George Russell won the Dutch Grand Prix sprint race at Zandvoort from pole position on August 22, 2026, leading from start to finish over 24 laps [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]. He finished ahead of Charles Leclerc, who passed Lando Norris late in the race to claim second place. Norris held onto third despite struggling with lack of pace and rear grip, saying, "I just don’t have the pace. There’s nothing we can do" [1, 2, 4, 5].
Kimi Antonelli finished fourth in the sprint and extended his lead in the Drivers' Championship. Lewis Hamilton came seventh, behind McLaren's Oscar Piastri and Red Bull's Max Verstappen, who finished sixth [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]. Antonelli held 224 points after the sprint race, with Hamilton on 171 and Russell on 168, although some sources list slightly different gaps between them [2, 3, 5].
The sprint victory margin for Russell over Leclerc was 1.36 seconds. Rain was forecast near the end of the sprint but arrived only after the chequered flag. Russell said, "Obviously a great start to the weekend. If it was one more lap, it would have been a very potentially different end to the race, so glad the rain came when it did" [2, 3, 5].
On Sunday, August 23, the main Dutch Grand Prix race was won by Lando Norris, with Antonelli second and Russell third. The gap between Norris and Antonelli at the finish was 11.536 seconds. Max Verstappen crashed out on the opening lap in damp conditions but was unharmed. After the main race, Antonelli increased his championship lead to 242 points, a 59-point advantage over his nearest rivals. Hamilton and Russell were tied at 183 points [6].
