Formula 1 returns to action after a month-long break at the Dutch Grand Prix. Last weekend in Hungary, Lando Norris, the current champion, took victory for the McLaren team and this Sunday he will try to win again after securing the pole. The British driver is gradually regaining the form he showed last season and is once again looking to close the gap to the top of the standings. In second and third place are the Mercedes, who continue to dominate the team championship. George Russell, third in the Drivers’ World Championship, wants to surpass Hamilton in the standings and they are only three points apart. On the other hand, the leader in the standings is his garage teammate Andrea Kimi Antonelli. The young Italian driver is the sensation of this season and has a 53-point lead over the British Ferrari driver. The Spaniards, meanwhile, start again from far behind. Aston Martin’s new Honda engine still isn’t working to reach the midfield and fight for points, and Fernando Alonso will start 18th. Carlos Sainz and his Williams will start one position ahead.
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Verstappen lost control at turn 14 and went straight into the wall.
VERSTAPPEN with a brutal crash! He reports by radio that he is okay.
RED FLAG! THE RACE IS STOPPED! Very serious accident!
Red Flag
Bad start for Carlos Sainz, he lost many positions
LECLERC GAINS TWO POSITIONS!
Blazing start from Charles Leclerc
RUSSELL SLIPPED AT THE START! Antonelli passes him!
Blazing start from Kimi Antonelli
Bad start for George Russell, he lost many positions
Clean start, no incidents
THE LIGHTS GO OUT! THE RACE STARTS!
The drivers are already in their positions
The sky threatens rain
The track is slightly wet
The formation lap has started
FORMATION LAP! The cars start moving!
ALL ON SMOOTH TIRES! The top four on mediums, as well as Gasly, Colapinto, and Ocon. The rest on softs except the two Cadillacs, which start on hards.
The main straight is drying! There are quite dry areas and some drivers might dare to start on slicks instead of intermediates…
The weather forecast gives a 30% chance of rain during the race
15 minutes until the race start procedure! Don’t miss this wet battle awaiting us at Zandvoort! Norris on pole! The Mercedes behind! Pérez starts from the pit lane with Sainz in 17th and Alonso in 18th! We await you!
For those at the back, the rain is good. For those at the front, especially McLaren, it’s bad. They have done great times in dry conditions, but in the wet they might not. An exciting and full of questions race awaits us.
Lando Norris (McLaren) has achieved 12 wins in Formula 1. If he repeats victory in the Netherlands, the Brit will be the 25th driver in history to achieve 13 or more wins in the competition, also matching the records of Alberto Ascari and David Coulthard.
Mercedes has only won once at the Dutch Grand Prix in six participations: Juan Manuel Fangio in 1955. They only achieved podiums in the first two: Hamilton (2nd) and Bottas (3rd) in 2021, and George Russell (2nd) in 2022.
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Mercedes has managed to get at least one of its two drivers on the podium in each of the first 11 grands prix of 2026. Only once have they done so in 12 or more: 19 in 2014.
Since Barcelona, there have been five different winners in Formula 1: Lewis Hamilton, George Russell, Charles Leclerc, Kimi Antonelli, and Lando Norris. Only once in the Hybrid Era (since 2014) have six consecutive races had different drivers in first position: 6 between Azerbaijan and Las Vegas in 2024 (Oscar Piastri, Lando Norris, Charles Leclerc, Carlos Sainz, Max Verstappen, and George Russell).
The rain is starting to give some margin. The track is very wet. Lawson, on intermediates, went off into the gravel after losing control during these preparatory laps with the pit lane open.
Oscar Piastri (McLaren) was the last winner of the Dutch Grand Prix in the 2025 edition. If he repeats victory in 2026, it will be the first time the Australian achieves 2 wins at the same Grand Prix in Formula 1.
The pole sitter has won each of the last five Dutch Grand Prix races, all since the Dutch Grand Prix returned to the Formula 1 calendar in 2021. That is as many times as in the 14 races held previously at Zandvoort.
Good afternoon and welcome to the narration of the big day of a Formula 1 weekend! It’s race time! And what a race awaits us! Heavy rain and wind over the Zandvoort circuit.
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