By Joe Murphy
George Russell put Mercedes on pole position for the Dutch Grand Prix sprint race at Zandvoort with a lap of 1:11.567, beating fellow Briton Lando Norris by 0.041 seconds.
It was a difficult session for the championship leaders. Kimi Antonelli, who leads the standings, could only manage fifth for Mercedes after running wide into the gravel at Turn 13 in SQ1. He escaped without major damage but reported “a couple of holes in the floor”. Lewis Hamilton had an even tougher time, qualifying seventh for Ferrari.
Charles Leclerc will start third for Ferrari, with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri fourth. Home favourite Max Verstappen was sixth for Red Bull.
Russell made a joke on team radio about being “a bit lighter after the engagement ring”, following his proposal to his girlfriend during the summer break.
The sprint on Saturday offers eight points to the winner, with the top eight scoring. Antonelli still leads the drivers’ championship by 50 points from Hamilton and 59 from Russell after 11 rounds. Mercedes also lead the constructors’ championship by 72 points from Ferrari.
Zandvoort has not been a strong circuit for Mercedes since returning to the calendar in 2021, and this year’s race will be the last at the track for the foreseeable future. Antonelli had set the pace in the only practice session earlier on Friday with a 1:12.949, ahead of Norris and Russell, while Verstappen was down in 11th with oversteer issues.
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