George Russell was fastest from Oscar Piastri and Lewis Hamilton in second practice at the Dutch Grand Prix, with championship leader Max Verstappen on the back foot.
After a largely wet first practice, the second session was fully dry and Russell pipped Piastri by 0.061s as Mercedes and McLaren appeared to have the cars to beat.
Hamilton, who inherited victory from Russell last time out in Belgium, was only 0.111s behind his Mercedes team-mate and Norris was in fourth.
Verstappen has won each of the three Dutch Grands Prix since the event returned to the F1 calendar in 2021 but he has work to do overnight to make it four in a row on Sunday.
The Dutchman was only 0.025s behind his main title rival Norris, who he leads by 78 points, but 0.284s off pace-setter Russell.
Ferrari had a difficult session as Charles Leclerc ended up down in ninth and seven tenths off the pace, while his team-mate Carlos Sainz suffered a gearbox issue and sat out the second half of the session.
Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso came in sixth from RB’s Yuki Tsunoda and Haas’ Kevin Magnussen in eighth.
Magnussen’s team-mate Nico Hulkenberg crashed at Turn One and caused a short red flag.
Three-way fight on the cards?
Verstappen will be slightly buoyed that he was the first driver to do his qualifying simulation but his lap appeared to be clean and Red Bull seemingly lack raw pace compared to McLaren and Mercedes, whose drivers completed their laps five minutes after the Dutchman on a high-evolving track.
McLaren and Red Bull both brought upgrades to Zandvoort but Mercedes have continued where they left off prior to the summer break.
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Hamilton was quickest on the medium tyres earlier in the session by nearly three-tenths from Verstappen and Red Bull were off the pace on the long runs too.
The Milton Keynes-based team lead McLaren by 42 points in the Constructors’ Championship but could soon find that wiped away if Verstappen isn’t able to win and Sergio Perez finds form.
Perez, who was backed publicly by Christian Horner to retain his seat for this weekend and beyond, was 12th in second practice and over eight-tenths away from Russell.
Sky Sports F1’s live Dutch GP schedule
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Saturday August 24
9.10am: F1 Academy: Qualifying
10.15am: Dutch GP Practice Three (session starts 10.30am)
1pm: Dutch GP Qualifying build-up
2pm: DUTCH GP QUALIFYING
4pm: F1 Academy: Race One
Sunday August 25
9.40am: F1 Academy: Race Two
12:30pm: Grand Prix Sunday: Dutch GP build-up
2pm: The DUTCH GRAND PRIX
4pm: Chequered Flag: Dutch GP reaction
Formula 1 returns after the summer break with the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort this weekend, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream every F1 race and more with a NOW Sports Month Membership – No contract, cancel anytime.
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Source : Sky Sports
