29/08/2025
NEWS STORY
Friday programme completed despite traffic, several off track excursions causing one red flag interruption in the first session and two in the second. Charles completed 55 laps, Lewis did 50 for a Scuderia Ferrari HP total of 105.
The team ran all three compounds brought to the Netherlands by Pirelli. This evening, all the data will be studied carefully. There is still work to do so that the drivers can get the most out of the SF-25.
In tomorrow's final free practice session, which starts at 11.30 CEST, the main focus will be on qualifying which begins at 15.00. It will be a very important session given the difficulty of overtaking at Zandvoort.
FP1: Charles and Lewis completed the programme, running two of the three compounds. As is often the case in Zandvoort, traffic and cars going off track were a feature in the early part of the session. Lewis had a spin without any real consequences at turn 3, while Kimi Antonelli brought out the red flags, beached in a gravel trap on the outside of turn 9. There were less serious off track excursions which brought gravel onto the track, but it gradually cleaned up and rubbered in, so that the times dropped to below those seen in 2024. Both drivers ran with low fuel loads for most of the session before switching to race trim in the final third, splitting their tyre choices with Charles on Medium and Lewis and Soft, the Englishman flat-spotting his set when he spun.
FP2: The session was interrupted a few times, with Charles and Lewis also running the Hard compound. It looked as though rain might hit the track before the green light but it skirted the circuit. However, the session was delayed when the session was red flagged for around ten minutes after Lance Stroll crashed at turn 3, after which the Virtual Safety Car was required when Isack Hadjar parked his car at turn 8. On his first run on Soft tyres, Lewis was quickest in the first sector but then spun coming out of turn 9, having clipped the grass at the edge of the track. Soon after, Albon hit the barrier at turn 1 which caused another five minute delay. Towards the end of the hour, Lewis did a long run on the Hard set he had used at the start of the session, while Charles continued to run the Softs with which he set his best time.
Lewis Hamilton: It feels good to be back on track. We made encouraging progress between the sessions after not being in the ideal window in FP1. There is still work to do to improve the car balance over a single lap, but the long-run performance looked more consistent. As always, qualifying will be decisive here, so the priority is to carry today's learnings into FP3 and continue to build overnight.
Charles Leclerc: It was a difficult Friday, with FP2 going slightly better than first practice, however, we are far off from where we want to be. We have to do everything to turn the situation around tomorrow. I think it's going to be tough to battle McLaren and Aston Martin who were very strong today. Our main losses are coming from two corners, so we will work on finding a solution for this.
Check out our Friday gallery from Zandvoort here.