Kimi Antonelli quickly reclaims his spot at the front of the F1 field in our return to the track in a slippery FP1 session at Zandvoort Circuit.
It was a familiar sight as we saw Mercedes and Ferrari fighting for the top spot throughout the session. In the end, it is the championship leader that has the upper hand going into sprint qualifying later today.
The session saw the top for positions taken by the Mercedes and Ferrari drivers throughout. Lando Norris put in a great lap in the final runs shooting him up to P2. George Russell also sat half a second off his team mate before a quick lap at the end put him up to P3 and 0.125 behind Antonelli.
With the top three separated by less than 0.200 and uncertainty around what the weather could bring, it will surely be a tight fight for sprint pole later today.
It was a hopeful session for Audi as they were the first to head out on the dry tyres which worked in their favour. Both drivers spent the session quietly enjoying the top ten positions and crossed the line P7 and P9 with Hulkenberg leading.
Alpine also put in good work this session as they brought upgrades to Pierre Gasly’s car which seem to have improved their pace. Gasly ended the session in P8 while his team mate, Franco Colapinto was over a second behind in P13 without the upgrades. Keep an eye on these teams throughout the rest of the weekend and they may find themselves fighting for those last points positions.
It looks like Lando Norris could find himself as a leading contender again after his return to victory in Hungary. The McLarens were slightly in the background throughout the session as they spent most of it circulating in the bottom end of the top ten and 0.800 off the lead.
It was a last lap effort which took Norris to P2 and Piastri to P6. Although these may not be perfectly representative as the Ferarri’s did not complete a clean final lap.
Welcome Back Yuki!
This weekend welcomes Yuki Tsunoda back to the track. After driving for Red Bull for the majority of 2025, Tsunoda was left without a seat for this season and currently works as a reserve driver for the team.
He replaces Liam Lawson at Racing Bulls while Lawson replaces the injured Isack Hadjar at Red Bull. This is the first opportunity Tsunoda has had to drive the new 2026 cars.
Slippery Surface
A rain shower before the session left the track slightly greasy for the only practice session of the weekend. Drivers managed well on the dry tyres with only minor moments throughout the session. It was Carlos Sainz in particular who struggled slightly with three moments off the road throughout the session.
We also saw a spin for Kimi Antonelli and some off-roading from Max Verstappen, with the Dutchman complaining of unexplained oversteer and poor downshifts as the cause of his issues. Despite the slippery conditions it was a relatively quiet and clean FP1 session from all the drivers.
Formula One will return later today for Sprint Qualifying at 16:30 local time.
Image Credit: Formula One X