F1 Dutch GP Sprint: Russell dominates, followed by Leclerc. Antonelli finishes fourth; Hamilton struggles

George Russell won the Sprint race at the Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix, the first event of the weekend at Zandvoort ahead of this afternoon’s qualifying session and Sunday’s race. The resurgent Mercedes driver, after securing pole position on Friday afternoon, led the short race on the Dutch track from start to finish, dominating the event.

Russell finished ahead of Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc, who took second place thanks to a pass on McLaren driver Lando Norris in the final laps. The Monegasque driver confirmed his strong feel for the car and is shaping up to be among the favorites for qualifying and Sunday’s race. Fourth place went to Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who paid the price for a difficult qualifying session on Friday: the driver from Bologna had the chance to pass Norris in the closing laps but chose not to take any risks to avoid a potential crash.

Oscar Piastri finished in fifth place ahead of local hero Max Verstappen, who came in sixth. Lewis Hamilton, who was seventh and very disappointed, failed to improve in the race after a poor qualifying session on Friday; he was followed by Gasly, Bortoleto, and Lindblad.

Sprint Race Finish Order (Top Ten)
Russell
Leclerc
Norris
Antonelli
Piastri
Verstappen
Hamilton
Gasly
Bortoleto
Lindblad

During Friday’s Sprint Qualifying, Antonelli made a mistake in SQ1, driving straight into the gravel and damaging the underbody of his Mercedes. “The impact damaged the underbody, and when I returned to the pits, the team found a loss of about twenty-five downforce points,” the Bologna native explained. “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.”