ZANDVOORT, Netherlands (AP) — Rain fell ahead of the start of Sunday’s Dutch Grand Prix as Lando Norris aims for another Formula 1 win from pole position.
That could mean the first true wet race under the new-for-2026 regulations, shaking things up on a track where overtaking is difficult. Drivers were heading from the pit lane to the grid with intermediate or full wet-weather tires fitted.
Rain fell at the end of Saturday's sprint, though too late
to affect the result.
McLaren's Norris found some unexpected extra pace in qualifying to snatch top spot ahead of the Mercedes pair of George Russell and standings leader Kimi Antonelli.
Despite some similarities to Hungary, where Norris won the last Grand Prix on July 26, it may not be plain sailing for the defending champion at the seaside Dutch circuit.
Norris was off the pace in Saturday's sprint race, where he started second but was third after losing out to Charles Leclerc. He said after qualifying he expected another difficult race.
“In low-speed (corners) we just really still struggle too much to be confident about everything. We definitely made a little bit of progress, but it’s still going to be on the trickier side of things tomorrow,” Norris said, adding that qualifying with “new tires, low fuel, it just seems to mask quite a few of our issues.”
Russell won Saturday's sprint at Zandvoort but Antonelli still increased his standings lead to 53 points despite placing fourth. That was because his closest challenger, Lewis Hamilton, could only manage seventh in the sprint. A troubled day continued for Hamilton as he qualified fifth for the Grand Prix.
Antonelli has a 56-point advantage over Russell, with gaps of 79 points to Leclerc and 90 to Norris.
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