Lewis Hamilton led the first practice session for the returning Dutch Formula 1 Grand Prix, which was severely disrupted by a long red flag after Sebastian Vettel sustained suspected engine failure.
Due to the situation after the Aston Martin came to a stop smoking in the pit exit, there was only about 25 minutes of the green flag in the session.
Max Verstappen finished second ahead of the Ferrari duo Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc.
At the beginning of the one-hour session, Sainz and Leclerc led the field out of the pits in front of overcrowded grandstands in Zandvoort, and all the drivers set off in the first few minutes to try out the unknown track.
Leclerc set first place in 1: 17.919 minutes when he drove the hard tires, but that was quickly brought down as multiple drivers went through the times to enjoy the time at the top of the timesheet.
Pierre Gasly drove a 1: 15.301 before Lando Norris beat that with 1: 13.751 – the McLaren driver drove the first few laps on medium-sized tires – as the first five minutes came to an end.
Verstappen then took first place for the first time with 1: 13.045 minutes on the hards, which was then surpassed by Bottas with 1: 13.021 before the Red Bull driver returned to the top of the time with 1: 12.850 in the 10-minute mark .
The home hero got faster again over the course of his run before Norris was ahead with a 1: 12.679 second, just before the session was interrupted when Vettel suffered a suspected “engine failure” and stopped at the pit exit.
The Aston Martin driver had already reported a problem that his team said his team had likely had with his engine’s MGU-K and returned to the pits after the first few laps of installation.
But as he began a timed lap nearing the 20-minute mark, his engine broke out as he approached Turn 1 – the right Tarzan hairpin – and Vettel stopped at the pit exit.
The German driver got out before returning to his car with a fire extinguisher, but both Vettel and the marshals present appeared to be struggling with the equipment – extinguishing fluid soon covered large parts of the AMR21’s bodywork.
After that, a crane and several through cars arrived, but the Aston was stranded on the track for over 20 minutes from being electrified before team mechanics with additional equipment were brought to the scene to safely assess the situation a marshals deployed after coverage a section of the car with a large piece of rubber.
It was another 10 minutes before the car was finally dug away and the scene cleared, and the session continued with six minutes left.
Drivers queued at the end of the pits and then slowly drove out one by one to advance on the traffic train to do a series of late laps on the soft tires.
Leclerc made a brief return to the top of the times in 1: 12.288 minutes before being dropped off by Sainz and Bottas.
But Hamilton then stormed forward with a time of 1: 11,500, which remained the fastest time as the action ended the session in the final minutes.
Verstappen set two late personal bests, but his second try on the softs still left him 0.238s slower than his title rival – the Dutchman had to dodge traffic in several places after setting the fastest time in race one in the sector .
Sainz then beat Verstappen’s efforts in the first sector before losing time to Hamilton on his final lap, and the Spaniard ended up in third, 0.101 seconds back.
Leclerc led Bottas and Fernando Alonso in fifth and sixth for Mercedes and Alpine, while Esteban Ocon was seventh.
Ocon was involved in a close conversation with Norris in the chaotic final stages when the Frenchman appeared to be transferring to the McLaren, seemingly unaware that Norris was approaching at high speed on the short way to the penultimate corner.
Norris, who slipped into the gravel trap on the last corner on his last lap, had to jump onto the grass to avoid a collision.
Antonio Giovinazzi finished eighth for Alfa Romeo, Lance Stroll and Gasly rounded off the top 10.
Vettel and Yuki Tsunoda stayed at the end of the times, with the latter completing only three laps during the early run after spinning in the long left-hand turn at Turn 10 that opens onto the back straight when he came to power.
Tsunoda’s AlphaTauri was fitted with a large aerodynamic measurement rake as it spun, and the Japanese rider didn’t return for the remainder of the suspended session.
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