Ahead of today's second session the air temperature is 21 degrees C, while the track temperature is 32 degrees. It remains windy but the sunshine witnessed at the end of FP1 remains.

In terms of updates, Red Bull, which has won here since F1 returned to Holland, has a new Coke/Engine Cover, Halo and Mirror stays, while McLaren has a new Front Corner, Front Suspension, Floor Edge, Rear Corner, Rear Wing and Beam Wing.

Alpine has a new Front Suspension and Rear Corner, while Williams brings a new Floor Body, Diffuser, Sidepod inlet, Coke / Engine Cover and Central air intake, RB a new Rear Corner and Haas a new Front Wing, Nose, Front Suspension and Front Corner.

The rest have nothing, no doubt saving them up for next weekend's race at Monza.

Conditions at the start of this morning's session meant evaluating these upgrades was impossible and even when things improves it is unlikely that the teams learned much if anything.

However, the late improvement saw the crowds fully entertained as the times tumbled and the order constantly changed, hopefully giving us a glimpse of what we might witness not only for the remainder of the weekend but the ten remaining races.,

While the improved conditions mean we should see some competitive running over the next hour, conditions are expected to deteriorate on Saturday before improving again on Sunday. The engineers and strategists are going to be kept on their toes.

The lights go green and Gasly leads the way, followed by Sargeant, Russell, Bottas, Albon and Perez.

Most are on mediums though Gasly, Albon and Tsunoda are on hards as soon all 20 drivers are on track including Bottas who was replaced by Shwartzman earlier.

"I think I need to box for a new helmet, there's something wrong with the visor," reports Piastri, "I basically can't see."

Of the first wave Verstappen goes quickest (12.131), ahead of Norris, Hamilton, Perez, Alonso and Hulkenberg.

"I'm struggling to stop the car into Turn 1," reports Perez as he runs wide, while Russell does the same at Turn 8. "Feels a little bit strange," says the Briton.

"I lost the rear," reports Verstappen after a moment in Turn 7, "I'm boxing." Appears to have been sand on the track that caused his wobble.

A big lock-up for Leclerc as he heads into Turn 1, the wind and sand continuing to cause problems.

Fifteen minutes in and it's: Verstappen, Hamilton, Alonso, Norris, Stroll, Albon, Tsunoda, Russell, Leclerc and Piastri. The Williams driver is the highest-placed hard runner.

The session is red-flagged when Hulkenberg goes off and into the barriers at Turn He climbs from the car, unaided but the tyre barrier is going to cost the drivers precious time.

Replay shows the Haas driver losing the rear after locking-up on entry to the corner.

Thankfully the session soon resumes and drivers switch to the softs, Norris immediately going quickest with a 10.931, ahead of Verstappen's 10.986.

Ferrari reveals that a gearbox issue for Sainz means the Spaniard won't play any further part in the session. Seemingly he was stuck in 7th gear.

A 10.702 sees Russell go top, as Piastri goers second (10.763), ahead of Hamilton and Norris.

Russell wants his floor checked after running over the kerb at Turn 13.

Following a brief lull, Norris and Verstappen head back out, now sporting mediums as the race sims get underway.

As more drivers switch to the mediums, Albon and Gasly opt for hards.

Seemingly a couple of incidents involving unsafe releases are to be investigated, one involving Zhou and Ricciardo, the other Albon and Stroll.

"Can we box, there's traffic," asks Verstappen, who is given the OK.

"It's tough out there," says James Vowles, "there's more in it over one lap. We have a lot of power to come and there's a good amount of fuel in the car so there is more to come."

Having slipstreamed Perez down the main straight, Leclerc locks-up big time into Turn 1.

With less than five minutes remaining, all three compounds are in use.

Despite the lack of overtaking opportunities, a number of drivers are clearly practicing potential moves for Sunday, Albon passing Ricciardo and Magnussen in quick succession.

The session ends, Russell is quickest, ahead of Piastri, Hamilton, Norris, Verstappen, Alonso, Tsunoda, Magnussen, Leclerc and Albon.

Stroll is eleventh, ahead of Perez, Ricciardo, Gasly, Sargeant, Zhou, Ocon, Bottas, Sainz and Hulkenberg.

Check out our Friday gallery from Zandvoort here.