F1 Dutch GP: Russell controls sprint race as Leclerc overhauls Norris for second

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 

SPRINT

All Stats

 

Cla	Driver	#		Laps	Time	Interval	km/h	Pits	Points	Retirement	Chassis	Engine
1	G. Russell Mercedes	63		24	–				8		Mercedes	Mercedes
2	C. Leclerc Ferrari	16		24	+1.360 1.360	1.360			7		Ferrari	Ferrari
3	L. Norris McLaren	1		24	+5.196 5.196	3.836			6		McLaren	Mercedes
4	A. Antonelli Mercedes	12		24	+5.581 5.581	0.385			5		Mercedes	Mercedes
5	O. Piastri McLaren	81		24	+10.185 10.185	4.604			4		McLaren	Mercedes
6	M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing	3		24	+10.529 10.529	0.344			3		Red Bull	Red Bull
7	L. Hamilton Ferrari	44		24	+12.188 12.188	1.659			2		Ferrari	Ferrari
8	P. Gasly Alpine	10		24	+42.510 42.510	30.322			1		Alpine	Mercedes
9	G. Bortoleto Audi	5		24	+44.437 44.437	1.927					Audi	Audi
10	A. Lindblad Racing Bulls	41		24	+44.971 44.971	0.534					RB	Red Bull
11	L. Lawson Red Bull Racing	30		24	+47.471 47.471	2.500					Red Bull	Red Bull
12	F. Colapinto Alpine	43		24	+54.466 54.466	6.995					Alpine	Mercedes
13	Y. Tsunoda Racing Bulls	22		24	+56.483 56.483	2.017					RB	Red Bull
14	E. Ocon Haas F1 Team	31		24	+1’06.098 1’06.098	9.615					Haas	Ferrari
15	O. Bearman Haas F1 Team	87		24	+1’06.588 1’06.588	0.490					Haas	Ferrari
16	A. Albon Williams	23		24	+1’14.632 1’14.632	8.044					Williams	Mercedes
17	L. Stroll Aston Martin Racing	18		24	+1’14.650 1’14.650	0.018					Aston Martin	Honda
18	F. Alonso Aston Martin Racing	14		24	+1’15.284 1’15.284	0.634					Aston Martin	Honda
19	V. Bottas Cadillac F1 Team	77		23	1 lap						Cadillac	Ferrari
20	C. Sainz Williams	55		23	1 lap			1			Williams	Mercedes
21	S. Perez Cadillac F1 Team	11		21	3 laps						Cadillac	Ferrari
dnf	N. Hulkenberg Audi	27		7	17 laps			1		Retirement	Audi	Audi

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