Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s tyre troubles at Zandvoort meant Lando Norris made it back-to-back wins in 2026. Here’s how the drivers fared at the Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix.
The reigning F1 World Champion prevailed over the established pecking order on either side of the summer break after beating championship leader Antonelli to the race win at the final Dutch GP.
Lando Norris: 9.5
Grid Position: P1, Race Result: P1
Norris bucked the trend of Mercedes dominance from Friday and the sprint race on Sunday by securing pole position with a stellar Q3 performance for the 72-lap race on Sunday.
Come race day, the Briton bolted off at the first start, but his advantage was quickly neutralised after Max Verstappen’s second lap shunt called out the Red Flag.
After an aborted restart, when the race finally got underway again, Norris, despite being on the grippier Soft tyres, could not stop Antonelli from diving down the inside at Turn 1 and into the lead.
McLaren’s decision to extend his penultimate stint eventually paid off, with Antonelli burning his tyres in the wake of Lewis Hamilton’s SF-26 while the Briton kept enough life in his to make the decisive move for the lead.
At the chequered flag, Norris completed a stellar recovery drive, finishing 11 seconds ahead of the Mercedes, albeit one he would not have needed to embark on if he had managed to keep the nose of his MCL40 ahead at the restart.
Oscar Piastri: 6.5
Grid Position: P4, Race Result: P6
The Australian has been on the back foot against his team-mate Norris throughout the 2026 season. That did not change at Zandvoort.
While Norris slotted his MCL40 on pole, Piastri could only manage the second-row with the fourth-fastest lap of Q3.
The race promised to be a better outing for the McLaren driver as he made a daring pass on George Russell in the opening laps after the restart to move into the podium places.
Running as high as P3, a slow pit stop, trying to cover for Russell’s undercut attempt, however, saw him plummet down the order. A double pass by the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Hamilton in as many laps, later in the race, left the Australian high and dry in terms of the arsenal required to challenge the front runners again.
Even a late-race call to bolt on the Soft tyres for a sprint to the finish could not help Piastri yield anything more than sixth at the chequered flag.
Kimi Antonelli: 7.5
Grid Position: P3, Race Result: P2
Antonelli had been struggling for one-lap pace throughout the race weekend at Zandvoort. Qualifying on Saturday was strong, however, as he got himself within a tenth-and-a-half of polesitter Norris.
The Red Flag restart saw the 19-year-old pounce on the fractionally slow-moving MCL40 of Norris to snatch the lead away.
Given how crucial track position is at Zandvoort, Antonelli was then able to establish himself in the lead, despite Norris hunting him down every step of the way.
The decisive moment of the race, for the Mercedes driver, came behind the errant SF-26 of the man he had replaced at the German marque last year.
Track position was not enough for Antonelli against dirty air from Hamilton, eating away at his tyres, and a fast-charging Norris breathing down his neck with a tyre advantage of his own.
That said, while he relinquished the lead, his second-placed finish means he heads into the race weekend at Monza by extending his lead in the championship to 59 points.
George Russell: 7
Grid Position: P2, Race Result: P3
The race weekend at Zandvoort was a tale of two halves for Russell. After sprint pole and a commanding sprint win, it all seemingly slipped away from the Briton.
Slotting himself onto the second-row of the grid, he lost a place to his team-mate Antonelli at the initial start. At the Red Flag restart, the Mercedes driver lost yet another place to Piastri on the opening lap.
The McLaren driver’s slow pit stop eventually allowed Russell back into the fray. He was running as high as P2, but with Antonelli on a divergent strategy and theoretically fighting for the win, Mercedes had to ask Russell to move over for the Italian in the dying embers of the race.
The swap did put Hamilton right on the gearbox of his former Mercedes team-mate, but a late-race VSC and some staunch defensive driving meant Russell rounded off the final Dutch GP podium.
Lewis Hamilton: 7
Grid Position: P5, Race Result: P4
Hamilton was instrumental in how the fight for the race lead panned out. Unfortunately for him, a hesitant Ferrari pit wall cost him a real shot at a podium finish.
On an offset strategy to team-mate Leclerc, and on his gearbox, the Maranello-based team weren’t able to orchestrate a swap quickly enough for Hamilton to have any lasting impact with his tyres behind the Mercedes of Russell in the dying embers of the 72-lap race.
A solid haul of points for the seven-time World Champion that saw him retain P2 in the championship. That said, heading into Monza, the Briton fell a further nine points adrift of championship leader Antonelli.
Charles Leclerc: 7
Grid Position: P6, Race Result: P5
Leclerc was embroiled in a battle with the second-quickest McLaren and Mercedes for the majority of the race. In reality, the strategy that Ferrari had put him on meant, on track, he was perhaps the second-quickest SF-26 as well.
While he did make some handy moves on Piastri and Russell, respectively, the Monegasque was down on pure pace and never really did have the delta required to make crucial moves on the twisty and narrow tarmac of Zandvoort to carry a tyre advantage towards the front of the field.
Like Hamilton, the silver lining for Leclerc, heading into Monza, would be the fact that he has scored a solid haul of points for the team in the Constructors’ Championship.
Liam Lawson: 8
Grid Position: P8, Race Result: P7
Lawson thoroughly impressed on his second debut for the Milton-Keynes-based team.
On Saturday, the Kiwi driver’s fastest Q3 attempt was just over a tenth off his team-mate, Verstappen. This meant he started a Grand Prix for Red Bull from the grid for the first time.
In the race, Lawson wasn’t afraid to get his elbows out against the four-time World Champion, either. On the opening lap, he made a daring attempt to take on Verstappen from the outside out of Turn 3.
While he wasn’t able to make the move stick, it showed just how much he had matured as a driver – teeming with confidence despite his acrimonious exit from the team two races into 2025.
At the chequered flag, he scored his first F1 points as a Red Bull driver. An impressive feat given how short of notice he had had to jump into the RB22, covering for the injured Isack Hadjar.
Max Verstappen: N/A
Grid Position: P7, Race Result: DNF
Verstappen headed into the Dutch GP weekend off the back of a stellar P2 at the Hungaroring, just before the summer break.
With F1 hosting its last race at Zandvoort for the foreseeable future, it seemed like the Dutchman was on the cusp of pulling off a sensational result out of the hat in his trademark Verstappen-esque style.
That somewhat petered out after qualifying on Saturday, as the 28-year-old was only able to pull off the seventh-fastest lap of the top-10 shootout.
But the race itself ended in the most anticlimactic way possible. Verstappen took to a wet patch on a drying track at the final banked corner, and a snap then sent him barreling towards the barriers and out of what could be his final home GP.
Nico Hulkenberg: 8.5
Grid Position: P13, Race Result: P8
It was as if his almost impossible save on the first lap, when his team-mate Bortoleto spun around 360 degrees and presented the German driver with a plume of smoke to navigate through, wasn’t enough for the highlight reel, as Hulkenberg then went on to drive a sublime race at Zandvoort to take P8 at the chequered flag.
Audi have started knocking on the doors of the upper echelons of the midfield, and despite a mid-season slump against his younger team-mate, Hulkenberg once again proved it to anyone doubting his credentials as the leader within the Hinwil-based outfit.
Gabriel Bortoleto: 6
Grid Position: P9, Race Result: P13
While his team-mate busy with his opening lap heroics, Bortoleto struggled for outright pace in the sister Audi.
The Brazilian racing driver found considerable single-lap pace over Hulkenberg, but his race was bogged down with mishaps.
Notwithstanding his spin, Bortoleto found himself plummeting down the order at the first start after a slow getaway off the line.
And while Hulkenberg was able to score points for the team from his P13 grid slot, Bortoleto did not even come close to threatening the points – something he would not appreciate in hindsight given the proximity of Audi’s package to the front of the midfield battle in 2026.
Fernando Alonso: 9
Grid Position: P18, Race Result: P9
Cometh the hour, cometh Fernando Alonso. After Aston Martin’s b-spec AMR26 debuted at the Hungaroring, the Silverstone-based team needed to know if the improvements visible at Hungary were a sign of progress or just one-off blips.
Alonso’s drive from 18th on the grid and into the points has answered a lot of those questions. Not only did Alonso score Aston Martin’s first points of the season on pace (he did classify 10th at Monaco after application of post-race penalties) but also vindicated Adrian Newey.
The incremental upgrades to the AMR26 this weekend, with Alonso strapped into the cockpit, have now isolated the Honda power unit as the package’s weakest link – something that the Japanese automobile giants have been working hard on to improve.
Back in 2023, Alonso took P2 at Zandvoort. But if you’d ask him, he would cherish the two points he’s scored this weekend over anything he has achieved with Aston Martin so far.
Lance Stroll: N/A
Grid Position: P19, Race Result: DNF
There were starkly different moods on either side of the Aston Martin garage. While Alonso got his AMR26 into the points, Stroll’s afternoon was doomed to begin with as he picked up “big damage” on his car in the opening laps.
While he did try to power on, the team decided to pull the plug on his miseries on Lap 45 as the Canadian racing driver dove into the pits and retired from the Dutch GP.
Pierre Gasly: 7
Grid Position: P11, Race Result: P10
Gasly was fitted with the upgraded components on his A526 this weekend, with his team-mate Franco Colapinto scheduled to receive his upgrade package at Monza.
After a strong sprint showing, however, Gasly couldn’t muster any more than P10 at the chequered flag.
Despite an upgraded car underneath him, the Frenchman quickly found himself lacking against his midfield rivals at Zandvoort.
On Lap 27, a four-way scrap ensued between Gasly, Hulkenberg, Arvid Lindblad and Carlos Sainz, with the Alpine driver losing out big time and dropping down to 12th in the melee.
On the following lap, 2026 debutant Yuki Tsunoda also found his way past the Frenchman. Despite a “frustrating” middle part to the 72-lap race, Gasly did get himself back into the points for the first time since Silverstone.
Franco Colapinto: 6
Grid Position: P14, Race Result: P14
Despite driving without upgrades at Zandvoort, the Argentinian driver was in proximity to his team-mate in terms of lap times heading into the 72-lap race.
Colapinto was also running in the points before a yellow flag infringement earned him a drive-through penalty and “compromised” his evening.
The Alpine driver was caught up in the Max Verstappen shunt, where, under yellow flags, he passed the Racing Bulls of Tsunoda.
With the penalty, Colapinto was only able to take the chequered flag in 14th.
Yuki Tsunoda: 7.5
Grid Position: P12, Race Result: P11
Tsunoda did not fail to impress with his first outing in an F1 car in 2026.
After his Red Bull dismissal at the end of last season, the doors have seemingly started closing on the Japanese racing driver for a return to the paddock.
But Isack Hadjar’s summer break wrist injury meant Tsunoda got one chance to prove his salt. And prove, he did.
In only his first attempt at driving an entirely new generation of car, he was on the pace from the get-go. Finishing just outside the points-paying positions should not dull an otherwise solid performance by the 26-year-old.
Arvid Lindblad: 6.5
Grid Position: P10, Race Result: P12
Lindblad, much like Colapinto, got himself in hot water with the stewards for a yellow flag infringement after Verstappen’s crash.
The British-Swedish driver was handed a drive-through penalty, which eventually meant he could only take the chequered flag in 12th, and also penalty points on his superlicense.
Not the start he would have wanted to the second half of the season.
Sergio Perez: 6
Grid Position: P22, Race Result: P15
The Mexican racing driver found himself in no man’s land after a pit lane start to the Dutch GP.
He took the chequered flag in 15th, but that was after accounting for as many as six DNFs, including that of his team-mate Valtteri Bottas.
Perez finished two laps behind the leaders, and by his own admission, Cadillac are around “half a second to a second” off the midfield’s pace.
Valtteri Bottas: N/A
Grid Position: P21, Race Result: DNF
Bottas suffered his sixth DNF of the 2026 season as a hydraulics issue forced him to retire from the race.
With his team-mate Perez also finishing only second-last of the classified finishers, Cadillac are the only team in 2026 who are yet to score an F1 championship point.
Carlos Sainz: 4
Grid Position: P17, Race Result: P16
Sainz had yet another race to forget with Williams in 2026. Off the back of a multi-year contract extension, the least that the Spaniard could have hoped for was a weekend with no embarrassing incidents.
That said, it didn’t help his cause when he locked up into Turn 1, rammed into his own team-mate, and was the eventual cause of Alex Albon’s retirement from the Dutch GP.
Sainz’s pointless streak has now extended to seven consecutive races, and his culpability in the incident with Albon is also to blame for denying Williams a chance to end its own pointless streak subsisting since Barcelona.
Alex Albon: N/A
Grid Position: P16, Race Result: DNF
The British-Thai driver unfortunately got crossed up with his own team-mate Sainz, leading to substantial floor damage that meant he had to retire from the race.
Notwithstanding, the FW48, in its current form, never really looked like making an impression, especially on a track like Zandvoort.
The only thing Albon will take away from the race weekend would be his one-lap pace, but the qualifying head-to-head for the Grove-based team still is 3-9 in favour of Sainz.
Oliver Bearman: N/A
Grid Position: P20, Race Result: DNF
Bearman’s Dutch GP ended before it could even properly begin.
On the lap to the grid after the Red Flag, the Briton’s Ferrari PU just “switched off”, leaving him stranded and out of the race completely.
Esteban Ocon: N/A
Grid Position: P15, Race Result: DNF
Ocon rounded off a bitterly disappointing double DNF for Haas, as he was forced to retire from the Dutch GP after the Banbury-based team suffered its first reliability gremlins of 2026.
That said, the laps that the Frenchman was able to put in saw his VF-26 struggle massively with tyre degradation.
Naturally, it was yet another difficult outing for Ocon, who might feel let down with how the season has panned out so far for him and Haas.
READ MORE – Lando Norris romps to 2026 F1 Dutch GP win
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