PRACTICE 1: Pulling tops the timesheets for Rodin Motorsport in Zandvoort opener

Abbi Pulling kicked off Round 4 on the right foot as she topped Free Practice 1 in Zandvoort. The Alpine driver's 1:38.066 put her quickest, before the beginnings of a downpour denied the rest of the field a chance to improve in the latter stages. Doriane Pin and Bianca Bustamante completed the top three, only three tenths back.

Greeted by blustery conditions, the ART Grand Prix trio were the first out of the box. Lia Block got the first time of the day on the board with a 1:45.730, before a brief Yellow Flag appearance for teammate Bustamante. The McLaren driver quickly recovered following a spin at Turn 1, lowering the benchmark to 1:39.633.

More times then began to trickle in, as home hero Emely De Heus closed to within 0.042s of Bustamante's best effort. Hamda Al Qubaisi was next to go top on a 1:39.226, which was swiftly bettered by De Heus, before the Red Bull Racing driver regained the fastest time, breaking seven tenths clear.

Standings leader Pulling then moved herself to the top of the timing sheets with 15 minutes left on the clock. Setting a 1:38.172, the Briton refused to relinquish her position, improving further to a 1:38.066.

Margins were tight inside the top six, with Mercedes' Pin, Bustamante, Hamda Al Qubaisi, Ferrari's Maya Weug and Tommy Hilfiger driver Nerea Martí all closing to three tenths off the Rodin Motorsport driver.

However, there would be no opportunity to go quicker, as rain began to fall inside the final 10 minutes of running.

Wild Card Nina Gademan quickly got up to speed in her first F1 ACADEMY session, securing the seventh-fastest time. De Heus ended up in eighth, ahead of Jessica Edgar and Carrie Schreiner, with six tenths covering the top 10 times.

The 2024 field will be back on track for the second Free Practice session on Friday, which gets underway at 17:30 local time.