Russell Dominates 2026 Dutch Sprint

Mercedes’ George Russell dominated the 2026 Dutch Sprint at Zandvoort, Netherlands. 

Russell led from lights to flag to take victory from Charles Leclerc after the Monegasque passed Lando Norris on lap 18 to finish second.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Oscar Piastri, Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton and Pierre Gasly rounded out the top eight.

In the drivers’ standings, Antonelli’s title lead over Hamilton was extended to 53 points with Russell now a further three points behind in third.

At lights out, Russell made a clean start to lead Norris and the soft-tyre starting Leclerc, whilst Antonelli jumped Piastri for fourth out of Tarzanbocht.

Russell proceeded to keep Norris at around an one-second gap before the latter reported “… no rear” on lap 10, as Russell extended the gap by a further half-of-a-second only for Norris to briefly get back within one second on lap 16, but Russell ultimately cruised to his fourth sprint victory in F1.

Leclerc meanwhile passed Norris with an inside dive into Tarzanbocht on lap 18 to finish second ahead of the reigning champion as rain fell on the final lap, although everyone safely navigated the last-lap rainfall without any incident.