F1 Zandvoort LIVE: Dutch GP practice and sprint qualifying updates

And there is the first slick runner. Piastri is on the medium rubber! 

"I think it's ready for slicks," reports Hulkenberg. You wouldn't want to be the first to take that decision. 

There is minimal spray, but this track isn't one that you can take any risks with. Intermediate tyres all around and we wait with fingers crossed to see whether everyone will keep it between the lines. 

And Hulkenberg goes out on intermediate tyres. Finally, we have some wet running this year! 

Here we go. The track has been declared 'wet', and there is a 60% chance of further rain across the hour. 

10 minutes to go before the green flag falls. Ordinarily, in a damp session, teams would keep their powder dry and leave the backmarkers to create a dry line. But there is no time for that today. 

Instead, the track will likely be busy from the word go. 

For a full rundown of the upgrades and what they are, click here! 

There may have been a shutdown, but there is still a significant number of upgrades on show this weekend. 

Just over 15 minutes remain before practice begins. I'm going to stick my neck out here and say that we'll see a red flag at some point during the hour. 

Back to the weather, though, and the sun is out - boooooooooooo! But temperatures remain low, so there will be moisture on the surface, and intermediate tyres should be called for. 

Ahead of the weekend, there was some big news in the driver transfer market, with Albon, Sainz and Verstappen all committing their immediate futures to their current teams, Williams and Red Bull.

Unfortunately, that does somewhat kill the market, with Alonso and Ocon the key dominoes yet to fall. 

There remains speculation that Tsolov could find his way into a Racing Bulls seat, meaning a harsh exit for - more than likely - Lawson. But the main energy has been drained from that particular area. 

Meanwhile, at McLaren... Let's just say there is more than one way to prepare for a crucial F1 session.

Together again at Red Bull this weekend, Verstappen and Lawson share a joke while watching the Dutchman's overtake of the month-winning effort ahead of FP1. 

Mercedes is preparing for the rain. Fingers crossed we FINALLY see the green or even blue-walled tyres. That said, if it's ever wet enough for the full-wet tyre, a red flag is usually shown about five seconds later, so maybe not that much rain...but definitely some. 

Onto the format of the weekend then. For sprint weekends, Friday and Saturday look a little different, with today seeing a single hour-long practice session before sprint qualifying gets underway. 

That qualifying session is a shortened version of the regular three-phase iteration, and has specific rules on tyre usage. All the details can be found here. 

Forget upgrades and the sprint format for a moment; as a Brit, it is my duty to talk about the weather. 

We have yet to see any wet running this season, and there is a small chance of thundery showers today. However, there has already been rain falling at the track. With cool temperatures, it is more than likely that we will see the intermediate tyres used for the early laps. Fingers crossed that we get some more rain to really spice things up.