Formula One 2026: George Russell on pole for Dutch Grand Prix sprint race – live

Key events31m agoPreambleThat followed an FP1 topped by Antonelli, but with the next four cars – in order, Norris, Russell, Hamilton and Leclerc – all within 0.289 of the championship leader. That is tight, even allowing for the shortness of the circuit.Incidentally, I imagine after four weeks off, the drivers would prefer two free practice sessions rather than having to get into the more competitive SQ1 with just an hour on track.First, an update on the grid. Carlos Sainz and Fernando Alonso – who was last anyway – must start from the pit lane after their cars were modified under parc fermé. Sainz drops from 18th to 21st.What happened in sprint qualifying? Very nearly a shocker for Kimi Antonelli, but a significant boost for his teammate George Russell. The championship leader went off on to the gravel on turn 13 in SQ1 and looked as if he could spin out completely, which would have left him in the bottom six. Luckily he held on and was able to advance, but ultimately he could manage no better than fifth on the grid, which is headed by Russell. The Briton was 0.034 faster than his compatriot Lando Norris, with Charles Leclerc a further 0.014 back in third. Piastri was fourth, followed by Antonelli, with 0.227 covering the top five. Verstappen and Hamilton were sixth and seventh.With Hadjar injured, it’s even more about the big seven than usual: Lawson failed to make the top 10 in the second Red Bull.Preamble“And now excuse me while I interrupt myself.” Every summer, the F1 season channels the late Murray Walker, taking a month off, and every summer we do excuse it, and welcome it back. Here we go for the last 11 or 12 race weekends of the season.Eleven or twelve because we still don’t know where the season will end: it should be in Abu Dhabi on the first weekend in December, a week after Qatar, but if Donald Trump’s war with Iran rules out those two then a European finale will be arranged, likely at Imola. Which should be fun, given the seasonal weather in November/December.We signed off in Hungary last month with a first win of the season for Lando Norris and McLaren. Now, it’s off to the dunes of Zandvoort, starting with the sprint race at 11am BST, with qualifying for Sunday’s main event coming up at 3pm BST.I’ll be back from 10.30am for the buildup to the sprint, but for now, here are the times from sprint race qualifying and Giles Richards’ preview of the second half of the campaign.1 George Russell 🇬🇧 Mercedes 1min 11.567sec 2 Lando Norris 🇬🇧 McLaren 1:11.608 3 Charles Leclerc 🇲🇨 Ferrari 1:11.622 4 Oscar Piastri 🇦🇺 McLaren 1:11.666 5 Kimi Antonelli 🇮🇹 Mercedes 1:11.794 6 Max Verstappen 🇳🇱 Red Bull 1:12.094 7 Lewis Hamilton 🇬🇧 Ferrari 1:12.191 8 Pierre Gasly 🇫🇷 Alpine 1:12.578 9 Gabriel Bortoleto 🇧🇷 Audi 1:12.583 10 Arvid Lindblad 🇬🇧 Racing Bulls 1:12.737Eliminated in SQ211 Liam Lawson 🇳🇿 Red Bull 1:13.136 12 Yuki Tsunoda 🇯🇵 Racing Bulls 1:13.145 13 Franco Colapinto 🇦🇷 Alpine 1:13.439 14 Nico Hülkenberg 🇩🇪 Audi 1:13.616 15 Esteban Ocon 🇫🇷 Haas 1:13.893 16 Alexander Albon 🇹🇭 Williams 1:14.294Eliminated in SQ117 Oliver Bearman 🇬🇧 Haas 1:14.728 18 Carlos Sainz 🇪🇸 Williams 1:14.738 19 Lance Stroll 🇨🇦 Aston Martin 1:15.391 20 Valtteri Bottas 🇫🇮 Cadillac 1:15.472 21 Sergio Pérez 🇲🇽 Cadillac 1:15.545 22 Fernando Alonso 🇪🇸 Aston Martin 1:16.014