George Russell edged out defending champion Lando Norris to take sprint pole at Zandvoort. This was the Mercedes driver’s third sprint P1 this season.
The Silver Arrows driver beat the Papaya by a tiny margin of only 0.041 seconds and it came particularly out of the blue after topping neither SQ1 or SQ2 – respectively done by Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri – but recorded a lap time of one minute, 11.567 seconds in the final segment of sprint qualifying.
It was a very tight SQ3 too, as third-placed Leclerc was just 0.055 seconds off the pace for Ferrari with Oscar Piastri in fourth and 0.099 seconds behind Russell.
A slightly bigger gap then emerged to Russell’s teammate Kimi Antonelli though, who was 0.227 seconds behind, with another three tenths precisely to Max Verstappen in sixth for Red Bull.
Lewis Hamilton struggled in the other Ferrari as the seven-time world champion was 0.624 seconds behind Russell in seventh, but five tenths above Alpine’s Pierre Gasly in eighth.
Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto and Racing Bulls Arvid Lindblad respectively rounded out the top ten at Zandvoort, both setting a lap that was 1.016 seconds and 1.170 seconds behind Russell ahead of the sprint race.
It was a respectable Red Bull return for Liam Lawson, who has replaced the injured Isack Hadjar, as he qualified P11 after being eliminated by his usual teammate Lindblad.
“I have no idea what happened,” reported Lawson, who was four tenths off SQ3, and will share the sixth row with his Racing Bulls stand-in and Formula 1 returnee Yuki Tsunoda.
Franco Colapinto will be on the seventh row in P13, shared with Nico Hulkenberg, while Esteban Ocon and Alex Albon respectively rounded out the SQ2 drop zone.
In SQ1 a late improvement from Oliver Bearman put him P17 and one position above Williams driver Carlos Sainz, who was pushed into the elimination zone by Bearman’s Haas teammate Ocon.
The last four positions were occupied by the usual suspects: Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll in P19, the Cadillac duo of Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez P20 and P21 with Fernando Alonso in P22.
Alonso particularly struggled as he locked up at Turn 1 and finished last despite a slipstream from a Cadillac and it was later confirmed that the straight line mode on his rear wing did not work.
Dutch Grand Prix, sprint qualifying results:
1 George Russell Mercedes 1:11.567
2 Lando Norris McLaren-Mercedes 1:11.608
3 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:11.622
4 Oscar Piastri McLaren-Mercedes 1:11.666
5 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:11.794
6 Max Verstappen Red Bull-Ford 1:12.094
7 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:12.191
8 Pierre Gasly Alpine-Mercedes 1:12.578
9 Gabriel Bortoleto Audi 1:12.583
10 Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls-Ford 1:12.737
11 Liam Lawson Red Bull-Ford 1:13.136
12 Yuki Tsunoda Racing Bulls-Ford 1:13.145
13 Franco Colapinto Alpine-Mercedes 1:13.439
14 Nico Hulkenberg Audi 1:13.616
15 Esteban Ocon Haas-Ferrari 1:13.893
16 Alexander Albon Williams-Mercedes 1:14.294
17 Oliver Bearman Haas-Ferrari 1:14.728
18 Carlos Sainz Williams-Mercedes 1:14.738
19 Lance Stroll Aston Martin-Honda 1:15.391
20 Valtteri Bottas Cadillac-Ferrari 1:15.472
21 Sergio Perez Cadillac-Ferrari 1:15.545
22 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin-Honda 1:16.014
George Russell returned from the summer break in style as he secured pole position for the Zandvoort Sprint, leading McLaren’s Lando Norris and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in a close-fought session.
It looked like any of the top three teams could snatch the top spot after they each set the pace in the various stages of Sprint Qualifying, but it was Russell who prevailed with a lap time of 1m 11.567s.
That was enough to edge out Norris and Leclerc, with the second McLaren of Oscar Piastri only fractionally further behind in fourth place. Kimi Antonelli rounded out the top-five qualifiers for Mercedes, finishing around two-tenths adrift of his team mate.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was P6 from Lewis Hamilton, Pierre Gasly (Alpine), Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi), and Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls).
Isack Hadjar’s substitute, Liam Lawson, was frustrated to miss out on a place in the final stage of Sprint Qualifying as he claimed P11 ahead of Racing Bulls’ returnee Yuki Tsunoda, separated by just 0.009s.
The second Alpine of Franco Colapinto was P14, heading Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg, Haas’ Esteban Ocon and the lead Williams of Alex Albon.
In the opening segment of the session, Ocon’s team mate Ollie Bearman was knocked out in P17 ahead of Carlos Sainz, who had previously endured floor damage in FP1 and once again struggled to set an optimal lap.
Lance Stroll followed in an underwhelming performance for Aston Martin as Fernando Alonso settled for P22 – though the Spaniard was hampered by Straight Line Mode not working on his rear wing. The two were separated by Cadillac’s Valtteri Bottas (P20) and Sergio Perez (P21).
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Lando Norris conceded that it was “a little bit disappointing” to miss out on pole position during Sprint Qualifying in Zandvoort, but was more than happy to focus on the positives of another strong performance for McLaren.
The Briton converted pole into victory last time out in Hungary, and with his team sporting new upgrades this weekend, there was optimism that he might be able to replicate the achievement for the Sprint.
He got off to a fantastic start, finishing P2 behind Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri in SQ1 and SQ2 respectively before he claimed the provisional top spot in the final stage of Sprint Qualifying with a time of 1m 11.608s.
Mercedes’ George Russell proved to be the only driver who could improve upon his lap, finding a slim advantage of 0.041s to demote Norris to P2 once again.
When he was informed of how tight the gap was after the session, Norris replied: “Oh, okay. Still something! I think [I’m] reasonably happy. It’s still a good position.
“It was a reasonable lap, and considering how close it was, it easily could have been first, it easily could have been fourth or fifth. A good [Sprint] Qualifying.
“Close between all the teams, which is exactly what we expected. But yeah, just of course, a little bit disappointing to be P2 instead of P1.”
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Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton have reflected on their different Sprint Qualifying performances of the Dutch Grand Prix weekend, with the former describing it as “my best Qualifying lap this year”.
Leclerc will start third for Saturday’s 24-lap Sprint, as just 0.055s covered himself, polesitter George Russell and Lando Norris in second.
The Monegasque driver was pleased with his performance as Formula 1 returned from its summer break, especially after only one hour of practice earlier in the day on Friday.
“I will have preferred to start first but at the end of the day, I’m very happy about today because honestly, I think it’s my best Qualifying lap this year,” said Leclerc.
“That means we are doing something right also with the feeling. Doesn’t mean it stays there forever, but at least it’s good steps in the right direction and especially after such a long break, you kind of want that feeling to start the second half.
“It was a good effort, unfortunately we just missed pole but at least we are more or less in the mix.”
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George Russell has conceded that his confidence “wasn’t exactly at my highest” prior to taking pole in Sprint Qualifying at the Dutch Grand Prix, with the Briton admitting that he tried to approach the event in a similar way to the first race of the season.
It had not been the smoothest run for Russell prior to F1’s traditional summer break, the Mercedes driver having suffered a first-lap retirement in Belgium before having to settle for P7 one week on at the Hungaroring.
However, the 28-year-old looked in strong form as he grabbed pole for the Sprint in Zandvoort, his fastest time of 1m 11.567s putting him 0.041s ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris while the other Silver Arrows car of Kimi Antonelli placed in fifth.
When it was put to him after the session that he must have felt delighted with the lap, Russell answered: “Yeah, absolutely. It’s been a little while since I’ve been top of the timesheets in any session, to be honest – I can’t even remember the last time, so it’s good to remind myself I’ve still got it and haven’t forgotten how to drive!
“The break came at a good point. Of course it’s only for the Sprint – another Sprint session, still got the job to do tomorrow. The main Qualifying is going to be the key one, and McLaren look really fast, Ferrari look quick.
“It’s been a real surprise to us as a team, these past couple of races but, yeah, we’re in a good spot.”
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