Lando Norris outpaced world championship leader Max Verstappen to top second practice in Zandvoort on Friday. Daniel Ricciardo taken to hospital after suffering apparent hand injury in crash.

Can this be the race that Red Bull finally loses?

Lando Norris provided added more evidence of McLaren’s resurgence by outpacing Red Bull’s Max Verstappen to top second practice at the Dutch Grand Prix. Albeit not by much. Norris delivered a 1:11.330 in Zandvoort to finish 0.023s clear of world championship leader Verstappen, who had topped Friday’s opening session at his home race.

While Verstappen, who holds a 125-point lead at the top of the drivers’ standings and is chasing a record-equalling ninth successive race victory, appeared to deliver an imperfect lap. Norris’ performance suggests McLaren could be in the hunt for pole on Saturday, or it could be that there was a little rust left over from the summer holiday. That said, Verstappen does not seem worried.

“The summer break was really good, I had a decent amount of time relaxing with friends,” said Verstappen. “I’m excited to get going with the second half of the season now and what better way to start than in the Netherlands. It’s an amazing track and of course, the fans are incredible there, so I’m definitely excited to get back on track. It looks like the weather could be temperamental there but I don’t mind either way, wet or dry, we’ll do our best to make sure we score maximum points.”

Alex Albon backed up fifth in Practice One by taking an impressive third ahead of Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, who aside from Norris appears the driver most likely to challenge Verstappen over one lap.

Norris’ rookie team-mate Oscar Piastri was unable to take advantage of the impressive MCL60 after a crash at Turn 3 ended his session after just nine minutes.

Piastri was bizarrely followed into the barrier moments later by AlphaTauri’s Daniel Ricciardo, who was forced to take evasive action having been late in noticing the stricken McLaren, with the double-incident bringing out a red flag.

Ricciardo complained over team radio that he had injured his hand and then struggled to get out of the car. His participation for the remainder of the weekend appears to be in doubt after he was taken to hospital for checks while the session continued.

An AlphaTauri statement said: “After today’s incident during Free Practice 2 in Zandvoort, in which Daniel Ricciardo hit the barrier at Turn 3, he was brought to the local hospital and further examinations were carried out. An X-ray confirmed he sustained a break to a metacarpal on his left hand, and this injury will not allow him to continue his duties, so he will be replaced by the team’s reserve driver Liam Lawson for the remainder of this weekend.”

As for Ferrari, it was a concerning start to the weekend, with Charles Leclerc 11th and team-mate Carlos Sainz 16th having missed Practice One to allow Robert Shwartzman to fulfill one of the Italian team’s allocated rookie driver sessions.