Russell beat Norris to Dutch GP Sprint pole

George Russell has taken his third Sprint pole of the Formula 1 season for Mercedes in a tightly contested qualifying session that saw the top four drivers separated by less than 0.1s.

McLaren’s Lando Norris set the early benchmark as the first driver across the line in SQ3, when there was time for drivers to set only one flying lap each. Kimi Antonelli was next in the order, but the title leader wasn’t on the pace thanks to floor damage the Mercedes driver picked up running wide over the gravel at Turn 13 in SQ1.

Russell, though, built into the session well, and with purple first and last sectors, the Briton stormed to top spot with a 0.041s advantage over Norris. It was Russell’s first pole position in any format since the Austrian Grand Prix four rounds ago and his first sprint pole since Montreal in June.

“It was obviously a tough end to the first half of the year, but I’m really happy to come back,” he said. “It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these [pole position] interviews. It’s nice.

“The lap felt really good, to be honest. It all came together nicely. It’s always difficult, these Sprint qualifyings, when you’ve just got one shot on the soft tire. The track always takes a step, grip takes a step, but it all came together nicely.

“It’s been great. Obviously it’s just Sprint qualifying, and the big points are on Sunday. I’ll just try and carry a bit of momentum into tomorrow.”

Charles Leclerc was third across the line, but a quick middle sector couldn’t get him on the front row, the Ferrari man missing out by just 0.055s.

Oscar Piastri was similarly fractionally adrift in the second McLaren as the next driver to the flag, the 2025 Netherlands winner qualifying fourth and 0.099s off the pace.

Title leader Antonelli was 0.227s off the pace at the end of a scrappy session, but he was still well clear of Max Verstappen, whose Red Bull Racing car has looked uncompetitive so far this weekend on the way to 0.527s adrift.

Lewis Hamilton was surprisingly distant in seventh with the second Ferrari after having looked competitive throughout, the Briton 0.624s off the pace.

Pierre Gasly’s upgraded Alpine helped him to eighth at the head of the midfield, his first top 10 in any qualifying format since Monaco in June. The Frenchman was 1.011s off the pace and only 0.005s ahead of Audi’s impressive Gabriel Bortoleto in ninth.

Arvid Lindblad, on the first visit to Zandvoort of his entire career, qualified a commendable 10th for Racing Bulls, only 0.159s slower than midfield leader Gasly.

Liam Lawson’s Red Bull Racing return, where he’s substituting for the injured Isack Hadjar, culminated in 11th on the Sprint grid, missing out on a top-10 berth by 0.35s. His margin to temporary teammate Verstappen was only marginally larger, at 0.365s.

Yuki Tsunoda’s first competitive session since last year’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix yielded an almost identical result, with the Japanese driver taking Lawson’s usual Racing Bulls car to 12th and only 0.009s behind the Kiwi – and 0.36s behind new teammate Arvid Lindblad.

Franco Colapinto qualified 13th, the margin to his SQ3-bound Alpine teammate a chunky 0.713s – but the Argentine is not equipped with the same major upgrade package this weekend, accounting for much of the difference.

Nico Hulkenberg couldn’t match Bortoleto with an SQ3 slot, qualifying 14th ahead of Haas driver Esteban Ocon and Alex Albon’s Williams.

Oliver Bearman was pipped for a spot in SQ2 by 0.022s, leaving his Haas 17th in the order. Carlos Sainz was a muted 18th for Williams, 0.01s further back.

Lance Stroll led the way for Aston Martin, but the Canadian was well adrift of the field, lapping 0.653s slower than Sainz on his way to 19th.

Cadillac’s Valtteri Bottas was only 0.081s slower, with teammate Sergio Perez a close match 0.073s further back.

Fernando Alonso brought up the rear of the field in 22nd after a straight-line mode failure on his Aston Martin during the session. Combined with big front-right lock-up into the first corner on an earlier lap, the Spaniard was 0.469s off the back of the pack.

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