Russell claims sprint pole for Mercedes at Dutch Grand Prix with Norris second

[p]Returning from the August break with an ‌engagement ring and a fresh spring in his step, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/russell-george/xxF56RaN/"]Russell[/a] produced a best lap of one minute 11.567 seconds to ‌beat the reigning champion by 0.041 of a second and secure his third pole from ‌five sprints so far this season.[/p][p][b]"It's great to be back here after the break. It's a circuit I ‌love. It needs a lot of commitment,"[/b] said Russell, third overall in the standings ‌and 59 points behind teammate [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/antonelli-andrea-kimi/ptGu0mT1/"]Kimi Antonelli[/a].[/p][p][b]"It was a tough end to the first half of the year, and I'm really happy to come back.[/b][/p][p][b]"The lap felt really good. It all came together really nicely. It's always difficult these ‌sprint qualifyings with just one shot on the soft tyre."[/b][/p][embed guid="7e987e67-41c5-455f-b1ed-13ed0e12dc16" url="https://x.com/F1/status/2090829740961620385" social-type="twitter" /][p]Ferrari's [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/leclerc-charles/KlCOSRub/"]Charles Leclerc[/a] will line up ‌third on the grid for Saturday's race at the gusty seaside Zandvoort circuit with McLaren's [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/piastri-oscar/MqKAIeUf/"]Oscar Piastri[/a] fourth ​and Antonelli qualifying fifth in a damaged Mercedes after an early excursion into the gravel.[/p][p]Home hero and four-time world champion [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/verstappen-max/UV3mgeXB/"]Max Verstappen[/a] was sixth fastest for Red Bull ​and Ferrari's [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/hamilton-lewis/tI5Vpe1h/"]Lewis Hamilton[/a], Antonelli's closest rival in the standings and 50 points behind, qualified seventh with Alpine's [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gasly-pierre/nqYFMBBf/"]Pierre Gasly[/a] eighth.[/p][p]The sprint winner takes eight points, with the top eight scoring. The ⁠big points come from Sunday's main race, ​after Saturday's grand prix qualifying.[/p][p][b]"George is coming back. I think he feels so much pressure is off his shoulders after she (fiancée Carmen Montero Mundt) accepted his marriage proposal,"[/b] joked Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/norris-lando/WSVABbVF/"]Norris[/a], winner of the last grand prix in Hungary before the break, said he could easily have ‌been first or fifth considering the closeness of the field.[/p][p][b]"Maybe I could have just pushed it a little bit more, but otherwise the car has been performing well and looks like it’s continued its strong performance from Budapest,"[/b] said the Briton.[/p][p][b]"It’s not an easy track to overtake (on), and the inside of the grid is a lot worse than the left side of the grid, so let’s see.”[/b][/p][embed guid="3f1ed46d-d706-4a62-a4ef-cf4e95fcc199" url="https://x.com/F1/status/2090824359711486238" social-type="twitter" /][p]Antonelli went into the gravel during the first phase when he was only eighth fastest and Wolff revealed there had been significant floor damage that the team had patched up.[/p][p]"I had a couple of holes in the floor," said the Italian, who turns 20 next week. [b]“When I came ‌in, they initially said it was a loss of 25 points (of downforce). They tried to repair as ​much as possible, but definitely the damage was still there. I was struggling a ‌lot in the low-speed corners."[/b][/p][p]Audi's [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/bortoleto-gabriel/8zwcIVil/"]Gabriel Bortoleto[/a] qualified ninth with rookie [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/lindblad-arvid/bgk1rl5a/"]Arvid Lindblad[/a] 10th for Racing Bulls.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/lawson-liam/nap8RjeO/"]Liam Lawson[/a], promoted from Racing Bulls to stand in for the injured [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/hadjar-isack/8SAk38Ui/"]Isack Hadjar[/a] at Red Bull, qualified 11th while his Racing Bulls replacement [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/tsunoda-yuki/tArbpdrf/"]Yuki Tsunoda[/a] was 12th.[/p][p]There was disappointment for [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/alonso-fernando/rVRhR90U/"]Fernando Alonso[/a] at Aston Martin, whose hopes for a performance boost from the upgraded ⁠Honda engine were undermined by a rear wing ⁠problem on the Spaniard's car that ‌left the double world champion at the back of the grid.[/p]