Dutch Grand Prix: Norris Claims Pole Position, Russell Secures Sprint Victory
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Lando Norris claimed pole position for the Dutch Grand Prix, producing a mighty lap at Zandvoort to beat the Mercedes of George Russell and Kimi Antonelli into second and third place, coming back at the last to seal the top spot against the odds.
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Sky SportsLando Norris beat Mercedes duo George Russell and Kimi Antonelli to pole in Zandvoort; reigning world champion Norris claimed McLaren's first win of the season in the previous round; watch the Dutch Grand Prix on Sunday at 2pm (build-up from 12.30pm), live on Sky Sports F1
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McLaren’s Norris found some unexpected extra pace in qualifying to snatch top spot ahead of the Mercedes pair of Russell and the standings leader, Antonelli.
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Sky SportsIn qualifying, Norris edged out the other Mercedes of George Russell for pole, with Antonelli having to settle for third behind his team-mate.
AP SportsBy contrast, Norris spent Saturday still getting to grips with an upgraded McLaren which lacked pace through slow corners in the sprint race before finding extra pace to qualify on pole.
SMH SportBut when it came to the third and final qualifying session with spots of rain threatening, it was Norris who continued his resurgence, taking pole just as he had done last time out at the Hungarian Grand Prix when he went on to win the race.
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Russell won Saturday’s sprint at Zandvoort but Antonelli still increased his standings lead to 53 points despite placing fourth. That was because his closest challenger, Lewis Hamilton, could only manage seventh in the sprint. A troubled day continued for Hamilton as he qualified fifth for the grand prix. Antonelli has a 56-point advantage over Russell, with gaps of 79 points to Leclerc and 90 to Norris. Join me for the Dutch GP as the lights go out at 2pm BST/3pm local time.
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Sky Sports"It's nice to know there's a possibility." Antonelli leads Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton at the top of the standings by 53 points, with Saturday's Sprint winner Russell a further three points back. Norris, who's fifth in the standings, also trails Ferrari's Charles Leclerc by 11 points.
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Norris’s McLaren teammate, Oscar Piastri, was in fourth, with Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc in fifth and sixth for Ferrari and Max Verstappen in seventh for Red Bull.
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SMH SportNorris’ teammate, Australian superstar Oscar Piastri, will start from fourth, with George Russell and this year’s championship leader Kimi Antonelli starting from second and third on the grid. Each have Mercedes power units, just to make things even more fascinating.
Sky SportsNorris appeared to be in a head-to-head battle with his McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri for last year's title before Red Bull's Max Verstappen surged back into contention and eventually finished just two points behind the champion.
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Russell: Title mine to gain, not lose Russell, who must leapfrog Norris on Sunday to complete a Sprint-Grand Prix double in Zandvoort, believes he is benefiting from his position in the championship having removed pressure.
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ESPNRussell: Title fight 'pressure is off' vs. Antonelli George Russell has said he no longer feels like he is in a title battle and has attributed his strong performance at this weekend's Dutch Grand Prix to feeling less pressure as the second half of the season gets underway.
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Russell said: "After the break, I just feel way more relaxed. I don't feel I've got anything to lose. The pressure's off. I'm just going to go out, enjoy it.
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AP Sports“After the break I just feel way more relaxed. I don’t think I’ve got anything to lose,” Russell said. “I’m just going to go out, enjoy it, and I don’t even really feel in a fight. It’s not mine to lose, it’s mine to gain.”
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Lewis Hamilton will be hoping to secure a positive result in the final Dutch Grand Prix, although he is well aware of how competitive the cars ahead of him are. Ferrari has struggled throughout the weekend so far, despite bringing upgrades to Zandvoort.
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Sky SportsSaturday 22 August 2026 18:00, UK Lewis Hamilton believes his Ferrari car is in a "better place" after changes going into Dutch Grand Prix qualifying and that the team can still be "optimistic" for Sunday's race despite starting on the third row.
6 details only one outlet reported
Independent claims that didn't surface elsewhere in our corpus. Treat as supplementary — not corroborated across outlets.
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01 Sky Sports Follow live updates and watch the best video from the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort on Sunday. Watch live on Sky Sports F1 Sunday 23 August 2026 12:32, UK
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02 The Guardian Sport Formula One is back after its summer break and what a race to return to with the Dutch Grand Prix. With the GP not renewed beyond this year, the Orange Army will be in full voice supporting Max Verstappen on home soil for possibly the final time in his career.
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03 Yahoo Sports Speaking during the traditional drivers' parade ahead of the race, Hamilton acknowledged the challenge Ferrari faces from fifth on the grid, with several quick cars starting ahead of him. Nevertheless, the seven-time world champion remains hopeful of making progress and putting pressure on his rivals, despite the difficulties of overtaking around Zandvoort.
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04 AP Sports ZANDVOORT, Netherlands (AP) — George Russell is back at the front of Formula 1 with a new driving style and nothing to lose.
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05 SMH Sport Oscar Piastri found plenty of encouraging pace, but it still wasn’t enough to get McLaren’s Australian ace into the qualifying shake-up at Zandvoort as teammate Lando Norris roared to back-to-back poles at the Dutch Grand Prix.
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06 Reuters Sports Zandvoort bows out after 'final lap' Dutch GP party - Reuters Zandvoort bows out after 'final lap' Dutch GP party Reuters
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Sources (7)
- espn
- ap-sports
- smh-sport
- skysports
- reuters-sports
- guardian-sport
- yahoosports