By: The Sprint Race at Zandvoort has just concluded: 24 laps to test the cars and find the right balance ahead of qualifying. Here is what happened.
The start
When the lights went out, Russell held on to the lead, as did Norris and Leclerc. Antonelli made an excellent start, gaining a position to move up to fourth, with the rest of the field following behind. A quick look at the tyre compounds shows that everyone started on mediums, except for Leclerc and Bearman on softs. In the midfield, Gasly, Bortoleto and Lindblad battled for 10th place.
Leclerc lights up Zandvoort
By lap 10 of 24, the order remained unchanged, with Leclerc and Antonelli closing in on Norris, while Verstappen was doing the same to Piastri: both McLarens were struggling at this stage of the race. Meanwhile, Hulkenberg retired with a problem on his R26. On lap 18 of 24, Leclerc launched an attack on Norris and succeeded in taking second place. He was one and a half seconds behind Russell. Meanwhile, Alex Albon, running 16th, was told that light rain was expected in two laps; further back, there were no battles to report and the positions remained unchanged. The rain arrived as the chequered flag fell, but it did not produce any drama: George Russell won the Sprint Race at Zandvoort, followed by Leclerc and Norris. Antonelli was fourth and Hamilton seventh. Below is the full classification.
All the news, photos, weather, session times and times from the Dutch GP 2026
