Norris Leads TL1 in the Netherlands with Piastri in 2nd; Bortoleto 9th

The Formula 1 is back! The premier category of world motorsport kicked off activities for the 2025 Dutch GP on Friday. McLaren continued to lead, with Lando Norris topping TL1 ahead of Oscar Piastri, while Gabriel Bortoleto finished in ninth place. Ferrari struggled, with Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton only in 14th and 15th.
With rain forecasted for Friday, TL1 began in a bustling manner. Within three minutes, all 20 drivers were already on the track, trying to readjust to the car and fine-tune the settings for the weekend.
Pilots opted for medium tires for this initial run out of the pit lane, and after the first round of laps, with 5 minutes on the clock, Verstappen led with 01:12.767, 0.539 ahead of Hamilton in second, with Sainz, Russell, and Tsunoda in the top 5.
Approaching the 10-minute mark, there was a scare for Hamilton, who spun at the entry to the first banked corner of the circuit. But the seven-time champion managed to avoid the barriers. Shortly after, there was a yellow flag caused by Tsunoda and Antonelli, both ending up in the gravel trap. However, Antonelli’s situation forced the race director to bring out a red flag.
The session resumed with 42 minutes to go, and immediately, the drivers returned to the track. At that moment, Verstappen led with 01:12.101, with Sainz in second, Albon in third, Alonso in fourth, and Piastri in fifth, while Norris was in sixth.
By the midway point of TL1, McLaren had already regained the top spot in the session, being one of the first to use the soft tires. Norris led with 01:10.278, 0.422 ahead of Piastri, who made some mistakes on his quick lap. Verstappen was third, 1.708 seconds behind, while Russell and Stroll rounded out the top 5.
Bortoleto was in 15th, still on mediums, while Hulk, already on softs, was 10th. However, with both on softs, they both moved up to fourth and seventh, separated by the Ferraris, with less than 0.1 seconds between them.
With 15 minutes to go, as the rain clouds became more threatening, Norris continued to lead with 01:10.278, now 0.292 ahead of Piastri. With everyone already on softs, Alonso was third, 0.563 behind, with Albon in fourth and Verstappen in fifth. Bortoleto was ninth, while Hulk was 13th, with 0.35 seconds between them. Meanwhile, Ferrari struggled, with Leclerc in 14th and Hamilton in 15th, with the Monegasque complaining heavily about the SF-25 over the radio.
In the end, Lando Norris secured the top spot in the session, with Oscar Piastri in second. Rounding out the top 10 were Lance Stroll, Fernando Alonso, Alex Albon, Max Verstappen, George Russell, Carlos Sainz, Gabriel Bortoleto, and Pierre Gasly. The Ferrari duo, Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, finished only in 14th and 15th.
After the session, four-time champion Verstappen missed his braking point at turn 1 and ended up stuck in the gravel trap while testing a start. Formula 1 returns to the Zandvoort track once again on Friday. The second free practice for the Dutch GP will take place at 11 am with live coverage on Bandsports and F1TV Pro. And remember! As soon as TL2 ends, there will be a live broadcast of Friday-Free on Motorsport.tv Brasil on YouTube, with a complete analysis of the first day’s activities of the 15th round of the 2025 season. Don’t miss it!