George Russell claimed pole position for the 2026 Dutch Sprint at Zandvoort, Netherlands.
Championship leader, Andrea Kimi Antonelli topped Practice but a fun competitive Qualifying session saw the top four split by 0.099 seconds as Russell snatched pole from Lando Norris.
Practice
With track conditions initially damp following morning rain, Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg was first on track and set 1m 26.555 as the initial benchmark time on intermediate tyres, but McLaren’s Oscar Piastri quickly gambled on a medium tyre and lowered the benchmark to 1m 23.311.
Piastri soon traded fastest laps with Antonelli until the latter set 1m 15.351, which was soon usurped as his title rivals, Lewis Hamilton then George Russell went quickest as the latter set 1m 14.951, only for Hamilton to respond with 1m 14.742 in the 22nd minute.
Antonelli and Hamilton though traded fastest lap times in the 25th minute which left them split by 0.010s at the half-hour mark, with Hamilton quickest on 1m 14.259.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc however produced 1m 14.146 bang on the 31st minute to go quickest overall on the medium tyres.
Aside from Williams’ Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz who did their soft-tyre simulations in their opening stint, everyone else waited until the last ten minutes as Piastri lowered the benchmark to 1m 13.608 in the 52nd minute, but Leclerc went 0.261s quicker than last year’s race winner.
Hamilton however found further time to go fastest with 1m 13.147 with six minutes left, but Norris two minutes later found 0.041s yet Antonelli found 0.156s to top the session with 1m 12.949 with two minutes left as Norris responded at the line to fall 0.121s shy.
Nico Hulkenberg, Gabriel Bortoleto, Arvid Lindblad, Yuki Tsunoda, Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz set their quickest lap times on the mediums.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | 1m 12.949 |
| 2 | Lando Norris | McLaren | + 0.121 |
| 3 | George Russell | Mercedes | + 0.125 |
| 4 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | + 0.190 |
| 5 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | + 0.289 |
| 6 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | + 0.659 |
| 7 | Nico Hulkenberg | Audi | + 0.835 |
| 8 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | + 0.962 |
| 9 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Audi | + 1.043 |
| 10 | Arvid Lindblad | Racing Bulls | + 1.336 |
| 11 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | + 1.376 |
| 12 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | + 1.562 |
| 13 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine | + 1.877 |
| 14 | Liam Lawson | Red Bull | + 1.912 |
| 15 | Oliver Bearman | Haas | + 1.925 |
| 16 | Esteban Ocon | Haas | + 1.948 |
| 17 | Yuki Tsunoda | Racing Bulls | + 2.161 |
| 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | + 2.250 |
| 19 | Alex Albon | Williams | + 2.408 |
| 20 | Valtteri Bottas | Cadillac | + 2.631 |
| 21 | Sergio Perez | Cadillac | + 2.751 |
| 22 | Carlos Sainz | Williams | + 3.396 |
Sprint Qualifying
SQ1
Antonelli was first on track and set 1m 28.317 as the initial benchmark time but ran wide at the penultimate corner on his first flier, whilst Russell set a representative 1m 13.829 but his time was soon beaten by both Ferrari then McLaren drivers, as Norris set 1m 13.071 to head Piastri by 0.055s.
Once everyone set a lap time, the bottom six comprised of; Stroll, Bearman, Bottas, Perez, Antonelli and Alonso, but Antonelli improved to seventh with two minutes left.
At the checkered flag, Leclerc emerged fastest with 1m 13.011 on his second run.
Bearman meanwhile was quickest of the six eliminations in 17th ahead of; Sainz, Stroll, Bottas, Perez and Alonso.
SQ2
Once the pit exit light turned green, Hulkenberg was first on track and posted 1m 13.926 as the initial benchmark but Ocon went 0.033s quicker with 1m 18.893 moments later.
Times soon tumbled once the top drivers ventured out as Norris posted 1m 12.514 but Piastri found a further 0.488s to lower the benchmark time to 1m 12.026 with four minutes left.
Once the checkered flag fell, Lawson missed out on Q3 by 0.350s to Bortoleto but outqualified Tsunoda, Colapinto, Hulkenberg, Ocon and Albon.
SQ3
After a quiet opening four minutes, everyone ventured out together for a single final run led by Norris who set 1m 11.608 as the benchmark time to beat,
Russell however found 0.041s to take pole for the sprint tomorrow (22 August) at 12pm CEST (11am BST) from Norris, whilst Leclerc was a further 0.014s behind Norris in third.
Piastri was fourth and 0.099s behind Russell but ahead of; Antonelli, Verstappen, Hamilton, Gasly, Bortoleto and Lindblad.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | George Russell | Mercedes | 1m 11.6 |
| 2 | Lando Norris | McLaren | + 0.041 |
| 3 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | + 0.055 |
| 4 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | + 0.099 |
| 5 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | + 0.227 |
| 6 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | + 0.527 |
| 7 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | + 0.624 |
| 8 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | + 1.011 |
| 9 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Audi | + 1.016 |
| 10 | Arvid Lindblad | Racing Bulls | + 1.170 |
| 11 | Liam Lawson | Red Bull | 1m 13.136 |
| 12 | Yuki Tsunoda | Racing Bulls | + 0.009 |
| 13 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine | + 0.303 |
| 14 | Nico Hulkenberg | Audi | + 0.480 |
| 15 | Esteban Ocon | Haas | + 0.757 |
| 16 | Alex Albon | Williams | + 1.158 |
| 17 | Oliver Bearman | Haas | 1m 14.728 |
| 18 | Carlos Sainz | Williams | + 0.010 |
| 19 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | + 0.663 |
| 20 | Valtteri Bottas | Cadillac | + 0.744 |
| 21 | Sergio Perez | Cadillac | + 0.817 |
| 22 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | + 1.286 |