Andrew Benson
BBC F1 correspondent at Zandvoort

Image source, Getty Images

George Russell set the pace as Mercedes and McLaren both headed Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in Friday practice at the Dutch Grand Prix.

The Mercedes driver was 0.061 seconds quicker than McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, with team-mate Lewis Hamilton third, 0.111secs off the pace, and the second McLaren of Lando Norris fourth.

Championship leader Verstappen was only fifth fastest, 0.284secs behind, and team-mate Sergio Perez down in 11th.

Fernando Alonso was sixth fastest, ahead of RB’s Yuki Tsunoda, while Haas driver Kevin Magnussen, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Williams’ Alex Albon completed the top 10.