Mercedes enters the second half of the 2026 F1 season on a high note, with George Russell putting the Brackley outfit on pole during Sprint Qualifying at the 2026 F1 Dutch GP. The Briton had set a time of 1:11.567, which placed him at the top of the time chart ahead of McLaren‘s Lando Norris and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
Teammate and Championship leader Kimi Antonelli also qualified in the top 5, placing himself P5 on the starting grid with a time of 1:11.794. The Italian driver was 0.227s slower than Russell after sustaining significant floor damage early in SQ1.
It has been a positive start to the 2026 F1 Dutch GP for Mercedes, with Antonelli and Russell building on the strong momentum of their 1-2 in the sole free practice session of the weekend. Both Mercedes drivers remain optimistic ahead of the 2026 F1 Dutch GP Sprint on Saturday despite being wary of their competitors close behind.
Russell on clinching Sprint pole at the 2026 F1 Dutch GP
George Russell’s 2026 F1 Dutch GP Sprint pole marks the Briton’s third Sprint one of the season. Reflecting on his performance, the 28-year-old spoke on clinching pole after a long deficit. The last time Russell placed himself on pole was during the 2026 F1 Austrian GP weekend.
Nonetheless, the Briton recognised that it was only Sprint Qualifying and is already looking ahead to the main Qualifying session. The Mercedes driver also remains cautious of the team’s two main rivals, McLaren and Ferrari, as he acknowledged the teams’ strong outings. However, Russell also shared that Mercedes has been “in a good spot” at Zandvoort.
“You know, it’s been a little while since I’ve been top of the time sheets in any session, to be honest. I can’t even remember the last time. So it’s good to remind myself I still got it. And I haven’t forgotten how to drive. And the break came at a good point. Of course, it’s only the sprint session. Still got the job to do tomorrow. The main qualifier is going to be the key one. And McLaren looks really fast. Ferrari looks quick. It’s been a real surprise to us as a team these past couple of races. But yeah, we’re in a good spot.”
Mindset entering the weekend
When asked if he was surprised by Mercedes’ performance thus far, the Briton admitted that he came into the 2026 F1 Dutch GP weekend with fairly low expectations. Despite clinching two wins in the first half of the season, Russell has been struggling to adapt to the W17 and entered the second half of the season P3 in the Drivers’ Standings, 59 points behind teammate Kimi Antonelli. Hence, coming into the weekend, he was not confident in either himself or the car’s pace.
Russell then shared that to combat this, he made the conscious decision to stop overthinking and rely on his instincts in the cockpit.
“I got to be honest, I came into this weekend with a real open mind because I had no idea how it was going to go. Confidence level wasn’t exactly at my highest. But just trying to remember that feeling of what I needed from myself and the car. And just go in and almost treat it like the first race of the season again and not overthink things. And that seems to work well for me.
“It’s very difficult to actually put those words into action. But I always know when I’m in the right frame of mind. Come Q3, I can always deliver. It’s just ensuring I’m in that right frame of mind ahead of that point.”
On converting the pole into a win
Russell is confident he can convert his pole into a win with a strong start. According to the seven-time race winner, the opening lap will be crucial, especially since Circuit Zandvoort is notoriously difficult to overtake on. He also acknowledged that Mercedes’ biggest challenger in the Sprint would be Ferrari.
“I think just a good start, to be honest. I think it’s going to be a very challenging circuit to overtake. The Ferrari’s race pace looked exceptionally strong this morning. We look quite offset, to be honest, in the order of three or four tenths. We’ll see if that translates into tomorrow. But a clean start and that should be enough.”
Kimi Antonelli on his Mercedes sustaining damage from SQ1 at 2026 F1 Dutch GP
Antonelli started the 2026 F1 Dutch GP on a strong note, topping the sole free practice session and showing significant pace. However, the Italian driver made a mistake entering Turn 13 of his first flying lap in SQ1, which forced him wide and through the gravel. This resulted in Antonelli sustaining significant floor damage.
Despite placing himself P5 on the starting grid for the Sprint, Antonelli knows he had more pace and lamented the damage, saying it affected his performance for the rest of the session. As explained by the 19-year-old, the damage sustained had a significant impact on his Mercedes’ downforce, leading him to struggle in the low-speed corners.
“Oh yeah, I had a couple of holes in the floor. So when I came in, they initially said it was a loss of 25 points. Then they tried to repair as much as possible. But yeah, definitely the damage was still there. I was struggling a lot in the low speed. But yeah, it’s what it is, you know. It was a little bit too much entry speed in the last corner in that lap one and lost the rear and went through the gravel. And yeah, that was pretty much it.”
Looking ahead to Saturday, Antonelli admitted that it would be difficult to regain his confidence in his Mercedes. Nonetheless, as he is only more than two tenths behind teammate and pole sitter George Russell, the Italian driver will be looking to maxmise his outing in the Sprint and regroup ahead of the main Qualifying session.
“And then obviously, also it was not easy to build the confidence back. But you know, still decently close and we’ll have another go tomorrow.
“Yeah, I mean, we’ll try to, you know, do the best race we can. Of course, you know, it’s very close at the front, so it’s not going to be easy to overtake. But yeah, we’ll try to do the best we can, even with the damage. And then from qualifying, we’re going to tidy the car up and go again.”
