F1 Dutch Grand Prix: Russell takes pole in the sprint race; Leclerc third. Kimi Antonelli makes a mistake: “I lost confidence”
George Russell has found his form again and set the fastest time in the Dutch Grand Prix sprint qualifying session: with a time of 1’11″567, the British Mercedes driver—who seems to have rediscovered his form—secured pole position on the grid for Saturday’s sprint race.
Russell finished ahead of McLaren driver and reigning world champion Lando Norris. On the second row are Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc, 55 thousandths of a second behind the Brit, and the other McLaren driver, Oscar Piastri.
Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli finished just fifth: the World Championship leader, who had shone in the only free practice session, made a mistake by running wide into the gravel in Q1, slightly damaging his car, and was unable to regain the confidence needed for the rest of qualifying. In sixth place is the “home favorite” Max Verstappen, cheered on by the crowd, followed by a very disappointed Lewis Hamilton and Pierre Gasly.
“On my first flying lap in Q1, I entered the final corner too fast, lost the rear, and ended up in the gravel,” said Antonelli. “The impact damaged the underbody, and when I returned to the pits, the team found a loss of about twenty-five downforce points.”
“The mechanics did everything they could to repair the car, but the damage remained, and I struggled a lot to find grip, especially in the low-speed sections. After a mistake like that, it’s never easy to regain the confidence to push to the limit and put together a clean lap. Despite this issue, the overall gaps remained small, and that’s a positive thing to build on for the upcoming sessions.”
Sprint Race Starting Grid (Top Ten)
1 George Russell (Mercedes) 1:11.567
2 Lando Norris (McLaren) +0.041
3 Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) +0.055
4 Oscar Piastri (McLaren) +0.099
5 Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) +0.227
6 Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing) +0.527
7 Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) +0.624
8 Pierre Gasly (Alpine) +1.011
9 Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi) +1.016
10 Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls) +1.170
