George Russell topped the times in Sprint Qualifying at the Dutch GP, taking his third Sprint Pole of the 2026 season ahead of Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc.
Russell will start Saturday’s Sprint Race from pole position, joined on the front row by reigning world champion Lando Norris.
It marks a positive start to the second half of the season after the first left something to be desired for the Briton, with a number of reliability issues dampening his 2026 campaign so far.
Speaking in a post-qualifying interview, Russell was pleased with his result, describing Zandvoort as a track he ‘really loves’.
“It’s great to be back here after the break. It’s a circuit I really love and needs a lot of commitment. It was obviously a tough end to the first half of the year, but really happy to come back. It’s been a little while since I’ve done one of these interviews so, yeah, it’s nice.
“The lap felt really good, it all came together really nicely. The McLarens looked quick, Ferrari looked quick so glad to pull it off when it mattered.”
Tale of two sessions for Mercedes
However, it was a less rewarding session for teammate Kimi Antonelli. The current championship leader went off in Turn 14 during the first part of Sprint Quali, dragging his Mercedes over the gravel trap and picking up floor damage along the way.
He ultimately progressed to SQ3 and qualified P5, just ahead of Max Verstappen.
“I had a couple of holes in the floor, when I came in they initially said it was a loss of 25 points [of downforce],” Antonelli said after Sprint Qualifying.
“It is what it is, too much entry speed in the last corner of Lap 1, lost the rear and it was not easy to build the confidence back.
“But we try again tomorrow. We’ll tidy the car up and go again.”
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