Lando Norris found unexpected pace to beat his rivals and the weather to take pole position for the Dutch Grand Prix on Saturday (August 22, 2026) after George Russell took a sprint race win on Formula 1’s return from its mid-season break.
Norris won the last race in Hungary on July 26 but was deflated after the sprint, saying McLaren wasn’t competitive at all in slower corners.
“A little surprised, honestly, but a decent lap,” said Norris, who’d been critical of his car in the earlier sprint race and credited McLaren with making the right changes. “We had to try something because what we had before wasn’t going to be enough,” he said, adding the changes were small but “enough to give me some confidence. Russell is rebuilding his title challenge after losing ground to Antonelli last month and said it was “a real joy” to drive in qualifying. The plan now is to “get in my groove again and try to fight with them tomorrow,” he added. “Obviously a great start to the weekend,” he said. “We just don’t have the pace in general, especially in the slow-speed corners,” Norris said. “If there was one more lap it would have been a very, potentially, different end to the race so I’m glad the rain came when it did,” Russell said.