qualifying on Saturday.

Lewis Hamilton slotted into third in the second Mercedes, 0.111s down on Russell’s top time, confirming Mercedes are in the fight once again this weekend.

Outside the aforementioned top five, there was a substantial gap to Fernando Alonso in sixth.

Alonso, who finished third in last season’s Dutch Grand Prix, was 0.655s off Russell’s time.

He was narrowly ahead of RB’s Yuki Tsunoda, while Kevin Magnussen was an impressive eight in the Haas.

One team that struggled for pace in FP2 was Ferrari.

Charles Leclerc could only manage the ninth-fastest time, while Carlos Sainz didn’t complete a lap on the softs after complaining about a possible gearbox issue.

Sergio Perez continues to struggle for pace, ending FP2 outside the top 10 in 12th.