Norris fastest, Alonso second as Aston excel in Friday Practice

McLaren’s advantage is clear, Aston Martin are dark horses

In typical fashion, it was McLaren that set the pace in Friday Practice.

The MCL39 flexed its muscles at the Zandvoort circuit, irrespective of the looming threat of rain and low grip.

Norris was the faster of the papaya duo, enjoying a three-tenth buffer over his teammate in FP1.

This advantage was cut to just 0.089 in Second Practice, a reminder of the fine margins that have separated these drivers all season.

However, the McLaren duo were not without company at the top of the field.

Alonso was 4th in FP1 and 2nd in FP2, two sessions that will be very encouraging for Aston Martin.

His teammate Lance Stroll also looked competitive, going third fastest overall in Practice 1 before crashing out early in the second session of the day.

Regardless, it seems clear that Zandvoort’s characteristics are well-suited to the AMR25.

Much like in Hungary, when Alonso and Stroll claimed the team’s best result of 2025, the British team were competitive.

Crucially, this weekend is only Aston’s second time with the upgrade package they introduced just before the summer break.

Assuming they have further optimised their latest updates, they can aim for strong points this weekend.

Further behind, the other top teams were between 4-9 tenths away from McLaren.

George Russell’s Mercedes was closest to the top three, whilst Red Bull and Ferrari were relatively evenly matched – occupying 5th to 9th place in Practice 2.

Red Bull had a slight edge over Ferrari, with Tsunoda’s P7 an encouraging result as he works to rebuild his campaign.

A less potent midfield

Generally speaking, at least one of Red Bull, Mercedes or Ferrari have experienced some significant hurdles in recent months.

This has given openings for the likes of VCARB, Sauber and Williams to become a nuisance for the top teams.

The Hungarian GP, where Verstappen finished 9th, Antonelli 10th and Hamilton 12th, is a good case study in this respect.

So far in Zandvoort, however, the midfield pack have been a few steps behind.

With the exception of Aston Martin, nobody emerges as a major threat to the top four in Friday’s Practice sessions.

Even in qualifying simulations, where the margins have been extremely tight in 2025, there was a notable gap.

Outside of Aston, Zandvoort does not particularly play to the strength of any midfield teams.

This makes the fight for the lower points positions difficult to predict, especially given the volume of mistakes from today’s sessions.