Piastri had been second-fastest in the first session (FP1) but the Australian was pipped to second place in FP2 by Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, with both drivers completing lap times within a tenth of a second of Norris.

The two McLaren drivers are separated by nine points in the championship battle with 10 races left.

George Russell was fourth-fastest for Mercedes while home favourite Max Verstappen improved one place on his sixth-fastest from FP1.

The second session began amid a light drizzle, although not enough for a switch to wet tyres.

However, the session was red-flagged early on when Lance Stroll, who was third-fastest in FP1, locked up on the banked corner at turn three and crashed into the wall, severely damaging his car.

Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton had struggled in FP1 when he nearly spun out at turn two but managed to regain control to stay on the track, although he had a moment of deja vu in FP2 with another 360-degree spin.

The Briton went slightly wide at turn nine and his tyre strayed off track to spin him around once again, but with no damage as he regained control.

He recovered to finish sixth-fastest while teammate Charles Leclerc was eighth, a marked improvement after the two Ferraris finished 14th and 15th in FP1, prompting Leclerc to say they were “miles off” the pace on the team radio.

Rain clouds steered clear of the Zandvoort circuit and once the track was bathed in sunshine, Norris took charge with the fastest lap, clocking one minute 9.890 seconds.

The session was red-flagged a second time when Alex Albon, fifth-fastest in P1, locked up a front tyre and crashed his Williams on turn one, damaging his front wing.

Earlier in FP1, Verstappen also found himself in the gravel at the end of the session when he botched a practice start by locking up into turn one.

His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was only 16th fastest in FP1 but the Japanese driver improved to seventh in FP2.

Kimi Antonelli had also struggled with understeer at turn nine and beached his Mercedes in the gravel, bringing out the red flag and prematurely ending his session.

He could only manage 12th-fastest in FP2.