Report: Sprint and qualifying complete in Zandvoort
Alex Albon will start Sunday's Dutch Grand Prix from P16, with Carlos Sainz alongside on the grid in P17, after a wet-and-dry Saturday
Published
22 AUG 2026
Est. reading time
2 min
Zandvoort delivered its first-ever Sprint on Saturday, and it turned into a real test of nerve as rain arrived in the closing laps. Carlos Sainz started from the pit lane after set-up changes were made to his FW48 overnight, while Alex Albon lined up P16 for the 24-lap dash.
Alex made a clean start and gained a place on Hulkenberg, but stayed P16 as Bearman came through on soft tyres. Carlos ran his own race further back, picking off Hulkenberg on the pit straight by Lap 4 to move up to P20, before backing off mid-race to run in clear air and gather data on a weekend where track time has been valuable.
As the laps ticked down, the rain that had been forecast finally arrived. Alex held off both Aston Martins in tricky, wet conditions to secure P16, while Carlos brought his car home in P20.
With the Sprint result banked, focus turned to Sunday's Grand Prix. Both cars went into Q1 sixth and seventh in the queue, with Carlos setting the first time on the board at 1:14.733 to Alex's 1:14.884.
Second runs saw both drivers move forward. Alex up to P14 on a 1:13.835, Carlos to P16 on a 1:13.972, before a third set of softs was called for as the session tightened. It came down to the wire: Alex advanced in P16 with a 1:13.552, while Carlos was eliminated in P17, just 0.022s away from his team-mate's cutoff time.
With his session over, Alex headed back out on the soft tyres he'd ended Q1 on before switching to a fresh set for one final attempt. He found 0.75s on that last push – not enough to move further up the order, but enough for a satisfying way to end the session.
Alex will start Sunday's Dutch Grand Prix from P16, with Carlos starting P17.
Full reaction to follow.
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