George Russell delivered when it mattered at Zandvoort, producing a late 1:11.567 to claim pole position for the Dutch Grand Prix Sprint in a tightly contested qualifying session.

“It’s great to be back here after the break,” Russell said. “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 Mercedes driver beat McLaren’s Lando Norris by just 0.041 seconds, with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc only 0.055s away from pole in third. Oscar Piastri secured fourth for McLaren, while Kimi Antonelli completed the top five in the second Mercedes.

“We didn’t really look like we were contenders for pole until his final effort,” Mercedes Trackside Engineering Director Andrew Shovlin said. “It was an impressive effort and a well-deserved P1 after such a good lap.”

Max Verstappen qualified sixth ahead of Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton, while Pierre Gasly, Gabriel Bortoleto and Arvid Lindblad completed the top 10.

Liam Lawson narrowly missed out on SQ3 on his return to Red Bull as substitute for Isack Hadjar. The New Zealander qualified 11th, just 0.009s ahead of Racing Bulls’ Yuki Tsunoda.

Sprint Qualifying Top 10

  1. George Russell – Mercedes – 1:11.567
  2. Lando Norris – McLaren – 1:11.608
  3. Charles Leclerc – Ferrari – 1:11.622
  4. Oscar Piastri – McLaren – 1:11.666
  5. Kimi Antonelli – Mercedes – 1:11.794
  6. Max Verstappen – Red Bull
  7. Lewis Hamilton – Ferrari
  8. Pierre Gasly – Alpine
  9. Gabriel Bortoleto – Audi
  10. Arvid Lindblad – Racing Bulls

Eliminated in SQ2

Liam Lawson, Yuki Tsunoda, Franco Colapinto, Nico Hulkenberg, Esteban Ocon and Alex Albon.

Eliminated in SQ1

Ollie Bearman, Carlos Sainz, Lance Stroll, Valtteri Bottas, Sergio Perez and Fernando Alonso.

Russell will lead Norris away from the front row in Saturday’s Sprint, with Leclerc and Piastri starting directly behind them.

Official results: https://www.formula1.com/en/results/2026/races/1292/netherlands/sprint-qualifying