Russell takes sprint pole position for Dutch Grand Prix

Russell's sprint pole position has sent a benchmark for the second half of the season | Credit: Formula One

After a single hour of practice for the Dutch Grand Prix, all 22 drivers on the Formula One grid took to the 4.259km track for sprint qualifying. Following up his two sprint pole positions from earlier this season, Mercedes' George Russell added a third to the tally. Completing the top three are McLaren's Lando Norris and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc.

As a reminder, tyre rules for sprint qualifying are structured so that teams are required to use brand new medium compound tyres in SQ1 and SQ2. For drivers who progress into SQ3, teams are required to use soft-compound tyres for their drivers.

SQ1 - Leclerc takes the lead

As one of the first drivers on the track, Antonelli dealt with an early off-track excursion similar to his situation in FP1. After confirming with his race engineer, the young Italian driver continued with no damage sustained to the car. Elsewhere in the top five, the driver line-ups for both Ferrari and McLaren traded off lap-times to find themselves at the top of the timesheets.

Lewis Hamilton set the early benchmark with a 1:13.151 and with a gap of less than a tenth between them, his teammate Charles Leclerc slotted into second behind him. However, the Ferrari pair were pipped by reigning world champion Lando Norris who went 0.080s quicker. Behind Norris, Oscar Piastri came within 0.055s of his teammate however was unable to take the top spot.

With the chequered flag waved to signal the end of the first part of sprint qualifying, Leclerc took the top spot with a 1:13.011 ahead of Norris, Piastri, Hamilton and Mercedes' George Russell. Liam Lawson, who was announced to replace Isack Hadjar at the senior Red Bull team for this weekend, found himself ahead of Verstappen.

Further down the grid, Carlos Sainz was out-qualified by his teammate Alex Albon on the weekend where both of their contract extensions with Williams were announced. Additionally, it was confirmed by Aston Martin that Fernando Alonso was dealing with straight mode issues on his rear wing.

Antonelli recovered from a spin in the first part of qualifying | Credit: Formula One

SQ1 Exits

P17 - Ollie Bearman

P18 - Carlos Sainz

P19 - Lance Stroll

P20 - Valtteri Bottas

P21 - Sergio Perez

P22 - Fernando Alonso

SQ2 - Piastri leads Norris as Lawson is eliminated

Setting the early benchmark, Norris set a 1:12.514 however was quickly pipped by his teammate who set a 1:12.026. As the times continued to tumble, the top eight were covered by the four front-running teams: McLaren, Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull.

With only minutes remaining on the clock, Leclerc and Hamilton separated the McLaren pair. However, it was an uncharacteristic showing for the Silver Arrows who briefly managed third with Russell and fourth with Antonelli before they dropped down the field. When the chequered flag was waved, Norris finished second with a gap of 0.163s to the fastest car.

In the midfield, Yuki Tsunoda, who is replacing former teammate Lawson at Racing Bulls, raced with this new generation of car for the first time this weekend and ended up 11th for his efforts. His teammate, Arvid Lindblad, made his way into the top 10 for the second time in the sprint format.

Keeping Racing Bulls company in the midfield, Pierre Gasly in his updated Alpine also made his way into the top 10. In comparison, his teammate Franco Colapinto, who had a gap of almost seven-tenths to the French driver, failed to progress into the final part of qualifying.

McLaren and Ferrari have resumed their close battle from the first part of the season | Credit: Formula One

SQ2 Exits

P11 - Liam Lawson

P12 - Yuki Tsunoda

P13 - Franco Colapinto

P14 - Nico Hulkenberg

P15 - Esteban Ocon

P16 - Alex Albon

SQ3 - Russell reigns supreme

With only 10 cars, action was slow to begin however Norris set a 1:11.608 for provision sprint pole position. However, this was quickly beaten by Russell who set a 1:11.567 which ended up being the fastest lap of the session.

For the three midfield cars representing Alpine, Racing Bulls and Audi in the final part of sprint qualifying, it was Gasly who went top of out of the three with Lindblad and Bortoleto behind. It was close margins across the board with only one-tenth covering the top four.

Top 10

P1 - George Russell

P2 - Lando Norris

P3 - Charles Leclerc

P4 - Oscar Piastri

P5 - Kimi Antonelli

P6 - Max Verstappen

P7 - Lewis Hamilton

P8 - Pierre Gasly

P9 - Gabriel Bortoleto

P10 - Arvid Lindblad

Russell's Mercedes on the grid | Credit: Luca Martini / WHYOUT Media

Looking Ahead

With Saturday's sprint including 24 laps of racing and a handful of points up for grabs, there is sure to be entertainment across the grid as the drivers battle it out for position. With the top eight separated by the smallest of margins in today's session, it is anyone's call who will take the chequered flag on Saturday and what impact this might have on the championship standings.