The sprint in Zandvoort is 24 flat out laps with no mandatory pitstops. It is the first (and last) sprint in the Netherlands.
Sainz and Alonso started the sprint from the pit lane. Both Williams and Aston Martin opting for set up changes to prepare for the rest of the weekend knowing that scoring points was unrealistic.
During the formation lap, Perez failed to pull away from the grid resulting in the Cadillac pit crew wheeling him down the pitlane. He was not ready at the race start but they managed to get his car sent out 2 laps down to gather data for the rest of the weekend. Also on the formation lap we saw Hamilton suffering a lock up, which probably did some damage to his tires before the race had even started.
Charles Leclerc had opted for softs, when every other driver (barring Bearman) was on the medium compound. This was a risky strategy as it was unknown if the softs would hang on for 24 laps but considering he started 3rd and finished 2nd this risky strategy seemed to pay off.
Lights out was surprisingly clean and well behaved from the drivers. There was no contact barrelling down to Tarzan corner. Notably, Oscar Piastri lost 4th to Kimi Antonelli at turn 1. Russell had a dream start as Norris could not get close enough to properly threaten him and he managed to build up a healthy gap in the opening laps keeping himself out of immediate risk.
Hulkenberg was told to box to retire the car on lap 6. He started in 14th and had a pretty bad start to the race. They managed to get him back out a few laps later to gather data for the rest of the weekend but this is a disappointing sprint for Audi as they have looked quick at Zandvoort so far, it is just not going their way.
On lap 9 George was told by his engineers that his management in high speed corners was good and he could start pushing more. He quickly built a bigger gap and broke the second mark that gives the car behind boost mode. Looking at throttle traces, both Mercedes drivers lift a little bit during the high speed corners and deploy that additional energy on the straights instead, allowing them to be kinder to their tires.
On lap 10 Norris was complaining about the rear end. The car was visibly twitchy on corner exits and there was also visible tire wear if you look at his onboards. This allowed Leclerc to close in on him. On lap 13, Piastri was suffering as well and started falling back and becoming vulnerable to Max Verstappen. On lap 18 Norris was eventually passed by the Ferrari and was under pressure for the remainder of the race from Kimi Antonelli, who thankfully for Norris, could not get the move done. Both McLaren’s seemed to be struggling for race pace which is definitely a concern for the team that they will need to look into for the Grand Prix tomorrow.
The closing stages of the race involved a lot of questions about the weather. Albon was told that rain would hit in the final 2 laps, whereas Verstappen was told the rain was not going to hit. A lap later Piastri was told the rain risk was increasing. The rain did hit as George Russell was crossing the finish line to take the win on lap 24. Although the rain did not effect the race massively, it goes to show how quick conditions can change in Zandvoort. The weather is something teams are going to be keeping a close eye on during qualifying and the Grand Prix tomorrow.
Notably Leclerc’s gamble on softs paid off well. Teams now know that the soft tire can hold on pretty well for 24 laps which might influence strategy decisions over the Grand Prix.
Russell won his third sprint race of the season. This gives him momentum coming out of the summer break, however the catch? No sprint race winner has won the Grand Prix on Sunday. Can Russell break this curse?
George Russell wins the Dutch Sprint with Leclerc in 2nd and Norris in 3rd.
Finally, Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen and Yuki Tsunoda are all facing post race FIA investigations after failing to follow race directors instructions. There is no further information on what they have been noted for but they are all separate incidents, and this kind of investigation can cover a whole range of infringements. Depending on what the investigation is for they could all face warnings, fines or even penalties.
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