Formula One Preview: Dutch Grand Prix
- Peter Johnson
- 1 hour ago
- 7 min read
Formula One returns from its summer break with a final Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort. Kimi Antonelli is hoping to continue his seemingly unstoppable charge towards the title, while the likes of McLaren and Aston Martin will look to build on the form they found last time out in Hungary. With a raft of upgrades expected during the summer break, it is anyone’s guess as to how the pecking order will look as we enter the second half of the season.
Circuit Guide
Carved into sand dunes on the North Sea coast lies Zandvoort, the host of all 35 previous World Championship Dutch Grands Prix.
Following a 35-year hiatus, significant redevelopment and a further one-year delay due to Covid, the circuit returned to the calendar in 2021.
The track is very old-school in its character and is a hit with the drivers and Dutch fans alike, although its popularity was not enough to prolong its return to the sport beyond this season.
At just 4.259 kilometres, Zandvoort is the second-shortest circuit on this year’s calendar, longer than only Monaco. Traffic is often an issue, particularly given the track’s narrow width, and will only be exacerbated this year with a pair of Cadillacs thrown into the mix.
Another notable feature of Zandvoort is its extreme banking. Turn 3, or Hugenholzbocht, would be a very tight left-handed hairpin if flat, but is instead banked to allow cars to carry speed and take a variety of racing lines.
Even more extreme is the banking at the final corner, which reaches 18 degrees. That is twice the gradient of the banking at Indianapolis and makes it by some distance the most banked corner on the current F1 calendar.
Max Verstappen won his home race for three consecutive years after its return in 2021, before McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri scored a victory each in the last two seasons.
Weather Forecast
Rain is in the air all week at Zandvoort, peaking with thundery showers during Thursday’s media day.
The sprint race looks the session most likely to be affected by rain, with a 60-70% chance of rain on Saturday morning.There is a 20-30% chance of showers on the afternoons of Friday and Saturday, while there is just a 10% chance on Sunday afternoon for the Grand Prix.
Temperatures should hold firm at around 18 degrees Celsius all weekend. The Dutch Grand Prix does have history with wet weather, with the rain-affected 2023 race holding the record for most overtakes in F1 history with 188.
Major Talking Points
Cadillac’s change at the top: It was on the eve of last year’s Dutch Grand Prix that Cadillac announced their first-ever driver lineup of Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Pérez. 12 months on and the team has made another key announcement regarding its key personnel, and it came rather out of the blue.
Graeme Lowdon had led the team since December 2024, over a year before Cadillac made its F1 debut, but has been shuffled out after just half a season of competition. He has been replaced by Marcin Budkowski, who has previously worked for Ferrari, McLaren and Renault. His last role in F1 was as executive director of Alpine, a position he held between 2021 and 2022.
Cadillac CEO Dan Towriss said he had made the decision with a view towards the team’s “future direction”, but admitted it had come “sooner than expected.”
Exact length of season remains uncertain: When F1 hit its summer break after the Hungarian Grand Prix, there were 11 races scheduled for the second half of the season.
That has since become 12, given the confirmation that Malaysia will host the rescheduled Bahrain Grand Prix, which had to be postponed earlier in the season due to conflict in the Middle East. It could yet dip down to ten, should the Qatar and Abu Dhabi Grands Prix be cancelled for the same reason.
However, F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali has said that the season will end in Europe should those two races not take place, with Imola one circuit that has been mooted as a potential host. The Italian has said a final decision will be made come the “middle of September”.
Pecking order at the top: Throughout the first part of 2026 it became clear that Mercedes boast the fastest car, with Ferrari a reasonably comfortable second. The Scuderia even won two races, with a victory each for Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc at Catalunya and Silverstone respectively.
By contrast, it was a miserable start to the season for reigning constructors’ champions McLaren, with Oscar Piastri crashing before the start in Australia and both drivers being withdrawn from the Chinese Grand Prix with electrical issues. However, steady improvement throughout the season culminated with victory for world champion Lando Norris in Hungary and a platform for the team to build on.
Red Bull similarly struggled in the early part of the season, with Max Verstappen even describing his car as “dangerous”. However, the Dutchman picked up three podiums in four races prior to the summer break, suggesting Red Bull are finally beginning to get on top of the new regulations.
If this trend of convergence continues after the summer break, there could be some incredible races to come.
Aston Martin comeback begins: As much as McLaren and Red Bull may have struggled in the opening few rounds, their suffering was nothing compared to that of Aston Martin. The Silverstone team plunged to the back of the field with its new, underperforming Honda power unit, with Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll almost six seconds off Kimi Antonelli’s pole time at Spa.
A whole raft of upgrades for Hungary, which amounted almost to an entirely new car, did deliver as promised, though, and lifted the team into the midfield conversation.
With the conflicting qualities of Adrian Newey’s design genius and Honda’s underpowered engine, it is difficult to know where exactly Aston’s ceiling is. However, having fallen so far behind in the development race over the opening months of 2026, the team now looks to be making significant inroads.
Silly season on hold: Uncharacteristically for this time of year, the driver market for 2027 has been rather quiet. Until Alex Albon’s contract extension with Williams earlier this week, there was no news regarding next year’s driver lineup during the summer break.
Only nine of next year’s 22 seats are now filled, with McLaren, Ferrari and Cadillac’s existing drivers all under contract along with Albon, Verstappen and Pierre Gasly.
Despite his contract with Red Bull, Verstappen’s future still remains uncertain, and he hinted that he would consider his future with the team over the summer break. Many of the remaining seats for next year may only start to be filled once the Dutchman has made his mind up.
Past Dutch Grands Prix
17 of the 35 World Championship Grands Prix at Zandvoort were won by the eventual World Champion, a trend begun by Alberto Ascari in 1952 and 1953 and most recently followed up by Max Verstappen between 2021 and 2023.
Jo Bonnier (1959), Wolfgang von Trips (1961), Graham Hill (1962) and James Hunt (1975) all claimed their maiden victories at Zandvoort, while Niki Lauda is one of several drivers to claim his final win in the Netherlands, as he did when he seized victory for the 25th and final time in 1985.
Isack Hadjar claimed the first podium of his F1 career with a third-placed finish for Racing Bulls last year.
The 2023 edition of the Dutch Grand Prix was another one for the history books, with its 188 on-track passes (aided by changeable weather conditions) - an all-time record.
Last year’s race looked like it may prove decisive in the title battle, with Oscar Piastri taking victory as Lando Norris retired with an oil leak. The Australian moved 34 points clear in the standings, but would not win another race all season as Norris clinched the crown.
Drivers to Watch
Lando Norris: The world champion was in inspired form in Hungary, winning his first race of the season from pole position. Norris gave himself work to do after falling behind his teammate on the opening lap, but was the fastest man on track for most of the afternoon and claimed a deserved victory. Zandvoort holds some similarities to the Hungaroring and McLaren will hope to transfer their pace from last race into this one.
Max Verstappen: The Dutchman is without a victory so far in 2026 and is currently on for his first winless season since his debut campaign in 2015. However, if he is to win anywhere you cannot bet against it coming at his home race, with Verstappen taking the chequered flag first three years in a row between 2021 and 2023.
The four-time world champion also scored three podiums in four races heading into the summer break, and finally seems to be getting the best out of his new car.
George Russell: He may be behind Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton in the championship, but realistically George Russell is the only man who could deny Kimi Antonelli a maiden drivers’ title.
Aside from the Barcelona-Austria-Silverstone triple-header, across which the Brit outscored his teammate in every race, he has not finished ahead of Antonelli since the season opener in Australia. Any chance of Russell closing the 59-point gap will depend on him reeling his teammate in over the next few rounds to apply some pressure on the otherwise unflappable Italian.
Weekend Format
This weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix is the fifth of six sprint races in 2026. It is the first time Zandvoort has hosted a sprint weekend on what is its final appearance on the calendar.
Session times (BST)
Practice 1: Friday 11:30 - 12:30
Sprint Qualifying: Friday 15:30 - 16:14
Sprint: Saturday 11:00 - 12:00
Qualifying: Saturday 15:00 - 16:00
Race: Sunday 14:00
Edited by Marit Everett
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