Championship leader Antonelli fastest in sole practice session for Dutch GP

[p]The Italian, who is 50 points ahead of the chasing pack in the world championship, took his Mercedes round in one minute and 12.949 seconds, 0.121 seconds ahead of [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/norris-lando/WSVABbVF/"]Norris[/a] in the McLaren.[/p][p]After several heavy showers on the North Sea circuit, the session stayed dry, but patches of wet on the track and gusts of wind made conditions difficult.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/antonelli-andrea-kimi/ptGu0mT1/"]Antonelli[/a] himself spun his Mercedes on one practice lap, telling his team on the radio: [b]"I don't know what the heck happened there."[/b][/p][p]Mercedes teammate [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/russell-george/xxF56RaN/"]George Russell[/a] clocked the third-fastest lap, ahead of Ferrari duo [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/hamilton-lewis/tI5Vpe1h/"]Lewis Hamilton[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/leclerc-charles/KlCOSRub/"]Charles Leclerc[/a].[/p][p][b]Later Friday, the drivers will compete for pole position in Saturday's sprint race.[/b][/p][embed guid="31016fa2-0d04-45c7-8aca-f8256f062d42" url="https://x.com/F1/status/2090764728708546952" social-type="twitter" /][p]The Dutch Grand Prix, the first after the summer break, comes with every sign the championship will come down to the wire in the second half of the season.[/p][p]Antonelli, who turns 20 next week, has a 50-point advantage over seven-time world champion Hamilton, at 41 more than twice his age.[/p][p]Antonelli and Mercedes dominated the first half of the season, with the prodigy picking up wins in six of the 11 races, including five consecutive chequered flags.[/p][p]But the chasing pack have brought successful upgrades to their cars, with Mercedes admitting they are "out of sync" in terms of improvements to their own package.[/p][p][b]McLaren are hoping to build on their triumph at the last Grand Prix before the summer break, when Norris secured his first win of the season.[/b][/p][embed guid="524d6b80-706a-473a-b336-112547924a18" url="https://x.com/F1/status/2090735202511311132" social-type="twitter" /][p]The papaya outfit have strong form at Zandvoort, with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/piastri-oscar/MqKAIeUf/"]Oscar Piastri[/a] winning in 2025 and Norris himself the year before.[/p][p]Ferrari have also shown signs they can compete at the front of the grid, with Hamilton declaring himself the fittest he has ever been after a summer break spent in the gym.[/p][p]Home favourite [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/verstappen-max/UV3mgeXB/"]Max Verstappen[/a] can never be counted out, fresh from the news that he has extended his contract with Red Bull until 2030.[/p][p]The hordes of orange-clad Max fans will be hoping Verstappen can deliver on his promise to give them a [b]"special send-off" [/b]at the last Grand Prix to be staged at Zandvoort.[/p][p]The Dutch seaside resort will not be on the Formula 1 calendar from next year, after promoters pulled the plug.[/p]