George Russell dominated the Dutch Grand Prix sprint race from pole for his third Saturday victory of the 2026 Formula 1 campaign.
The Mercedes driver led all the way from lights out in a rather processional affair, with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and McLaren’s Lando Norris completing the podium at a dry Zandvoort.
It came after Russell grabbed pole on Friday after profiting from floor damage for his team-mate Kimi Antonelli, who lost “25 points” of downforce due to an off at the penultimate corner in SQ1.
That left the championship leader fifth on the grid behind a front row of Russell and Norris, with Leclerc and Norris’ team-mate Oscar Piastri respectively lining up third and fourth.
At lights out Russell enjoyed a solid getaway by holding Norris at bay, but Antonelli immediately gained a place with a sweeping move around the outside of Piastri at Turn 1.
The 19-year-old applied instant pressure on Leclerc, who started on soft tyres compared to the rest on medium rubber, but as expected overtaking proved difficult.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / LAT Images via Getty Images
So the opening laps were rather static around the tight seaside circuit, but the evenly-matched drivers still remained within touching distance of each other as they preserved their tyres.
Everything started to ramp up though come lap 10 when Mercedes allowed Russell to push harder and the leader quickly streaked clear of a now vulnerable Norris by two seconds.
“I’ve got no rear,” reported the reigning world champion, who couldn’t keep his eyes off the Ferrari and Mercedes in his mirrors and that pressure from behind never died.
It resulted in Leclerc finally making his overtake down the inside of Norris at Turn 1 on lap 18 and while the Ferrari quickly pulled ahead, the McLaren still had to defend from Antonelli.
But once again at Zandvoort, staying within a second of the car in front is one thing, yet overtaking is another and all Norris really needed to do was keep it within the white lines.
That he did so the 26-year-old managed to hold on to third behind winner Russell, who crossed the line 1.4 seconds ahead of Leclerc, the Ferrari driver taking his third sprint podium of 2026.
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing
Photo by: Simon Galloway / LAT Images via Getty Images
Antonelli took fourth, 0.4s off Norris, with an extra 4.6s to fifth-placed Piastri who had Red Bull’s Max Verstappen just 0.3s behind in sixth in front of his home crowd.
Lewis Hamilton was never in contention aboard the sister Ferrari as he took seventh, with Alpine’s Pierre Gasly completing the points positions in eighth.
F1 Dutch GP – Sprint race results
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– The Autosport.com Team
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