George Russell has taken pole place for the Dutch Grand Prix dash race with System 1 championship chief Kimi Antonelli down in fifth.
The Mercedes driver pipped reigning world champion Lando Norris by solely 0.041s to take his second dash pole of the 2026 season after Shanghai at spherical two.
Russell’s pole got here notably out of the blue after topping neither SQ1 or SQ2 – respectively executed by Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri – however a 1m11.567s within the last session was sufficient.
It was a really tight last session too, as third-placed Leclerc was simply 0.055s off the tempo for Ferrari with Norris’ McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri in fourth and 0.099s behind Russell.
A barely larger hole then emerged to Russell’s team-mate Antonelli although, who was 0.227s behind the Briton and struggling flooring injury from an off on the penultimate nook in SQ1.
Exactly three tenths behind Antonelli was Pink Bull’s Max Verstappen in sixth, one spot forward of seventh-placed Lewis Hamilton who struggled within the sister Ferrari with a 0.624s hole to Russell.
Charles Leclerc was the lead Ferrari
Photograph by: Eric Le Galliot
Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto and Racing Bulls rookie Arvid Lindblad respectively rounded out the highest 10 at Zandvoort forward of Saturday’s shortened race.
It was a decent Pink Bull return for Liam Lawson, who has changed the injured Isack Hadjar, as he certified eleventh after being eradicated by his common team-mate Lindblad.
“I do not know what occurred,” reported the New Zealander, who was 4 tenths off SQ3, and can share the sixth row together with his Racing Bulls stand-in and F1 returnee Yuki Tsunoda.
Franco Colapinto might be on the seventh row in thirteenth, shared with 14th-placed Nico Hulkenberg, whereas Esteban Ocon and Alex Albon respectively rounded out the SQ2 drop zone.
In SQ1 a late enchancment from Oliver Bearman put him seventeenth and one spot above Williams man Carlos Sainz, who was pushed into the elimination zone by Bearman’s Haas team-mate Ocon.
Fernando Alonso was twenty second in dash qualifying
Photograph by: Sam Bagnall / Sutton Photos by way of Getty Photos
The final 4 spots had been occupied by the standard suspects: Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll in nineteenth, Cadillac duo Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez twentieth and twenty first and Fernando Alonso in twenty second.
Alonso notably struggled as he locked up at Flip 1 and completed final regardless of a tow from a Cadillac and it was later confirmed that the straight line mode on his rear wing didn’t work.
F1 Dutch GP: Dash Qualifying outcomes
We wish your opinion!
What would you prefer to see on Motorsport.com?
– The Motorsport.com Workforce
