Piastri second fastest in Dutch Grand Prix practice
Mercedes and McLaren have led the way in Dutch Grand Prix practice as Red Bull's once-dominant Formula One championship leader Max Verstappen was only fifth fastest in front of his home crowd.
Mercedes' George Russell topped the timesheets with a best time of one minute 10.702 seconds in the second session on Friday, run in dry conditions after earlier wind and rain at the seaside Zandvoort circuit.
Australia's McLaren star Oscar Piastri was second in the late afternoon, 0.061 slower than Russell, with Mercedes' seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton third and Lando Norris, who had been fastest for McLaren in the opening session, fourth.
"It's been a good Friday. The pace looks pretty solid over one lap and the long run pace looks decent so far," said a confident Piastri, who won his first Grand Prix in Hungary a month ago.
Triple world champion Verstappen has won every race at Zandvoort from pole position since the track returned to the calendar in 2021 but is on a four-race losing streak and expected to have a tougher time on Sunday.
His time was 0.284 slower than Russell's best, with Mexican teammate Sergio Perez down in 12th, but only 0.025 off Norris's time.
"We didn't quite have the pace on the long and 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.
"This is where we have been the last few races, so it isn't a surprise but we need to work to find a little bit more form ahead of qualifying tomorrow."
Perez's continuation with the team has been the subject of much speculation, despite a contract extension, but Red Bull boss Christian Horner defended the decision to keep faith in the Mexican.
"For us, we've got the two drivers that we believe in our pool of drivers are the most capable of giving us the best results. If there was a doubt in that then we would have changed it," he told Sky Sports.
"He (Perez) is a driver capable of bouncing back and we are giving him our full support. We want to see him respond."
McLaren are starting the second half of the season with an upgraded car but resurgent Mercedes have won three of the last four races and are looking strong.
Verstappen leads Norris by 78 points in the standings after 14 of 24 races, with Sunday's race his 200th start in Formula One.
The conditions in the first session meant only three drivers had posted timed laps by the halfway mark but the track got busier as the weather improved.
Charles Leclerc was the top Ferrari driver in ninth place in session two, with Carlos Sainz 19th after being sidelined by a gearbox problem after completing only seven laps.
