Antonelli Tops Practice as F1 Resumes at Zandvoort with Title Lead Intact
Andrea Kimi Antonelli picked up where he left off. The Mercedes driver, leading the Formula One championship by 50 points, set the fastest lap in the sole practice session ahead of the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort — a 1:12.949 that put him 0.121 seconds clear of McLaren's Lando Norris and 0.125 ahead of his own teammate George Russell. Lewis Hamilton, now at Ferrari, was fourth, 0.190 off the pace. The session, held on August 18, marked the end of F1's summer break and the resumption of a season that still has 12 races to run. It may also have marked the end of Zandvoort's time on the calendar, with the Dutch Grand Prix widely expected to be hosting its final meeting in 2026.
Antonelli arrives at this point with six wins from the season so far, the most recent at the Belgian Grand Prix before the break. His campaign began with a second place in Australia, followed by back-to-back victories in China and Japan. He has reached the podium three times beyond his wins and failed to score in only two races — both retirements caused by car trouble. Even at the Hungarian Grand Prix, the last round before the break, he overcame a grid penalty to salvage a podium finish while Norris took the win. The consistency has given him a cushion that, while substantial, is not yet comfortable with nearly half the season remaining.
The chasing pack is layered. Hamilton sits second for Ferrari, 50 points back. Russell is third, 59 points adrift, and arrives in Zandvoort with personal news from the break — the 28-year-old announced his engagement to partner Carmen Montero Mundt. Norris is further out, 91 points behind, but his Hungarian win was part of a remarkable run of unpredictability: five different winners from the last five races before Zandvoort.
Ferrari, meanwhile, are pushing development forward. The team deployed an upgraded floor on Hamilton's car at Zandvoort and has another engine upgrade planned for Monza, the next round on the calendar. Every tenth matters when the gap is measured in race wins, not mere points.
Max Verstappen's presence adds a different thread. The Red Bull driver, whose contract was extended through 2030, races on what is effectively home soil at Zandvoort — but the championship arithmetic has shifted dramatically from a year ago. In the 2025 season, it was Oscar Piastri who led the standings after the Dutch round, 34 points ahead of Norris and 104 clear of Verstappen. Norris went on to win that title by just two points over Verstappen at the Abu Dhabi finale. This year, Piastri and Verstappen are not in the same positions, and Antonelli — in his maiden title bid — has become the driver everyone is chasing.
For fans, what the practice times suggest is that the picture has not simplified over the break. The top four were separated by less than two tenths of a second. Twelve races remain. The margins are thin, the machinery is evolving, and the lead, however large it looks on paper, is measured against a field that keeps producing different winners.
