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George Russell set the pace in Friday’s practice at the Dutch Grand Prix, leading a closely matched field as Mercedes, McLaren, and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen prepare for a competitive weekend. Russell, who was 0.061 seconds quicker than McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, expressed confidence in his team’s performance despite challenging windy conditions at the seaside Zandvoort circuit.
“Really difficult out there because it was so windy. But the car was performing really well,” Russell said, anticipating a “close battle with the McLarens and Max.”
Russell’s teammate, Lewis Hamilton, finished third, just 0.111 seconds behind, with McLaren’s Lando Norris in fourth. Verstappen, the local favorite and three-time winner at Zandvoort, was fifth, 0.284 seconds off the pace. The Dutchman acknowledged Red Bull’s struggles, saying they were “a bit too slow on the short run, a bit too slow on the long runs – a bit of work to do.”
Despite the challenges, Verstappen remains focused on finding more performance for Sunday’s race. Red Bull spent the day evaluating upgrades, running different specifications on Verstappen’s and Sergio Perez’s cars to gather data. Perez, however, ended the session in 11th after a mistake in Turn 12 cost him valuable time.
McLaren, who also introduced an upgrade this weekend, looked strong, with Norris particularly impressive on race-simulation runs. “Mercedes look a bit quicker, but it is close. I don’t think there is a quickest,” Norris said, noting that the team’s first major update since May had shown promise.
Hamilton, who finished third in both sessions, was pleased with the improvements in his car compared to last year but admitted there was still more to extract. “I didn’t get the most out of it [on the single lap]. There is still performance left,” he remarked.
