Summary

  • George Russell takes pole position for Saturday's sprint race at Zandvoort

  • Lando Norris finishes second and Charles Leclerc third

  • Out in SQ2: Lawson, Tsunoda, Colapinto, Hulkenberg, Ocon, Albon

  • Out in SQ1: Alonso, Perez, Bottas, Stroll, Sainz and Bearman

  • Max Verstappen signs new contract at Red Bull until end of 2030

  • Isack Hadjar ruled out of weekend with injured wrist

  • Liam Lawson replaces him at Red Bull; Yuki Tsunoda stepping in for Lawson at Racing Bulls

  • Kimi Antonelli leads Lewis Hamilton in drivers' championship by 50 points

  • Select audio icon for Sports Extra 3 commentary (UK only)

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Live Reporting

Jay Freeman

  1. Focus on Aston Martin as long-awaited Honda upgrade arrives

    Andrew Benson
    BBC F1 correspondent in Zandvoort

    Fernando AlonsoGetty Images

    Lots of attention this weekend will be focused on Aston Martin, who have the first, long-awaited - and much needed - upgrade from engine partner Honda. Shintaro Orihara, Honda’s trackside manager and chief engineer, was coy on Thursday on the topic of how significant the upgrade was. At one point, he referred to it as the only “big” upgrade of the season. At another he said: “In race field, every 50 milliseconds or 100 milliseconds, it is very important to improve our position. And I believe our update can bring that type of improvement on lap times.”

    That is not believed to be a direct reference to the expected performance uplift of the new engine, which insiders at Aston Martin say is hoped to be in the region of 0.3-0.5secs. Which would put the power step at between 30-50kW. That’s nowhere near enough to close the gap to the best engines, but it should, if delivered, move Aston Martin up the field a bit.

    For Fernando Alonso, still to make a decision on his future, it’s not the size of the upgrade that matters, but the proof it would give that Honda is on the right track.

    “For me,” Alonso said, “it’s more important, like in Budapest, with the chassis side, to see that there is an understanding, a philosophy on what the needs are, and a step forward. In Budapest, we knew that we would not compete for the top positions, but we wanted to check that the direction on the chassis side was the correct one.

    “We did that, so that is encouraging for the future, that the correlation is good, and what we expected was delivered. And now with the engine, it's the same thing. It would be nice to confirm that everything is working as expected, and if it's one tenth or one second, it doesn't matter really the number. We are too far behind to really care about a number. We just want to see that what we expected is delivered.”

  2. Dutch GP in pictures as F1 prepares for Zandvoort farewell

    At the 1979 Dutch Grand Prix, Gilles Villeneuve drives his Ferrari with a shredded left rear wheel barely hanging on to his carGetty Images

    Formula 1 says farewell to the Dutch Grand Prix this weekend with the final event at Zandvoort before it drops off the calendar.

    Orange smoke has hung in the air of the seaside venue since it returned to the schedule in 2021 after a 36-year absence, with sell-out crowds overwhelmingly supporting Red Bull's Max Verstappen.

    Despite its popularity, organisers have not been able to make the event work financially and have decided not to continue hosting F1.

    Before Zandvoort signs off, we take a look back at a selection of images from the Dutch Grand Prix, which was first run as an F1 event in 1952.

    Have a look at the full gallery here

    Jim Clark in his Lotus in 1965 on the way to the third of his record four victories at ZandvoortGetty Images
    James Hunt stood with the key figures in the Hesketh team: From the left, Lord Hesketh, team manager Anthony 'Bubbles' Horsley and designer Harvey PostlethwaiteGetty Images
    Dutch fans greet Red Bull's Max Verstappen with orange flares on the race's return to the F1 calendar in 2021Getty Images

  3. Welcome back

    Jay Freeman
    BBC Sport

    Here we go again, then.

    The weather at Zandvoort's not a million miles away from the UK, is it? Overcast, damp, chilly and with a peek of sunshine here or there.

    Kimi Antonelli topped the standings in practice earlier on but can he show the pace to take sprint pole this afternoon?

    Ferrari, Antonelli's Mercedes team-mate George Russell and reigning world champion Lando Norris all looked in decent nick earlier on, so the fight might be on.

  4. Report: Antonelli leads Norris in Dutch GP first practice

    Andrew Benson
    BBC F1 correspondent in Zandvoort

    Kimi AntonelliGetty Images

    Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli headed McLaren's Lando Norris in first practice at the Dutch Grand Prix.

    Championship leader Antonelli was 0.121 seconds clear of Norris - who won the last race in Hungary before Formula 1's summer break - with the Italian's Mercedes team-mate George Russell just 0.004secs further adrift.

    Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton, who is 50 points behind 19-year-old Antonelli in the championship, was fourth fastest - 0.190secs off the pace.

    Hamilton's team-mate Charles Leclerc and the second McLaren of Oscar Piastri completed the top six.

    There was an encouraging performance from the new Honda engine in the Aston Martin, with Fernando Alonso ending the session 12th fastest and 1.562secs down.

    That appears at first sight to suggest the new engine is providing the 0.3-0.5secs gain in lap time for which Aston Martin had been hoping.

    Read the full report here

  5. Back for Sprint Qualifying at 15:15 BST

    Good stuff in that session with the times tumbling down as the track at Zandvoort slowly began to dry out.

    Get the wrong tyre or underestimate the effects of the sand and sea at your peril, however, as Kimi Antonelli, Carlos Sainz and Max Verstappen found out.

    Antonelli tops the standings going into Sprint Qualifying but will he top the standings again when we return?

    We'll park things for now but we'll guide you through that session from 15:15 BST.

    Bye for now!

  6. And the rest

    11. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)

    12. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)

    13. Franco Colapinto (Alpine)

    14. Liam Lawson (Red Bull)

    15. Ollie Bearman (Haas)

    16. Esteban Ocon (Haas)

    17. Yuki Tsunoda (Racing Bulls)

    18. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)

    19. Alex Albon (Williams)

    20. Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac)

    21. Sergio Perez (Cadillac)

    22. Carlos Sainz (Williams)

  7. Top 10

    1. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) - 1:12.949

    2. Lando Norris (McLaren) +0.121

    3. George Russell (Mercedes) +0.125

    4. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) +0.190

    5. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) +0.289

    6. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) +0.659

    7. Nico Hulkenberg (Audi) +0.835

    8. Pierre Gasly (Alpine) +0.962

    9. Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi) +1.043

    10. Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls) +1.336

  8. Kai Bachini
    F1 commentator on Sports Extra 3

    It's Tokyo drift out there for Charles Leclerc in Zandvoort and he can't improve his lap time.

  9. chequered flag

    Chequered flag

    And so the curtain is brought down on this practice session.

    Kimi Antonelli left it late but tops the timesheets with his 1:12.949 and is the only driver to breach the 1:12 barrier.

    His time is 0.121 seconds faster than the McLaren of Lando Norris while Antonelli's Mercedes team-mate George Russell is third with 1:13.074.

    The Ferrari pair of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc are fourth and fifth in the standings headed into Sprint Qualifying later this afternoon.

  10. Antonelli goes fastest

    Just over two minutes left and Kimi Antonelli goes fastest.

    The championship leader breaches the 1:12s and sets a 1:12.949 in his Mercedes.

    Kimi AntonelliGetty Images

  11. Oof, Lando Norris has arrived.

    On softs he goes fastest with a 1:13.105, having battled with some traffic too.

    Just 0.034 seconds separates him and Lewis Hamilton.

    Lando NorrisGetty Images

  12. Oh, hello.

    Nico Hulkenberg's just barged his way into the party here with a 1:13.784 and goes fourth fastest in his Audi on the medium tyre, no less.

    His team-mate Gabriel Bortoleto's just gone sixth fastest, also on a set of mediums.

  13. Hamilton goes fastest

    Two purple sectors for Lewis Hamilton and he's replaced his Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc in P1.

    His 1:13.139 is 0.208 seconds than Leclerc. Is that the best we'll see in this session?

    Lewis HamiltonGetty Images

  14. With Sprint Qualifying coming up, it's no surprise that plenty of other drives have deployed some softs as the end of this session approaches.

    Oscar Piastri goes fastest with a 1:13.608 but Charles Leclerc moves back to the top of the tree with a 1:13.347.

  15. Eh up.

    Ferrari have sent Charles Leclerc out with a set of softs on.

    11 minutes left in the session. Can he top his 1:14.146? That's already the fastest time of the session so far.

  16. 'Sprint weekends are unforgiving'

    Marc Priestley
    Former F1 mechanic on Sports Extra 3

    Liam Lawson is currently sitting 10th, about half a second between himself and Max Verstappen, both on the hard tyre. That's respectable at this point.

    He's not trying to break records at this phase of the weekend. The worst thing he can do in this session is to put the car in the wall.

    Sprint weekends are unforgiving. Later on we've got sprint qualifying and you can't afford to give the team a huge amount of damage to repair off the back of this practice session.

  17. That banked corner at turn 13's causing a bit of havoc today with the conditions as they are.

    Max Verstappens just gone off there but not in quite as dramatic a fashion as Carlos Sainz earlier on.

  18. Top five

    1. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) 1:14.146

    2. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) +0.113

    3. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) +0.123

    4. George Russell (Mercedes) +0.380

    5. Lando Norris (McLaren) +0.578

  19. Of course Yuki Tsunoda's made a surprise return to action this weekend thanks to the shuffling about in the aftermath of Isack Hadjar's wrist injury.

    Hadjar is in attendance at the track today, in fact. Liam Lawson, who's stepped into his Red Bull for the weekend, is 10th fastest with Tsunoda 14th in the Racing Bulls right now.

  20. So the medium is the tyre of choice up and down the paddock.

    Of the outliers, Pierre Gasly in ninth has done 16 laps on a set of hards and Carlos Sainz, right at the back, did 13 laps on a set of softs...including his off, of course.