George Russell wins Dutch GP sprint race

Russell, who left the pole position, completed the 24 laps to the Zandvoort circuit in 30,25,318 minutes, ending with 1,360 seconds of advantage over the Monegasque Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) and 5,196 on the British Lando Norris (McLaren), world champion in title.

The Mercedes pilot retained command at the start and led the race from start to finish, although he saw the advantage over Norris oscillating over the first laps.

Norris initially held the second position, but began to lose performance in the rear tires and was progressively reached by Leclerc, the only of the front riders who opted for soft tires.

The Ferrari pilot carried out the overrun on the first turn of the 18th lap, ensuring second place, while Norris still had to resist the pressure of the Italian Kimi Antonelli to the chess flag.

Antonelli finished in the fourth post, just 385 milliseconds behind Norris, followed by Australian Oscar Piastri (McLaren), Dutch Max Verstappen (Red Bull), British Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) and French Pierre Gasly (Alpine), who completed the spotable spots.

“ It was a great start of the weekend. If there was one more lap, the end could have been very different, so I was glad the rain arrived when it arrived ", said Russell, in a reference to the first drops that fell when he received the chess flag.

The British totaled eight points and reached the third win of the season in sprint races, approaching Hamilton and Antonelli in the World Cup ranking.

The Brazilian Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi) was at the point, in the ninth position, ahead of the British Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls) and New Zealander Liam Lawson, who replaced the French injured Isack Hadjar in the Red Bull.

The race was also marked by the mechanical problems of the German Nico Hülkenberg (Audi), who had to collect in the pits, returning later to the track, and by the departure of the Spanish Carlos Sainz (Williams) and the countryman Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) from the route of the pits, due to changes made in the respective mono-places.

With the five points won by the fourth place, Antonelli now adds 224 points, 53 more than Hamilton. Russell rose to 168 and was three points away from the Ferrari driver in third position.

Already this afternoon, in the qualifying session for the main race, Norris won the pole position, with a lap in 1.11,344 minutes. The world champion in title will share the first line of the grid with teammate Oscar Piastri.

Russell, winner of the sprint, secured third place on the grid, ahead of Leclerc and Antonelli, while Verstappen, played the Grand Prix at home, part of the sixth position.

The main race of the Netherlands Grand Prix, 12th round of the season, is held on Sunday at 15:00 locals (14:00 in Lisbon).