Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz call for Lewis Hamilton to be penalised

Mercedes looked much better during Friday practice in Zandvoort than they did last weekend.

Sir Lewis Hamilton held up a couple of drivers during Friday practice at the Dutch Grand Prix due to issues with his team radio.

Mercedes had a much better opening day this weekend then they did at Spa last weekend, due to the more technical and downforce-oriented nature of the Zandvoort Circuit.

George Russell topped FP1 ahead of his team-mate as the Silver Arrows put 57 laps on the board, before the Ferrari pair of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz took a Ferrari one-two in the second session.

Hamilton went third quickest, less than a tenth of a second adrift of Leclerc, with Russell slightly further back in P5, just three tenths of a second off the pace.

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The German side are looking more competitive this weekend, perhaps more so than Red Bull, whose reigning world champion, Max Verstappen, suffered a gearbox issue in FP1.

During the opening hour though, Hamilton was not picking up consistent information on the radio as the team experienced troubles, so the 37-year-old was not entirely aware of where other drivers were.

The blind corners in the Netherlands do not help, and Leclerc, as well as both Haas drivers, were held up at various points.

Hamilton was slow heading into Turn One while Kevin Magnussen was on a flying lap, so he had to veer off the racing line to avoid him.

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“Hamilton [is] just right in the middle of the road,” said the Dane.

Leclerc was right behind that incident, so he too had to back off as a result.

“Lewis is very slow everywhere,” he reported.

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Mick Schumacher then had to lift off through Turn Eight as Hamilton was moving slowly on the inside, before Sainz got held by one of the Mercedes cars too heading into Turn 13.

“What he just did is very dangerous,” said Sainz.

No action was taken by the stewards for any of the shenanigans during FP1.