F1 Dutch Grand Prix 2026: Norris Wins Zandvoort's Farewell
RACE RESULT (Sunday August 23): 1. Lando Norris (McLaren) 72 laps in 2:04:44.859, 2. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) +11.536s, 3. George Russell (Mercedes) +15.906s. Max Verstappen crashed out at the banked final corner on lap 1 and the race was red-flagged. It was the sixth and final F1 race at Zandvoort. Sprint (Aug 22): Russell 1st, Leclerc 2nd, Norris 3rd. Championship after Round 12: Antonelli 242 pts, Russell 183, Hamilton 183 (behind on countback), Norris 159. Constructors: Mercedes 425, Ferrari 338, McLaren 263, Red Bull 186. Next up: Italian Grand Prix at Monza, September 4-6. Sources: formula1.com, FIA, RacingNews365, Crash.net.
The context
Race result (Sunday August 23): Lando Norris won the final Formula 1 race at Zandvoort, leading home Kimi Antonelli by 11.536 seconds and George Russell by 15.906 after 72 laps in 2:04:44.859. The afternoon was decided in the first minute: Max Verstappen lost the car at the banked final corner on the opening lap and hit the barriers hard enough to bring out the red flag, ending his home race before it started. Antonelli’s second place pushed his championship lead to 59 points over Russell and Hamilton, who are tied on 183 with Russell ahead on countback. Mercedes leave the Netherlands on 425 constructors’ points, 87 clear of Ferrari. Formula 1 now heads to Monza on September 4 to 6. Sources: formula1.com, FIA, RacingNews365, Crash.net.
The 2026 Dutch Grand Prix (Round 12 of 22) marks Formula 1’s return from the summer break and carries a bittersweet significance: it is Circuit Zandvoort’s farewell race from the F1 calendar, as the Dutch Grand Prix will not appear on the 2027 schedule. The coastal circuit near Amsterdam, which returned to F1 in 2021 after a 36-year absence largely on the back of Max Verstappen’s popularity, hosted its final grand prix on Sunday August 23, 2026.
The weekend is also notable for being the first-ever Sprint format weekend at Zandvoort, adding an extra competitive session that awards points on Saturday. Championship leader Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) arrives with a 50-point advantage over Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari), having dominated the first half of the 2026 season with Antonelli’s aggressive, error-free driving in the new-regulations era. Lando Norris (McLaren) enters with fresh confidence after his Hungarian GP win, while Max Verstappen will be desperate to win a final time on Dutch soil.
Zandvoort’s 4.259 km layout features a challenging mix of high-speed sweeps and two famous banked corners, with the North Sea coastal environment bringing sand, variable wind and heavy tyre graining into play. Overtaking is difficult, making the sprint qualifying session on Friday afternoon potentially decisive for weekend strategy. All eyes will be on the circuit and on Verstappen, who has won here before, for what may be an emotional farewell to one of F1’s most atmospheric venues. Sources: formula1.com, RacingNews365, GPFans, dutchgp.com.
Track action begins on Friday August 21, with FP1 at 12:30 local time and sprint qualifying at 15:30, and the North Sea is already threatening to have a say. Forecasters give Friday around a 60% chance of rain, with the risk easing but not disappearing across Saturday’s sprint and Sunday’s 72-lap grand prix, and highs stuck in the low 20s Celsius. On a dune circuit where teams get a single hour of conventional practice before parc fermé, a damp Friday would leave the whole field guessing on set-up. US viewers should also note the change of address: every session now streams on Apple TV’s new dedicated F1 channel rather than ESPN. Sources: formula1.com, Sky Sports, Crash.net, RacingNews365.
Sprint race result (Saturday August 22): George Russell won Zandvoort’s first-ever Formula 1 sprint race from pole, crossing the line ahead of Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) and Lando Norris (McLaren). Russell made a clean getaway and controlled the race; Leclerc made a late move on Norris for second place as light rain began to fall. Championship leader Kimi Antonelli had a difficult day, an excursion into the gravel during Sprint Qualifying (SQ1) left him further down the order than expected. Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton were unable to challenge the top three. Grand Prix Qualifying follows on Saturday afternoon, with the race itself on Sunday August 23 at 15:00 local. Sources: formula1.com, Sky Sports, Crash.net.
FP1 result (Friday August 21): Kimi Antonelli set the early benchmark for Mercedes, leading Lando Norris (McLaren) by 0.14 seconds at the top of the timesheet. George Russell (Mercedes) was third, Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) fourth and Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) fifth. Red Bull ran the hard compound for much of the session while assessing aerodynamic changes with flow-vis paint around the front of the RB22; Liam Lawson was quick in his return to the car. Sources: Autosport, RacingNews365.
Zandvoort’s farewell follows the pattern set earlier in the year at the F1 Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix 2026, where Piastri led Norris and Leclerc home.
The last Sprint weekend before Zandvoort was the F1 British Grand Prix 2026, a Silverstone round that ended with Leclerc winning and Antonelli out of the race.
The summer break that ends at Zandvoort began right after the F1 Hungarian Grand Prix 2026, where Norris won from pole to give McLaren a 1-2.