The drivers were back in action at Zandvoort for the final FORMULA 1 HEINEKEN DUTCH GRAND PRIX 2026. Lando Norris secured pole position in what was a dry qualifying session, despite rain at the end of Saturday’s sprint race. Some pre-race rain left the circuit a little damp, but it was not enough for anyone to deviate from starting on the dry tyres.
George Russell had a bad getaway from the front row of the grid, allowing polesitter Lando Norris to get into the first corner uncontested. Kimi Antonelli was able to get by his teammate. Oscar Piastri tried to get around the slow Mercedes, but Russell covered the inside, forcing the McLaren to back out of the move. He lost a position to Charles Leclerc, who had an amazing start from P6 on the grid.
Lewis Hamilton was forced to concede to his teammate on the main straight, pushing Max Verstappen wide off the circuit in the process. This left Verstappen vulnerable to Liam Lawson, who was eager to impress, substituting for an injured Isack Hadjar. The New Zealander was wheel-to-wheel with his teammate and had a try around the outside of Verstappen in the banked third turn, but had to back out of it.
By the end of the opening lap, Lawson would become the only Red Bull in the race. Verstappen lost rear grip on the damp final corner, slamming into the outside barriers. This was surely a disappointment for the Dutchman, whose final home grand prix came to an early end. If it’s any consolation, Gabriel Bortoleto also spun similarly at the same time, nearly collecting teammate Nico Hulkenberg in the process. The difference for the Audi driver is that he continued the race.
The red flag was waved to allow the marshals to clear the stricken Red Bull and all of the debris.
This allowed teams to repair some damaged front wings, but also gave teams the opportunity to change their tyres. At the original race start, Mercedes and McLaren started on the medium tyres, while the rest of the top ten started on the soft tyres. McLaren used the red flag to change tyres and split their strategy in the process. Norris emerged from the pit lane on used soft tyres, while Piastri took a new set of hard tyres. Piastri’s strategy was a bit of a roll of the dice, as there were a lot of unknowns due to the limited running on the compound during the weekend.
It took about half an hour for the drivers to return to the circuit for a second standing start. There was an incident involving the red light at the end of the pit lane, where Oliver Bearman and Gabriel Bortoleto were noted for leaving the pit lane when the light was red. That will be investigated after the race. It won’t matter much for Bearman, whose car came to a stop on the lap to the grid, forcing a second formation lap.
On the restart, Antonelli had a slightly better start than Norris. Norris tried to squeeze the championship leader to the inside, but he hung on and took the lead. As one McLaren was being overtaken by a Mercedes, the other McLaren was overtaking the other Mercedes, as Piastri overtook Russell.
In the first few laps after the restart, some drivers were punished for yellow flag infringements during the first lap crash. Arvid Lindblad and Franco Colapinto were both given drive-through penalties.
Russell was the first of the leaders to make a green flag pit stop, changing his mediums for a set of hards. He rejoined the race behind Hulkenberg, compromising his outlap. Piastri pitted the following lap, but he rejoined just behind Russell, thanks to a slow stop on the rear tyre. The other drivers followed them a few laps later.
After the pit stops, Piastri found himself under pressure from Leclerc behind. The Monegasque driver made a lunge into the first corner on lap 34. Piastri tried to hang on, keeping it side-by-side through the first corners, but Leclerc managed to clear the McLaren in the third corner. Hamilton also overtook Piastri the following lap down the main straight. Eventually, Hamilton caught up to Leclerc, clearly running much faster. He was frustrated when the team did not immediately swap positions, although Leclerc pitted a couple of laps later.
Through another pit stop cycle, Hamilton inherited the race lead, but his tyres wouldn’t last forever. Norris and Antonelli proved to be significantly faster on fresh rubber. It quickly became a three-car battle for the lead. Norris took the lead on lap 54, overtaking Antonelli and Hamilton on a single lap. After losing a position to Antonelli the following lap, Hamilton expressed his frustration with being left out so long.
It turned out to be a fortunate decision for Ferrari to stay out, as the virtual safety car was deployed when Esteban Ocon’s Haas came to a stop on the inside of turn three. Hamilton used the opportunity to take a cheap pit stop under the VSC, as did Piastri, Leclerc, and Antonelli. Norris also debated taking a pit stop but decided against it, at least partially because the VSC was withdrawn.
He and Russell stayed out on the old hard tyres, bringing them to the end of the grand prix. When Antonelli caught up to the back of Russell, Mercedes decided to swap the two drivers around, giving Antonelli a small chance at challenging for the lead in the final laps. This wouldn’t materialize.
In the closing laps, Russell came under pressure from Hamilton on fresher hard tyres. The fellow Brit was all over the back of the Mercedes, but Zandvoort is a difficult circuit to overtake on. Russell was helped by the two Williams drivers, who collided with each other in the first corner after Carlos Sainz locked up, bringing out a late virtual safety car for debris. The VSC only lasted a lap, but it effectively denied Hamilton a lap to try and make an overtake in the first corner. He had a few chances in the final laps, but couldn’t get by and actually faced pressure from Leclerc behind.
Hamilton had to settle for P4, while Antonelli and Russell got to stand on the podium. But it was Lando Norris who crossed the finish line first, earning a back-to-back grand prix victory, albeit a month apart. This makes Norris the final F1 winner at Zandvoort, as the circuit leaves the calendar.
Next, Formula One will head to Monza for the Italian Grand Prix in two weeks. The race is set for September 6.
| Pos. | Driver | Laps | Time | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 72 | 2:4:44.859 | 25 | ||
| 2 | 72 | +11.536 | 18 | ||
| 3 | 72 | +15.906 | 15 | ||
| 4 | 72 | +16.755 | 12 | ||
| 5 | 72 | +17.258 | 10 |  | |
| 6 | 72 | +32.332 | 8 | ||
| 7 | 72 | +79.915 | 6 | ||
| 8 | 71 | +1 Lap | 4 | ||
| 9 | 71 | +1 Lap | 2 | ||
| 10 | 71 | +1 Lap | 1 | ||
| 11 | 71 | +1 Lap | |||
| 12 | 71 | +1 Lap | |||
| 13 | 71 | +1 Lap | |||
| 14 | 70 | +2 Laps | |||
| 15 | 70 | +2 Laps | |||
| 16 | 70 | +2 Laps | |||
| DNF | 66 | ||||
| DNF | 61 | ||||
| DNF | 52 | ||||
| DNF | 45 | ||||
| DNF | 2 | ||||
| DNF | 0 |
| 1 | K. Antonelli | 242 |  | |
| 2 | G. Russell | 183 | -59 |  |
| 3 | L. Hamilton | 183 | -59 |  |
| 4 | L. Norris | 159 | -83 | |
| 5 | C. Leclerc | 155 | -87 | |
| 1 | Mercedes | 425 | | |
| 2 | Ferrari | 338 | -87 | |
| 3 | McLaren | 263 | -162 | |
| 4 | Red Bull | 186 | -239 | |
| 5 | Racing Bulls | 66 | -359 | |
