Ferrari may have seen the Dutch Grand Prix as a chance to narrow the performance gap to McLaren, especially after the enforced summer shutdown, but early signs from Zandvoort suggest that has not gone to plan.
Lando Norris topped both of Friday’s practice sessions, while Ferrari had a difficult day.
Charles Leclerc did not hold back in his assessment, calling it the “worst Friday of the season” during his pre-session press conference.
Lewis Hamilton was among several drivers who spun during practice, and there were multiple red flags throughout the day. Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Alex Albon and Max Verstappen all found themselves stuck in gravel at various points.
Lance Stroll’s crash in FP2 came at the same corner where Daniel Ricciardo broke his wrist last year.
Jacques Villeneuve has voiced concern about some of Hamilton’s recent remarks regarding his future and confidence levels.
The seven-time world champion is under pressure to show clear progress before attention shifts fully to 2026. During FP2 coverage, Karun Chandhok noticed something on Hamilton’s onboard camera after his spin that will not have pleased team boss Fred Vasseur.
Lewis Hamilton’s Dutch GP spin highlights Ferrari’s understeer problems
As Hamilton went for a flying lap during FP2, Chandhok noted on Sky Sports F1: “Look at how low the rear of the car was there through turn seven, the rear of the car, really, really buried in the ground.”
Hamilton lost control coming out of turn nine and spun. Chandhok gave his thoughts on what happened:
“It’s not about the position he’ll end up in after the session. It’s the fact that he missed that reference. “He turns into nine, watch the rear, he’s slightly out of line already at the apex, then he’s on the dusty part of the track, off the racing line, and then drops the rear left into the grass.”
The broadcast then cut to Hamilton’s onboard camera footage, and Chandhok explained: “Watch his hands as he starts to turn in. There, understeer, understeer, understeer.
“Then gets on dust and that snaps rear around to put him off line and on grass.”
“At that point, he’s tried to hang onto it, but as soon as the rear left [wheel] touches the grass, he’s going around.”
When Sky Sports commentator David Croft inquired if the car had excessive rear downforce, the ex-F1 driver clarified: “I think it’s just Lewis trying to carry more speed through the apex of turn nine, where you saw him pushing the front.
“He’s just trying to get the front to bite, [but] it’s not biting, it’s just understeering.
“There’s a point in every driver’s mind, it’s the bailout point, where you can see yourself going towards the grass, and you need to start bailing out of it. He tried to stick with it, he ended up off-line, ended up on the grass and around she went.”
F1 voices wonder if Lewis Hamilton has lost his spark
Hamilton placed sixth in FP2, three-tenths behind Verstappen and nearly a second slower than Norris, despite a faster lap than Leclerc.
His flying lap error, which led to a spin, was attributed by Chandhok to his aggressive driving, though the car also appears challenging to handle.
The former Lotus driver also pointed out how low the rear of Hamilton’s Ferrari was running. With plank wear already a problem this season, it could be that Ferrari were using Friday to see how far they could push ride height limits.
The SF-25 has not been an easy car for anyone to handle this year, and joining late means Hamilton is still playing catch-up compared to Leclerc’s experience with the team.
Even so, expectations have not changed – if the Briton wants an eighth title, he needs to close that gap quickly.
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