Lance Stroll and Alex Albon crashed in separate incidents at the Dutch Grand Prix on Friday, bringing out two red flags during FP2. The Aston Martin driver was the first to find the wall in a hard hit at the tricky Turn Three, while Williams’ Thai-British star suffered a huge lock-up on the entry into the first corner.

Stroll enjoyed an excellent FP1 session for Aston Martin, who carried their momentum over from the Hungarian Grand Prix with a strong start at the Zandvoort Circuit. He was third-fastest in first practice, but that run didn’t translate into a successful FP2 outing. He went in deep at the banked Turn Three, hitting the wall hard and causing significant damage to his AMR25 machine. The collision triggered a red flag delay.

Shortly after FP2 resumed, flying runs were halted again. Isack Hadjar pulled over to the side of the track with a technical issue, triggering a virtual safety car from race control.

When the action restarted, Albon came a cropper at Turn One. The Williams racer emulated Max Verstappen‘s slip-up at the end of FP1, locking up hard at the end of the start-finish straight and hitting the barriers. The contact damaged his front wing, and left the car beached in the gravel, triggering a second red flag.

Stroll and Albon weren’t the only drivers who struggled in Friday’s second practice outing. Lewis Hamilton experienced his second spin in as many sessions, while Oscar Piastri was placed under investigation after an incident with George Russell in the pit lane.

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For Stroll and Aston Martin, while the tense Constructors’ Championship battle is drawing attention, the focus is on the new technical regulations in 2026. The Silverstone-based squad hired Adrian Newey last year, and the legendary aerodynamicist is aiming to evolve the organisation into an F1 juggernaut.

“Adrian right now is in a trance focused on drawing next year’s car,” Stroll told select media, including Express Sport. “We spent some time together, and it’s always great just hearing what he has to say and just talking about the future.

“But right now, it’s full focus on making next year’s machine. He’s been doing it for this long, and he’s won more championships than anyone in this paddock, so I guess that says it all.”