George Russell led a Mercedes 1-2 in first practice for the 2022 FIA Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix, beating team-mate Lewis Hamilton by more than two tenths of a second. There was trouble for home favourite Max Verstappen, however, with the Red Bull Racing driver restricted to just seven laps after encountering mechanical woes at Zandvoort.

At the start of the session, the early pace was set by Alpine’s Fernando Alonso, the Spanish driver using Medium compound Pirelli tyres to post a lap of 1:17.662. Verstappen soon beat that time, however, and he went four tenths of a second quicker on the more durable Hard tyre. 

The Dutchman was soon out of the session, however. With 10 minutes on the clock and not long after his table-topping lap the World Championship leader ground to a halt at the exit of Turn 4. The red flags were shown and the session was halted for 10 minutes. 

When running resumed it was Alonso who jumped to top spot on the red walled tyres wit5h a lap of 1:13.635. McLaren’s Lando Norris then moved ahead with a lap of 1:12.929 before Ferrari’s Carlos vaulted to P1 with a lap of 1:12.845.

Late in the session the Mercedes drivers emerged on fresh soft tyres to take advantage of the significant track evolution and Russell crossed the line in 1m12.455 to take top spot, a position he’d hold to the flag. Hamilton ended the session with a best time of 1:12.695 to sit 0.240s off his team-mate while Sainz claimed third place with his lap of 1:12.845, 0.390 off Russell. 

Norris took fourth for McLaren a little under a tenth of a second ahead of McLaren team-mate Daniel Ricciardo. Charles Leclerc finished in sixth place 0.672 off the lead and almost three tenths behind Ferrari team-mate Sainz. 

Sergio Pérez was seventh in the second Red Bull ahead of Alonso who finished ahead of Alpine team-mate Esteban Ocon and the top 10 order was rounded out by Williams’ Alex Albon. 

2022 FIA Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix – Free Practice 1 
1 George Russell Mercedes 1:12.455 29 211.612
2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:12.695 0.240 28 210.914
3 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:12.845 0.390 30 210.479
4 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:12.929 0.474 32 210.237
5 Daniel Ricciardo McLaren/Mercedes 1:13.077 0.622 31 209.811
6 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:13.127 0.672 30 209.668
7 Sergio Pérez Red Bull 1:13.416 0.961 30 208.842
8 Fernando Alonso Alpine/Renault 1:13.633 1.178 31 208.227
9 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 1:13.963 1.508 33 207.298
10 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1:14.063 1.608 29 207.018
11 Mick Schumacher Haas/Ferrari 1:14.163 1.708 29 206.739
12 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:14.257 1.802 30 206.477
13 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 1:14.405 1.950 31 206.066
14 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri/Red Bull 1:14.474 2.019 28 205.875
15 Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:14.500 2.045 28 205.804
16 Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:14.534 2.079 18 205.710
17 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri/Red Bull 1:14.630 2.175 31 205.445
18 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:14.695 2.240 22 205.266
19 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:14.714 2.259 7 205.214
20 Nicholas Latifi Williams/Mercedes 1:15.122 2.667 33 204.099