Antonelli sets Friday pace at Zandvoort
Championship leader Kimi Antonelli opened the second half of the Formula 1 season with the fastest time in the sole practice session for the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort. The Italian, who turns 20 next week, lapped the seaside circuit in 1:12.949 with McLaren's reigning champion Lando Norris second, 0.121s slower, on a dry track after a rainy start to the session. Mercedes teammate George Russell was third, 0.125s off the pace, and Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton — Antonelli's closest championship challenger at 50 points back after 11 rounds — was fourth, 0.190s adrift. Antonelli had earlier spun 360 degrees with half an hour remaining in the session. Ferrari's Charles Leclerc was fifth, ahead of McLaren's Oscar Piastri and Audi's Nico Hulkenberg, with Alpine's Pierre Gasly eighth as the final driver within a second of Antonelli's benchmark. Home favourite Max Verstappen was only 11th fastest and reported struggling with oversteer, while stand-in Red Bull driver Liam Lawson, promoted from Racing Bulls after Isack Hadjar sustained a wrist injury, was 14th. The weekend is being run to the sprint format, with sprint qualifying later on Friday, the 100km points-scoring race on Saturday, and main grand prix qualifying also on Saturday.
Turn 13 off costs Antonelli an estimated 25 points of downforce
Antonelli's clean practice form did not carry into sprint qualifying. Opening the first phase as championship leader, he was running faster than Russell before a snap of oversteer through the penultimate corner forced a correction that put him into the gravel at Turn 13 on his first flying lap. Antonelli kept the car facing the right way and rejoined the track, but the lap had already been compromised and he managed only eighth in SQ1, almost 0.7s off Charles Leclerc's benchmark. Speaking afterwards, Antonelli put the cost of the error at approximately "25 points of downforce."
Recovery to fifth as Russell takes sprint pole
Despite the SQ1 setback, Antonelli recovered through the session and put his Mercedes fifth in SQ3, ending up over 0.2s down on Russell. The full sprint qualifying classification placed Russell on pole, Norris 0.041s behind in second, Leclerc 0.055s off in third, Piastri 0.099s back in fourth, and Antonelli 0.227s adrift in fifth. The remainder of the top ten comprised Verstappen, Hamilton, Gasly, Gabriel Bortoleto and Arvid Lindblad, with Lawson, Yuki Tsunoda, Franco Colapinto, Hulkenberg, Esteban Ocon, Alexander Albon, Oliver Bearman, Carlos Sainz, Lance Stroll, Valtteri Bottas, Sergio Pérez and Fernando Alonso filling positions 11 through 22 respectively.
Engine notes from the support bill
The Dutch GP weekend also produced separate technical headlines. Mercedes powered Russell to pole as Antonelli's practice speed suggested the team's overall pace remains strong on Zandvoort's farewell appearance from the calendar. Separately, Aston Martin showed further signs of improvement, with an upgraded Honda engine propelling Fernando Alonso to 12th and teammate Stroll to 18th in practice, while the Honda power unit was also reported as bringing fresh but expected driveability issues that made the cars "difficult to stop."
What remains uncertain
The principal unknowns going into Saturday are the weather, with Friday having opened in the wet before drying, and whether Antonelli's downforce-related deficit on his compromised first run can be fully recovered in race trim for the 24-lap sprint and the main grand prix. Verstappen's oversteer struggles in 11th and the form of the upgraded Aston Martin–Honda package around Zandvoort also remain open questions ahead of qualifying for Sunday's race.
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