F1 Dutch GP live commentary and updates - FP1

And that's all from us! We'll catch you shortly for sprint qualifying - see you then!

FP1 recap

Formula 1

F1 Dutch GP: Antonelli pips Norris in practice in poor showing for Red Bull

The F1 championship leader topped the sole practice session upon returning from the summer break at the Dutch GP

Trackside, our man Stuart Codling was reporting a little bit of rain at Turn 3 towards the end of that session - but nothing that could really affect the circuit. The weather will play a part this weekend, as patches of grey cloud are very obvious around the Dutch dunes.

A fastest final sector for Leclerc, but he remains fourth. Bortoleto finds an Aston Martin in his way at Turn 12, and it costs a bundle of time in the final sector. 

Lawson carries too much speed through Turn 11 and has a slide, and can only manage 14th after that - half a second down on Verstappen's best effort thus far.

It's a 1m13.347s from Leclerc, who goes fastest. Hamilton does a rapid first sector, however, and brings him up to top spot with a 1m13.139s.

Gasly was fourth ahead of Verstappen, but Hulkenberg does a rapid lap on the mediums to take fourth spot. Audi looks good here.

Leclerc's first sector was pretty slow, so he's backed off. Piastri's going for a soft-tyre tilt, grabbing a purple first sector, purple second, and crosses the line with a 1m13.608s to go fastest.

Verstappen's looking less comfortable out there, and goes fifth - 0.717s off Piastri.

It's a 1m14.826s for Colapinto and he thus goes up to sixth, so that's a pretty handy lap. 

Leclerc's got some softs on, so he's about to go for a hot lap. 

Verstappen has had his own brush with the gravel, as the car oversteered and he had to correct the steering to save the rear end. Red Bull is checking his floor for damage.

Just a few cars on track at the moment; Colapinto's put on a set of softs to have a crack at a qualifying simulation. 

Hamilton has an off at Turn 11; it's easy to do, if you're not able to get the rotation into the corner. Drivers prefer a neutral apex there and then take an early apex into Turn 12.

Aston Martin's going well with its Hungary updates and newly upgraded Honda - Alonso is 12th, and Stroll is 15th.

Not much in the way of lap-time improvements, as teams explore the longer runs in preparation for tomorrow's sprint race.

Norris goes fifth, although gets a little bit held up by an Alpine through the final corner. 

Alonso goes a bit deep into Turn 11 and shaves the gravel - naturally, he backs off after that.

Sainz indeed has floor damage, costing "20 points of downforce" which is probably a fair chunk of time - perhaps circa half a second, but that depends on the downforce demand of the circuit. 

Sainz has another gravel excursion at Turn 11, his floor might need a once-over...

Verstappen has a purple sector 1, and goes up to fourth - 0.2s off Hamilton's benchmark. A downshift mid-Turn 11 comes with a slight twitch at the rear, which he naturally dislikes. 

It's a 1m14.742s for Hamilton who now goes top again, as Norris gets up to fourth and within 0.3s of the Briton.

Russell moves back up to second to split the Ferraris. 

P2 for Norris, 0.188s on the mediums, as Lawson gets within 0.3s of Antonelli's best - and on the hard tyre. 

Russell then goes up to second, within a tenth of Antonelli.

Verstappen sets his first lap of the session, and goes 12th. Lock-up through Turn 12 there, but he gets the car turned in.

It's a 1m15.351s for Antonelli now, who gets a nice little tow from Sainz through Luyendykbocht and onto the start-finish straight, 

Leclerc moves up to second, 0.415s down on the Italian driver.

Russell is 0.557s behind Antonelli, with Piastri a further four tenths down. Tsunoda is 0.3s off the McLaren.

Lindblad has a slide into Turn 11, but saves the car from reaching the gravel trap. 

Antonelli now sets a 1m16.112s to go top again, after Russell briefly moved ahead of his team-mate. It's a 1m19.066s for Lawson on his opening effort, but the pace will come to him as the tyres warm up.

Another tour by Piastri brings the pace down to a 1m20.480s, so the circuit's getting quicker. Antonelli's on the road on mediums, and goes quicker in sector one...

...and that leads into a 1m18.264.

Tsunoda does a 1m21.448s on his first effort, and we now have Lawson on a lap for Red Bull.

Piastri taking a little bit of margin through Turn 3, avoiding the white line around the corner's circumference. Driving slightly gingerly, he sets a 1m23.311s to move to the top.

More slicks going on the cars; Tsunoda leaves the garage on a set of hard tyres. 

Piastri appears to have done just that - he's come in to switch to a medium tyre. We'll probably have a few follow suit after their sighter laps.

Antonelli, Piastri, Hamilton, Ocon, and Russell are next on the circuit, also intermediate tyres. Bit of exploration to do, just to see how dry the track is. 

"It's pretty dry already, I think it's slicks," Hulkenberg reports. That's good news for the likes of Lawson on Tsunoda, who have a lot of familiarisation work to do. 

Five minutes to go!

Just one practice session this weekend - then it's straight into sprint qualifying later on.  The fans are already here in their thousands - all in coats, as it might be a touch damp...

Fans gathered for the stage

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Formula 1 via Getty Images

Aston Martin pays tribute to Biscuit

"Just before the summer break, we lost our teammate, Mick Fern, affectionately known to so many of us as Biscuit.

"Biscuit spent 35 years in the paddock, and he was respected by all who worked with him. We will dearly miss his warmth and humour.

"We carried a message for him on the car in Budapest and will recognise his passing with a tribute on the car in Zandvoort this weekend (on the front wing end plate). Team members will also be wearing black armbands on race day."

A nice tribute from the team - RIP Biscuit.

How is 2027's grid shaping up?

Formula 1

How the 2027 F1 grid is shaping up after Verstappen's Red Bull new deal

Next year's grid is starting to fall into place - but who's driving where?

Sainz, Albon remain at Williams for 2027

Williams announced that both of its drivers will be retained for next year - good news for the team, after suggestions that Sainz might be looking elsewhere for next year.

The team has endured a difficult year so far. Early focus on reducing the weight of the car has taken away some of the focus on adding downforce, leaving the FW48 lagging behind somewhat in development terms. The Grove squad is hoping that a significant update for Baku will help push it forward.

Carlos Sainz, Williams

Photo by: Guido De Bortoli / LAT Images via Getty Images

Verstappen's fresh Red Bull deal

Max Verstappen extended his Red Bull deal to the end of 2030, which puts an end to the chatter about his short-term future. 

In the article below, Ronald Vording explains the ramifications of the Dutchman's new contract...

Formula 1

What Verstappen’s big deal means for his future, Red Bull and F1

Max Verstappen extending his Red Bull contract was always the most logical outcome of the past few months. Even the McLaren rumours fitted into the bigger picture. The new deal is not only good news for Verstappen financially and for Red Bull, but also for F1 as a whole

Lawson in at Red Bull with Hadjar injured

In case you missed it: Liam Lawson is driving the Red Bull this weekend, as Isack Hadjar is out with a fractured wrist after an injury sustained in training.

Yuki Tsunoda steps into Lawson's car, which is a prime opportunity to demonstrate that he deserves a place on next year's grid. 

Yuki Tsunoda, Racing Bulls

Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Sutton Images via Getty Images

F1 is back!

Hello everyone, and welcome back! I hope you've had a lovely summer, and we're now back for the second half of the 2026 F1 season. 

It's the last dance for the Dutch Grand Prix this weekend - and, to celebrate, it's a sprint weekend too.

Lots to talk about - so, let's get into it...

A general view of the circuit

Photo by: Pauline Ballet / LAT Images via Getty Images