F1 2026: Dutch Grand Prix Qualifying Recap

McLaren’s Lando Norris edged out Mercedes and Ferrari to take pole position at Zandvoort for the Dutch Grand Prix 2026. Norris backed up his win in Hungary by resuming positively as the second half of the season kicked off and Norris was on the pace that saw him get ahead of the likes of George Russell, Kimi Antonelli and Lewis Hamilton. 

Mercedes’ George Russell will start on the front row with Norris, after winning the Sprint earlier in the afternoon while home hero Max Verstappen had a disappointing qualifying and will start P7. The Ferraris meanwhile also weren’t able to match the pace of the McLarens as Charles Leclerc and Hamilton will start on the third row ahead of the Red Bull duo as Liam Lawson had an impressive outing as he is filling in for the injured Isack Hadjar for the weekend.

Q1 – Ocon, Bortoleto impress to get out of Q1, Piastri goes fastest

Racing Bulls’ Yuki Tsunoda was the first driver to put up a time with Tsunoda’s 1:14.287s seeing him go on top of the timesheets early on before it was Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton breaking into the 1:13s with a 1:13.406s. The Red Bulls slotted in behind Hamilton with Liam Lawson coming 0.003s close to Hamilton while Verstappen was almost two-tenths slower than Hamilton. 

The Mercedes and McLarens immediately went quicker as they broke into the 1:12s with Piastri going quickest after everyone got their opening laps in, with the Australian dropping a 1:12.848s while George Russell’s Mercedes was 0.091s slower than Piastri. It was the usual suspects at the top while the Haas and Cadillacs were struggling in the drop zone as the clock ticked down.

As the chequered flag fell, Esteban Ocon and Gabriel Bortoleto put in a stunning lap to get themselves out of the drop zone but it was the Williams’ of Carlos Sainz missing out along with the Aston Martin and Cadillac duo and Ollie Bearman.

Drivers eliminated in Q1:

Carlos Sainz
Fernando Alonso
Lance Stroll
Ollie Bearman
Valtteri Bottas
Sergio Pérez

Q2 – McLarens go quickest as Mercedes struggle to keep up

The second qualifying session kicked off with the Red Bulls out on track early and it was a tight scrap at the top of the table as Piastri broke into the 1:11s with a 1:11.834s while his teammate Norris was 0.026s behind and Leclerc was 0.076s slower making up the top three. The Mercedes of Russell was a tenth behind Piastri as was Hamilton but it was Antonelli behind them, who was more than half a second slower. 

Piastri went quicker but it was Norris’ 1:11.628s right at the end that saw the reigning world champion go quickest while Antonelli improved as well to come within three-tenths of Norris. As the chequered flag came out, the bottom six was Pierre Gasly, Yuki Tsunoda, Nico Hülkenberg, Franco Colapinto, Esteban Ocon and Alex Albon missing out on Q3 with Gasly missing out by 0.091 seconds.

Drivers eliminated in Q2:

Pierre Gasly
Yuki Tsunoda
Nico Hülkenberg
Franco Colapinto
Esteban Ocon
Alex Albon

Q3 – Norris pips Russell and Antonelli to take pole in front of Verstappen’s home crowd

The final part of qualifying kicked off with the McLarens out early and it was Norris’ 1:11.344s setting the benchmark with Russell coming closest by being 0.151s slower after the opening laps were completed by all 10 drivers. Antonelli stole pole from Norris momentarily before Norris picked up provisional pole with a 1:11.163s as the drivers went quicker with the rain coming down during the top 10 shootout.

Norris was untouchable as no one could come closer which saw Norris take pole position at Zandvoort while Russell came closest at 0.102s slower and Antonelli was a further 0.031s behind. 

Starting grid for the Dutch Grand Prix 2026 (before penalties applied):

1. Lando Norris
2. George Russell
3. Kimi Antonelli
4. Oscar Piastri
5. Lewis Hamiton
6. Charles Leclerc
7. Max Verstappen
8. Liam Lawson
9. Gabriel Bortoleto
10. Arvid Lindblad 
11. Pierre Gasly
12. Yuki Tsunoda
13. Nico Hülkenberg
14. Franco Colapinto
15. Esteban Ocon

16. Alex Albon

17. Carlos Sainz

18. Fernando Alonso

19. Lance Stroll

20. Ollie Bearman

21. Valtteri Bottas

22. Sergio Pérez