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George Russell led every lap of the sprint race at Zandvoort to claim a straightforward victory. But it was nearly very different. A downpour hit the track as Russell led the field to the chequered flag and those further behind had to take care as they raced to the finish.Russell’s win moves him three points closer to team mate Andrea Kimi Antonelli in the championship fight as the other Mercedes driver could only manage fourth place. Antonelli passed Oscar Piastri at the start of the race. That remained the only change of position in the top 10 for most of the 24 laps. Eventually, on lap 18, Charles Leclerc used his Overtake Mode to move past Lando Norris into second place. Leclerc opted to run the race on the soft tyre compound while almost all of the other drivers used mediums. The remaining points scorers occupied the same positions from start to finish. Piastri took fifth ahead of Max Verstappen, followed by Lewis Hamilton and Pierre Gasly, though the Alpine driver was over 25 seconds in arrears when the chequered flag fell. Gabriel Bortoleto took the chequered flag just under two seconds behind Gasly, with Arvid Lindblad breathing down his neck. Liam Lawson finished another two-and-a-half seconds back in his first race back at Red Bull. Nico Hulkenberg was the race’s only retirement due to what the team called a “power issue”. Sergio Perez peeled into the pit lane before the start but later joined in. Verstappen, Hamilton, Yuki Tsunoda, Valtteri Bottas and Lance Stroll were investigated after the sprint race for failing to follow the race director’s instructions when driving to the grid by stopping before Safety Car Line One. All were cleared as the stewards ruled the grid was very crowded and “the driver acted appropriately and stopped the car in a safe spot as close as possible to the grid.” Bortoleto remains under investigation for an unsafe release from the pits before the race. Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and Go ad-free for just £1 per month >> Find out more and sign up Miss nothing from RaceFans Get a daily email with all our latest stories - and nothing else. No marketing, no ads. Sign up here: 2026 Dutch Grand Prix - Small change made “unbelievable” improvement in Hamilton’s Ferrari - Lawson pleased with “good lap” after qualifying a tenth off Verstappen on return - Norris beats Mercedes pair to Dutch Grand Prix pole position - 2026 Dutch Grand Prix grid - McLaren’s car is “terrible” in low-speed corners – Norris