George Russell took pole position for Saturday’s sprint race at the Dutch Grand Prix with a lap time of 1:11.567, edging out Lando Norris by 0.041 seconds [1, 2, 3, 4]. Russell said, "It has been a tough end to the first part of the year so I am really happy to be back. The lap felt really good. It all came together nicely." He added it was challenging with only one lap in sprint qualifying but that "McLaren look quick, Ferrari look quick but I'm glad to pull it off when it mattered." [1, 4].
Kimi Antonelli led the sole practice session on Friday with the fastest time of 1:12.949, 0.121 seconds ahead of Norris [5, 6, 7]. The championship leader was 50 points clear of his closest rival Lewis Hamilton coming into the weekend [5, 6, 7]. However, Antonelli qualified fifth for the sprint race, 0.227 seconds off Russell’s pace, after sustaining damage to his car’s floor that reduced downforce by an estimated 25 points. Antonelli noted, "I had a couple of holes in the floor... Definitely the damage was still there. I was struggling a lot in the low-speed [corners]." [1, 4].
Lando Norris qualified second for the sprint, having won the previous race in Hungary before the summer break [5, 6, 8, 4]. Max Verstappen qualified sixth but struggled with oversteer during practice and qualifying [6, 1, 2, 8, 4]. Lewis Hamilton, 50 points behind Antonelli in the standings, qualified seventh [5, 6, 1, 2, 3].
Fernando Alonso showed improved pace with Aston Martin's upgraded Honda engine, finishing 12th in practice [5, 6, 1, 7]. Red Bull’s Liam Lawson, substituting for the injured Isack Hadjar, qualified 14th for the sprint race [5, 6, 1, 8, 7].
Saturday's sprint race covers 100 kilometers, setting the grid for Sunday's main Dutch Grand Prix [6, 7].
