The China Mail - Russell tops practice at Dutch Grand Prix

Mercedes star Russell set a lap time of 1:10.702 early in the second hour-long practice session and it was never beaten, Oscar Piastri from Australia coming in 0.061 seconds behind in a McLaren.

World champion Verstappen of Red Bull came in fifth, 0.284 seconds behind Russell, having been pipped into second by Lando Norris from McLaren in the day's first practice session.

"We didn't quite have the pace on the long and the short runs and at the moment, there isn't a clear answer on how to improve this, but we will look into things," said Verstappen.

The second session was paused for six minutes while officials cleared debris off the track after Nico Hulkenberg crashed his Haas as his rear tyres locked up.

In the first practice session earlier Friday, the drivers had to deal with typical Dutch weather that swung from torrential rain to bright sunshine and back within minutes.

Even Verstappen spun his Red Bull on the wet track but as the clouds parted and the sun emerged, so did quicker lap times, with the lead changing hands several times.

In a thrilling last lap, Verstappen took the lead only to be pipped by Norris, who turned in a lap of 1:12.322, just 0.201 seconds ahead of his Dutch rival.

"A pleasing first day back on track," said Norris after the second practice session.

"We made some good progress and the car is in a strong position ahead of qualification tomorrow."

Russell said he struggled with "perhaps the windiest conditions I can remember" but added that the car was performing well after an upgrade to the floor.

"We expect to be facing another fascinating battle across the rest of the weekend for the podium spots," predicted Russell.

Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton could also be satisfied with his day's work, finishing third behind Russell and Piastri.

- 'A lot of points' -

Verstappen, 26, has never lost at his "home" Grand Prix since it was reintroduced to the circuit in 2021.

The three-time champion had a blistering start to the season, picking up from where he left off in 2023 with seven wins out of the first 10.

But he has endured a lean spell by his high standards, failing to take the chequered flag in any of the last four Grands Prix -- his most barren period since 2020.

This has given the chasing pack, led by Norris, some hope they can somehow prevent Verstappen cruising to a fourth world championship.

Norris sits 78 points behind Verstappen in the drivers' championship and while he hopes to overhaul the Dutchman, he was realistic about his chances before the race.

"It's a lot of points and it's against Max, so I want to be optimistic and say there's still chances, I know it's a lot and it's going to be a very difficult challenge."

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella, said that Norris "definitely has the potential of a world champion and he's performing at world championship level".

Whether he can top the standings this year remains an open question, though, Stella told reporters.

"Numerically, from a driver's championship point of view, it looks like there's a big gap to fill and we are chasing Max Verstappen, so definitely he's not going to make it easy for us.

"But we are excited to be in this position."

A.Zhang--ThChM