F1 Dutch GP live commentary and updates - sprint race

And that's it from us! Qualifying starts in a little over three hours, so join us a bit before then as we build up to the session.

Catch you then, thanks for joining us!

Race recap

Formula 1

F1 Dutch GP: Russell controls sprint race as Leclerc overhauls Norris for second

George Russell won the Saturday F1 sprint race at Zandvoort from pole, while his championship-leading team-mate Antonelli could only muster fourth

George Russell, winner of the Dutch GP sprint: "Obviously a great start to the weekend, one more lap and it would have been potentially a very different end! The Ferrari looked fast so it'll be a tight one this afternoon.

"I knew if there was going to be any overtakes it would be at the end of the race, so I just managed my tyres in the high-speed corners so I could have more in the tank come the end. If Charles got past Lando at any point I knew he would've been fast, so when I saw Charles behind I dropped the hammer."

Charles Leclerc, second place: "When you are the only one doing something, it's either very right or very wrong. I think [soft tyres] were a good choice so we did our homework in FP1. On the grid, you just hope you've done the right choice.

"I knew Lando didn't have much deployment on the main straight so I knew I had to maximise that. We arrived at the corner at more or less at the same point, but it worked out!"

Lando Norris, third place: "Not a bad result, not the best, would've been nicer to be a little bit faster. Charles was too quick, I don't think it was the tyres but we just weren't quick enough.

"We're very good in high-speed, the car's just not performing to the level it needs to in the slow-speed corners. We're optimising a lot of things, it's a good result, we have to be happy with the progress we're making. But we need more." 

If this rain could hang on for qualifying, that might be fun...

Anyway, we're about to hear from the top three.

It really is hammering down now! Where was this five minutes ago?

Antonelli finishes fourth over Piastri, with Verstappen, Hamilton, and Gasly completing the scorers for this race. 

Antonelli is right on Norris' gearbox and nearly nose-to-tail in Turn 3, but he didn't quite have the line or the speed to clear the McLaren. That's probably his last opportunity, unless Norris has an issue...

Leclerc took a chunk out of Russell's lead, but it won't be enough to hound Russell.

Hulkenberg has returned to the circuit, so it's not over...but he's 15 laps down. 

...but Norris has enough in reserve to evade an attack from Antonelli. Piastri, meanwhile is being told that rain may approach. 

Hamilton's charge on Verstappen has stalled, but at least he's a full 24s clear of Gasly.

Russell continues to stabilise, 1.4s clear of Leclerc, with Norris another 2s behind. Antonelli is closer at the end of this lap...

Albon's been told that "level 1 rain" is approaching, but Verstappen is told that it won't approach before the end of the race.

Verstappen is back on Piastri's tail - it's all quite accordion-y at the moment as gaps grow and shrink.

Russell's picked up the pace now that Leclerc is free, so clearly the Mercedes driver felt that Norris could be contained at a slower pace.

Leclerc on soft tyres is a different prospect, however. 

Leclerc dives down the inside of Norris at Turn 1, holds the line, and eases past Norris to get second place! Russell is 1.2s up the road, can the Ferrari catch him?

Norris now has his wing mirrors full of Antonelli, but he's a bit far back to set up an attack. 

...and Leclerc looked within a sniff of making a move on Norris, but opts out for now. He needs a good run out of Turn 14, which he gets...

Norris has closed up to Russell once again and sat (for a part of this lap) within a second of the Mercedes - perhaps the rear end has settled a little bit as the tyres have come in. 

Leclerc is still very, very close...

Hamilton is back in Verstappen's wake and sits within a second of the Red Bull - who has dropped out of the overtake window from Piastri.

Leclerc continues to sit in Norris' wake, but the overtake mode isn't very potent here as the start-finish straight is very small. 

No real strategic options in a sprint, so there's not really a lot you can do. 

Norris closes the gap to Russell by about 0.2s, but Leclerc is really close to the McLaren.

Verstappen has cut the gap to Piastri and now sits within a second - so evidently, the Red Bull driver was taking it easy in the opening laps to bring the tyres in.

Russell had 1.6s over Norris at the start of the lap, which condenses in the middle of the circuit, but the gap is restored in the final sector. Leclerc is half a second behind Norris. 

Difficult to pass here, though; you need about a second per lap's advantage to get anything going. 

Norris has a little wobble in Turn 1 and that gives Leclerc an opportunity to close in. "I've got no rear," Norris reports, and this might present Leclerc with some hope. 

Leclerc has a little moment, but Antonelli isn't quite able to capitalise.

Russell is given the opportunity to push a bit harder, as Mercedes is happy with his management.

Verstappen's picked up the pace, pulling a 2s gap over Hamilton and getting within 2s of Piastri - who has dropped away from this front four. 

Lawson's closing in on Lindblad now, having shaken off Colapinto, who has Tsunoda for company.

Norris is just about clinging onto Russell, but every time he hits the 0.7-0.8s buffer his efforts are repulsed. Leclerc might be worried about his soft tyres, particularly with pressure from Antonelli.

Hamilton is bordering on a half-second gap to Verstappen, who has dropped to over 2.5s off Piastri now.

Hulkenberg retires his Audi, so that's game over. 

0.8s between Russell and Norris out front, and the same gap between Leclerc and Norris. Antonelli's getting close to Leclerc, within 0.7s.

Hamilton is starting to put a bit of pressure on Verstappen, as Norris is trying to close Russell down. Leclerc and Antonelli are keeping in touch. 

Gasly can't shake off Bortoleto just yet as they duel for the final point on offer. 

Hulkenberg seems to have an issue, as Bottas and Alonso ease past the Audi driver.

Norris briefly got within a second of Russell, but the Mercedes driver is holding firm at the front of the field.

Russell clears a one-second gap already over Norris, with Leclerc - on softs - attempting to stay in touch. 

Gasly has Bortoleto for company.

Colapinto had a look at Lawson, who will need to start putting pressure on Lindblad soon. 

Russell eases into his grid position. Can he hold the lead into Turn 1, or can Norris get a clean start? Let's find out...

Perez is getting wheeled back into the pitlane, so there's something awry there. Pit lane start beckons if he can get the car going. 

Just a couple of minutes until the formation lap now - and then we'll have 24 more to decide the victor of this sprint. 

It was very close in qualifying between Mercedes, McLaren, and Ferrari - the top four were all within 0.1s and - if the race pace can carry over - it might be a tightly fought sprint. 

Elsewhere: can Liam Lawson bag his first points for Red Bull? He looked quick in SQ1, but had an issue on his opening SQ2 lap and didn't get the best out of the tyres. Yuki Tsunoda is just behind him on the grid, and aiming to get points first-time back. 

A couple of bits have appeared in the race control inbox already - Hamilton and Bottas will be looked at after the sprint for "failing to follow race directors' instructions" while Bortoleto has been pinged for an apparent unsafe release on leaving the pit lane. 

Weather check

Our man Fil Cleeren says there's a few light drops of rain on the grid, but not very much at all.

It's quite cool out there too: 17C ambient, 24C track. 

Sprint grid

All Stats

 

Cla	Driver	#		Chassis	Engine	Time	Tyres	km/h
1	G. Russell Mercedes	63		Mercedes	Mercedes	1'11.567		214.238
2	L. Norris McLaren	1		McLaren	Mercedes	+0.041 1'11.608		214.115
3	C. Leclerc Ferrari	16		Ferrari	Ferrari	+0.055 1'11.622		214.073
4	O. Piastri McLaren	81		McLaren	Mercedes	+0.099 1'11.666		213.942
5	A. Antonelli Mercedes	12		Mercedes	Mercedes	+0.227 1'11.794		213.561
6	M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing	3		Red Bull	Red Bull	+0.527 1'12.094		212.672
7	L. Hamilton Ferrari	44		Ferrari	Ferrari	+0.624 1'12.191		212.386
8	P. Gasly Alpine	10		Alpine	Mercedes	+1.011 1'12.578		211.254
9	G. Bortoleto Audi	5		Audi	Audi	+1.016 1'12.583		211.239
10	A. Lindblad Racing Bulls	41		RB	Red Bull	+1.170 1'12.737		210.792
11	L. Lawson Red Bull Racing	30		Red Bull	Red Bull	+1.569 1'13.136		209.642
12	Y. Tsunoda Racing Bulls	22		RB	Red Bull	+1.578 1'13.145		209.616
13	F. Colapinto Alpine	43		Alpine	Mercedes	+1.872 1'13.439		208.777
14	N. Hulkenberg Audi	27		Audi	Audi	+2.049 1'13.616		208.275
15	E. Ocon Haas F1 Team	31		Haas	Ferrari	+2.326 1'13.893		207.494
16	A. Albon Williams	23		Williams	Mercedes	+2.727 1'14.294		206.374
17	O. Bearman Haas F1 Team	87		Haas	Ferrari	+3.161 1'14.728		205.176
18	C. Sainz Williams	55		Williams	Mercedes	+3.171 1'14.738		205.148
19	L. Stroll Aston Martin Racing	18		Aston Martin	Honda	+3.824 1'15.391		203.371
20	V. Bottas Cadillac F1 Team	77		Cadillac	Ferrari	+3.905 1'15.472		203.153
21	S. Perez Cadillac F1 Team	11		Cadillac	Ferrari	+3.978 1'15.545		202.957
22	F. Alonso Aston Martin Racing	14		Aston Martin	Honda	+4.447 1'16.014		201.704
View full results

Carlos Sainz and Fernando Alonso will start from the pit lane after a couple of set-up changes. Alonso's straight-line mode systems also appear to be working now, having failed to operate in sprint quali.