First Free Practice Results 2021 Dutch F1 GP
Event: Dutch Grand Prix
Track: Zandvoort circuit
Sergio Perez driving the (11) Red Bull Racing RB16B Honda during practice ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of The Netherlands at Circuit Zandvoort
Weather: dry 18.7°C
Tarmac: dry 25.3°C
Humidity: 72.5%
Wind: 0.6 m/s NE
Pressure: 1022.4 bar
Both Ferrari's went out as first to try out the upgraded version of the Zandvoort circuit in the first practice for the 2021 Dutch GP.
The grandstands where already packed by the orange army, who all come to sheer for their fellow countryman Max Verstappen. Due to the COVID-19 epidemic, this weekend each day 70.000 fans are allowed to enter the circuit, which is 2/3 of the total capacity.
AlphaTauri driver Yuki Tsunoda caused the first yellow flags of the weekend at turn 10. After 5 minutes Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz was on top of the leaderboard with a 1:14.610 min. The lap time went down fast as the drivers got comfortable on the new track.
After 10 minutes Max Verstappen improved the fastest lap time to 1:12.850 min on the hard tyres with the Red Bull. Sebastian Vettel told his team on the radio that his engine was malfunctioning. He went back to his team garage to do some checks and drove on. Five minutes later his engine went up in smoke coming out of turn 1 and causing a red flag.
The Mercedes hybrid system in the back of the Aston Martin appeared to have failed due to an electrical defect. As a result, it was impossible to recover the car due to the risk of electric shock. The Aston Martin team had to solve the problem on track first before the car could be moved. The clock isn't stopped during a practice session red flag period. It took over 30 minutes before the session could restart and all that time no car was allowed to do drive around Zandvoort.
With only 6 minutes to go the session was restarted and a lot of drivers went out on a set of soft tyres, to see what kind of lap times they could clock. In the end the top 5 was only a little over 0,1s apart.
FP1 Times Table 2021 Dutch GP
| P | No | Driver | Team | Lap Time | 1st Gap | Laps | Tyres |
| 1 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:11,500 | 17 | S (C3) | |
| 2 | 33 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1:11,597 | +0,097s | 18 | S (C3) |
| 3 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | 1:11,601 | +0,004s | 19 | S (C3) |
| 4 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1:11,623 | +0,022s | 18 | S (C3) |
| 5 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1:11,738 | +0,115s | 18 | S (C3) |
| 6 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Alpine | 1:12,158 | +0,420s | 18 | S (C3) |
| 7 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | 1:12,231 | +0,073s | 17 | S (C3) |
| 8 | 99 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo | 1:12,359 | +0,128s | 18 | S (C3) |
| 9 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 1:12,431 | +0,072s | 18 | S (C3) |
| 10 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri | 1:12,515 | +0,084s | 19 | S (C3) |
| 11 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 1:12,679 | +0,164s | 18 | M (C2) |
| 12 | 6 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams | 1:12,907 | +0,228s | 16 | S (C3) |
| 13 | 7 | Kimi Räikkönen | Alfa Romeo | 1:13,053 | +0,146s | 20 | S (C3) |
| 14 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | McLaren | 1:13,081 | +0,028s | 18 | S (C3) |
| 15 | 63 | George Russell | Williams | 1:13,181 | +0,100s | 15 | S (C3) |
| 16 | 11 | Sergio Pérez | Red Bull | 1:13,328 | +0,147s | 18 | S (C3) |
| 17 | 9 | Nikita Mazepin | Haas | 1:13,516 | +0,188s | 14 | S (C3) |
| 18 | 47 | Mick Schumacher | Haas | 1:13,847 | +0,331s | 17 | S (C3) |
| 19 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | Aston Martin | 1:15,984 | +2,137s | 6 | ⚪H (C1) |
| 20 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | no time | - | 3 | S (C3) |
