Antonelli remains the driver to beat as F1 returns at the Dutch Grand Prix

Mercedes' George Russell secured his first pole position in four races for the Dutch Grand Prix sprint qualifying. He finished 0.041 seconds ahead of McLaren's Lando Norris. Teammate Kimi Antonelli managed only fifth place, behind Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri of McLaren. Red Bull's Max Verstappen came sixth, ahead of Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton, who trails Antonelli by 50 points.

Russell expressed his happiness, saying the lap felt good and the qualifying process went smoothly despite the short time. Russell's pace is now 0.227 seconds faster than Antonelli, giving him a chance to narrow the points gap in the shorter sprint race. Pierre Gasly was eighth in an Alpine car, ahead of Gabriel Bortoleto in Audi and Arvid Lindblad in a Racing Bulls.

Liam Lawson, substituting for Isack Hadjar, was 11th. Qualifying focused on Aston Martin's new Honda engine, but issues with the straight-line mode prevented Fernando Alonso from qualifying higher. He was last, with team-mate Lance Stroll finishing 19th. Alonso's car struggled with engine driveability and the SLM mode not working, causing difficulties in stopping the car.