Running opened on the harder two compounds of tyre with the Mercedes duo emerging on top on the medium Pirelli rubber through the first laps around the undulating beachside circuit in Zandvoort - George Russell moving ahead of team-mate Lewis Hamilton.
Sergio Perez then found his way to the top with a 1m12.750s on his own mediums, prior to Hamilton's return to the top of the charts, as Red Bull team-mate Max Verstappen's opening lap was baulked by FP1 wall-botherer Nico Hulkenberg in Turn 13.
Perez dispatched the Briton once again, nicely reclaiming the top spot with a lap 0.069s faster than Hamilton's earlier 1m12.713s.
Verstappen then grabbed the early headline time of 1m12.449s on mediums, prior to a red flag at Turn 3 as Australian duo Oscar Piastri and Daniel Ricciardo suffered separate incidents at the same corner. Piastri hit a snag as he lost control of the rear and snapped into the wall at the top of the banked turn, and Ricciardo followed him into the wall moments later.
The recovery of their respective cars, along with repairs to the barriers lining the corner, cost over 10 minutes of green-flag running. Ricciardo reported to the medical centre afterwards with concerns over his left wrist, suffering a jolt on the steering wheel as the front suspension broke under the impact.
When track action resumed, Perez grabbed a set of soft tyres and fired his way to the top with a 1m11.946s, and was trailed by Alex Albon - who pumped in a time just 0.001s short of his Red Bull replacement.
Lance Stroll then made up for lost time, having suffered a car issue in FP1, and pumped in a time good enough to go top after Logan Sargeant briefly appeared at the upper end of the timing board.
Source: Autosport