Russell wins Dutch GP sprint and qualifies second at Zandvoort
Russell wins the F1 sprint at Zandvoort and takes P2 for the Dutch GP; Antonelli qualifies P3.
- 1:11.265
- 1:11.296
- 3
- just over 0.1s
What Happened
Mercedes had a strong Saturday at Zandvoort. George Russell won the morning F1 sprint from pole position, his third sprint win of the season, and then qualified second for Sunday's Dutch Grand Prix. Kimi Antonelli finished fourth in the sprint and qualified third, having gained a place by passing Oscar Piastri's McLaren on the first lap and nearly catching Lando Norris at the end. In the F1 Academy, Mercedes-supported driver Payton Westcott won the first race of the weekend, her first win in the series.
George Russell wins the F1 sprint from pole; Kimi Antonelli finishes fourth.
Russell qualifies second and Antonelli third for the Dutch Grand Prix.
Team aims to fight for solid points in the Dutch Grand Prix.
- Start: P1, Result: P1
- Start: P5, Result: P4
Qualifying focused on warming up the soft tires, using a mix of preparation laps and hard out-laps. In Q3, the team used a preparation lap on the first attempts and attacked on the first flying lap with the second tire set because rain threatened. Both drivers improved but remained just over a tenth of a second behind Lando Norris's McLaren. Before qualifying, the team made changes to both cars, and both worked well. Russell's best Q3 lap was 1:11.265 and Antonelli's was 1:11.296.
“It was a solid Saturday in Zandvoort. George continued his good start to the weekend with a win in the sprint and second place in qualifying. After he had quite a lot of bad luck in the first half of the season, it's great to see him coming back so well after the summer break.”
Looking to Sunday, Russell said McLaren appeared quick in the sprint and Norris has a good starting position, and Ferrari was fast too, which makes it good that they qualified behind Mercedes. Andrew Shovlin said the team will need good long-run pace to fight for the win and that the sprint suggested everything is still open. Wolff said Mercedes will do everything to put pressure on the McLaren of Norris ahead.
“My first win in the F1 Academy is a moment I will never forget. There is so much work behind it that it's incredible to see it pay off now. I feel great relief, but also incredible joy.”
Previously from Mercedes-Benz
Before the summer break, Mercedes said its car had the pace but self-inflicted mistakes had cost points, and it wanted an error-free Hungarian Grand Prix weekend. The Hungarian race was the last before F1's summer break; the team now returns to competition at Zandvoort.
Background drawn from MotorClaw's earlier coverage of Mercedes-Benz's official releases.
Why this matters
This strong Saturday puts both Mercedes cars on the first two rows of the grid for Sunday's Dutch Grand Prix, where track position is crucial and overtaking is hard. The team says it will fight for solid points and pressure Lando Norris's McLaren ahead. For Mercedes, it is a strong return after F1's summer break.
Terms in This Story
- F1 Sprint
- A short race held as part of a Formula 1 race weekend, with its own points and classification.
- Pole position
- The first place on the starting grid, awarded to the driver with the fastest qualifying time.
Summarised from the linked release; details can be imperfect — always verify against the original source.