George Russell won the sprint before the 2026 Dutch GP, leading it throughout the entire distance. It was a classic Formula procession with a minimal number of direct battles. The twisty Zandvoort circuit did not provide good competition when no random events occurred.
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The sprint was held in fairly cool conditions, with track temperatures between 25-28 degrees Celsius. It was windy, and as the leading drivers crossed the finish line, quite heavy rain began to fall. This did not affect the competition, but if it had started raining a minute earlier, the drivers would have had a very difficult final lap. During the sprint, Nico Hulkenberg retired due to an engine failure.
Alonso and Sainz started from the pit lane after changes to their cars. Perez had a rear wing failure just before the formation lap; he was brought into the pit lane for repairs and joined the sprint with a two-lap deficit, so for him it was a typical practice session.
Sprint results before the 2026 Dutch GP
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Time | Points |
| 1. | George Russell | Mercedes | 30:25.318 | 8 |
| 2. | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | +1.360s | 7 |
| 3. | Lando Norris | McLaren | +5.196s | 6 |
| 4. | Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | +5.581s | 5 |
| 5. | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | +10.185s | 4 |
| 6. | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | +10.529s | 3 |
| 7. | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | +12.188s | 2 |
| 8. | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | +42.510s | 1 |
| 9. | Gabriel Bortoleto | Audi | +44.437s | 0 |
| 10. | Arvid Lindblad | Racing Bulls | +44.971s | 0 |
| 11. | Liam Lawson | Red Bull | +47.471s | 0 |
| 12. | Franco Colapinto | Alpine | +54.466s | 0 |
| 13. | Yuki Tsunoda | Racing Bulls | +56.483s | 0 |
| 14. | Esteban Ocon | Haas | +66.098s | 0 |
| 15. | Oliver Bearman | Haas | +66.588s | 0 |
| 16. | Alexander Albon | Williams | +74.632s | 0 |
| 17. | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | +74.650s | 0 |
| 18. | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | +75.284s | 0 |
| 19. | Valtteri Bottas | Cadillac | +1 lap | 0 |
| 20. | Carlos Sainz | Williams | +1 lap | 0 |
| 21. | Sergio Perez | Cadillac | +3 laps | 0 |
| NK | Nico Hulkenberg | Audi | +17 laps | 0 |
Summary and discussion of the sprint before the 2026 Dutch GP
This was one of the least interesting sprints in the entire history of this format. It confirmed that the Zandvoort circuit does not work well in this format; they got a sprint as a farewell to F1, so at least there will be no repeat next year. Only two interesting situations took place at the front. At the start, Antonelli overtook Piastri, and near the end of the sprint, Leclerc made a nice overtaking move on Norris, who was struggling with excessive tire wear. The pace at the front was very even, no one made mistakes, so there was no chance for direct battles and fights for positions.
George Russell confidently won the sprint, leading throughout and controlling the situation. The Briton was never realistically threatened. Leclerc took second place, who deserves recognition for a different strategy and a good overtaking maneuver. Norris had great pace at the start but clearly weakened towards the end of the sprint due to tires. Antonelli gained a position at the start but was later unable to attack either Leclerc or Norris, so he finished fourth. Piastri lagged behind the tight front group from the beginning, so a second group formed behind him with Verstappen and Hamilton. These drivers competed among themselves, but no one had the opportunity to attempt an attack. The last point was earned by Pierre Gasly, whose front group quickly pulled away, and drivers from further back did not threaten him.
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It is not worth writing extensively about the midfield because most drivers stayed in the same positions from start to finish. Minor changes occurred only at the very end of the field, where overtaking maneuvers took place.
After the sprint, it is worth noting two issues. Leclerc completed the entire sprint on soft tires without any problems, so these tires may be very good for the Sunday race, not only at the start but also later if there is a two-stop strategy. There is a chance to use three different compounds during the Sunday race. The second issue is the excellent pace. The leading drivers drove really very good lap times, mostly around 1:15,X during the sprint. Only near the end did their pace drop slightly below 1:16,X. There was no tactical driving, tire saving, etc. Their advantage over the midfield teams was huge, about 1.5 to 2 seconds per lap. In the Sunday race, the front runners should quickly build a large gap to be able to make pit stops without paying attention to the rest of the field. Because of this, the race may be run with two pit stops.
Summary
This was a very boring sprint, which confirmed that little happens in clean competition at Zandvoort. The qualifying competition promises to be very interesting because it will be the key moment of the weekend. Since this circuit returned to F1, only drivers starting from Pole Position have won races and sprints. The front is so evenly matched that qualifying may decide their race competition.
In 2026, six sprints are scheduled. The current standings of internal battles in sprint qualifying and the sprints themselves can be checked at this link. It also includes a table of points earned this year only in sprints.
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