What happened in only Dutch GP F1 2026 practice session
Kimi Antonelli kicked off the second half of Formula 1’s 2026 season on top, beating Lando Norris’s McLaren to the top spot in practice at the Dutch Grand Prix.
Championship leader Antonelli delivered a 1m12.949s lap in the dying moments of the sole practice session at Zandvoort, his second flying lap on those soft tyres after he was baulked by traffic on his first.
Antonelli also had a harmless spin earlier in the session on the exit of Turn 10 before resuming.
Norris also improved on his second flying lap to end up 0.121s adrift of Antonelli, with George Russell third, 0.125s off his team-mate Antonelli.
The Ferraris of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc were fourth and fifth quickest but within three tenths of the pace.
Oscar Piastri’s McLaren was 0.659s slower than Antonelli’s benchmark in sixth.
Nico Hulkenberg’s Audi led the midfield in seventh on the medium tyres, ahead of Pierre Gasly, who has Alpine’s major upgrade on his car (Franco Colapinto will get it at Monza), and Hulkenberg's Audi team-mate Gabriel Bortoleto.
Arvid Lindblad was 10th for Racing Bulls, ahead of Max Verstappen, fresh from recommitting to Red Bull.
It was a tricky session for Red Bull, with Verstappen struggling with understeer and Liam Lawson trying to get to grips with the RB22 that he only found out he’d be driving for the first time earlier this week.
Lawson ended up 14th, around six tenths adrift of Verstappen, having had a moment at the Turn 11/12 chicane on his final flying lap.
That section also caught out Carlos Sainz’s Williams, which ended up 22nd and last for Williams, having had a couple of off-track moments.
Elsewhere, the new Honda engine upgrade racked up decent mileage (49 laps) and powered Alonso to the 12th fastest time, 1.5s off the pace.
And Yuki Tsunoda was 17th in his first F1 session for Racing Bulls, eight months on from losing his Red Bull drive at the end of last year.
