Final Dutch Grand Prix Weekend Begins at Zandvoort
Formula 1 has returned from its summer break at Zandvoort for the final Dutch Grand Prix, with the circuit hosting a sprint weekend for the first and last time before dropping off the calendar.
The race, round 12 of the 2026 season, will be the last at Zandvoort after the event was not renewed beyond this year. The circuit returned to the calendar in 2021 following a 36-year absence and has hosted six race weekends since.
A Sprint Format Finale
This is the fourth sprint event of the season and brings a compressed schedule. Friday featured a single hour of practice followed by sprint qualifying, with the sprint race and conventional qualifying both taking place on Saturday. The grand prix itself runs over 72 laps of the 4.259-kilometre circuit on Sunday, starting at 2pm UK time.
Kimi Antonelli set the pace in the only practice session, posting a 1:12.949 to finish a tenth clear of Lando Norris, with George Russell third. Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc completed the top five for Ferrari.
There are two changes to the driver line-up. Isack Hadjar misses the weekend with a wrist injury, giving Liam Lawson a run in the Red Bull. Yuki Tsunoda returns to the grid for the first time this year with Racing Bulls, finishing 17th in practice.
The Championship Picture
Antonelli leads the drivers' standings by 50 points from Hamilton, with Russell a further nine points back in third. Mercedes hold a 72-point advantage over Ferrari in the constructors' championship.
Mercedes won the first six races of the season but managed only two wins from the following five rounds as the field closed up. Ferrari were the first team to beat them over a grand prix distance, with Hamilton winning in Barcelona and Leclerc at Silverstone. McLaren then took their first win of the season through Norris in Hungary, a result Norris described as coming with the best pace he had experienced.
Several teams have brought upgrades to Zandvoort. Mercedes are running a sizeable package, McLaren have introduced a new rear wing and rear brake ducts, and Ferrari have brought an evolved floor developed from the one they used in Barcelona. Aston Martin are fitting an upgraded Honda internal combustion engine, following the chassis overhaul they brought to Hungary.
Verstappen's Last Home Race at the Circuit
The weekend carries additional significance for Max Verstappen, who confirmed on Thursday that he has extended his Red Bull contract through 2030. He won the first three editions of the race after Zandvoort's return, then finished second in 2024 and third last year. Norris and Oscar Piastri have taken the last two wins at the track.
Verstappen has not won a race this season and sits sixth in the standings, though he has recorded four podium finishes. Weekend tickets sold out well in advance, with the organisers billing the event as the closing chapter of five years of Formula 1 at the venue.
Zandvoort is regarded as one of the more distinctive circuits on the calendar, with fast corners and banking at Turn 3 and at the final corner, which carries 18 degrees of banking. Overtaking is difficult with only one long straight, meaning track position is expected to be important.
The Dutch Grand Prix is the final standalone race of the season, with the calendar becoming considerably more congested from here after the Bahrain Grand Prix was reorganised to take place in Malaysia in early October. Twelve rounds remain, with more than 300 points still available.
