Karun Chandhok ‘surprised’ by what he saw watching Lance Stroll’s onboard of Dutch Grand Prix crash

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Fernando Alonso showed Aston Martin could be a threat at the 2025 F1 Dutch Grand Prix after coming second during FP2 on Friday, after teammate Lance Stroll crashed.

Only McLaren driver Lando Norris surpassed the fastest lap time that Alonso set during FP2 at Zandvoort, as the 2025 F1 season resumed following the summer break. Norris recorded the fastest lap in FP2 at the Dutch GP with a 1:09.890, just 0.087s faster than Alonso’s time.

Topping the second session of the day also ensured Norris gave McLaren a clean sweep this Friday. Norris topped the first Dutch GP practice session with a 1:10.278, too, as he beat his teammate Oscar Piastri by 0.292s. Piastri was only 0.002s slower than Alonso for P3 in FP2.

Aston Martin were a one-man team during FP2 for the Dutch GP after Stroll crashed a mere 11 minutes into the hour-long session. The 26-year-old had a high-speed crash at Turn 3 on his seventh lap, as he tried to improve on his personal-best 1:11.975 lap from his fifth tour.

Lance Stroll holding his steering wheel during his Dutch GP FP2 crash surprised Karun Chandhok

Stroll entered the Hugenholtzbocht on a slightly higher line compared to his early flying lap, as the Aston Martin driver favoured a shallower line at Turn 3 compared to the lap on which he crashed. The Canadian was only slightly off the racing line, but it unbalanced his AMR25.

READ MORE: Aston Martin driver Lance Stroll’s life outside F1 from net worth to girlfriend

Yet what surprised Karun Chandhok, as the former HRT F1 driver watched Stroll’s crash back after FP2, was that the Montreal native kept his hands on his steering wheel as he found the wall. As Stroll has injured his wrists before, Chandhok expected him to let go of the wheel.

Chandhok told Sky Sports F1 (29/08, 16:14): “I wonder if that’s what’s caught him off guard. Because when he’s got down to the braking point, that front wheel has come off the ground. It’s slightly different the way that you go into the banking.

“The front left wheel comes off the ground. And, at that point, he’s got so much steering lock on, but the car’s not slowing down because he’s got the front left off the ground.

“Then it lands, then it locks up, and at that point, you’re just a passenger sliding to the wall. Now, watch his hands here. To me, this was a surprise because he’s a driver who’s injured both wrists in an accident before.

“But he keeps his hands, complete lock, full 180, and he’s kept his hands on the wheel as it’s made impact. That, to me, was a surprise. So, I’m pleased to hear that he’s OK because that was a hefty whack into the barrier.”

Lance Stroll hit the same wall where Daniel Ricciardo broke his hand at Zandvoort in 2023

Stroll first injured his wrists when the Aston Martin driver crashed while cycling ahead of the 2023 F1 season. The three-time Grand Prix podium finisher had even continued to have pain in one of his hands and wrists due to the cycling crash in 2023 earlier on in the 2025 season.

READ MORE: The most successful F1 drivers at the Dutch Grand Prix of all time

Aston Martin were forced to withdraw Stroll from June’s Spanish Grand Prix after qualifying, as he could no longer fight through the pain. Stroll underwent surgery prior to the Canadian Grand Prix this June, as well, to overcome the symptoms that had blighted him in Barcelona.

So, as Chandhok proposes, it was surprising that Stroll did not take his hands off his steering wheel when he crashed during FP2 at the Dutch GP on Friday. Especially as Daniel Ricciardo broke his hand at Zandvoort in 2023 when the Australian had a similar crash at T3 to Stroll’s.

Like Stroll at the 2025 Dutch GP, Ricciardo crashed at Turn 3 during FP2 when he hit the wall on the outside of the Hugenholtzbocht as the then-RB driver tried to avoid Piastri, who had just spun. Ricciardo needed surgery to insert screws into the bone and he missed five races.