Lando Norris won at the Hungaroring the day before the summer shutdown. It was McLaren’s first grand prix victory of 2026, and the team decided to hold the second half of their upgrade package for Zandvoort.
Technical director Neil Houldey confirmed the plan in McLaren’s preview of the weekend.
“We have also worked hard as a team on continued development, with some parts available this weekend, focusing on the rear side, to complete the package introduced in Hungary with a new rear wing and new rear brake ducts,” Houldey said.
Zandvoort is the twelfth round of a 23-race season, and the last time Formula 1 will race at the coastal circuit under its current deal. The organisers chose not to extend beyond 2026, citing the financial risk of a privately funded grand prix.
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A championship led by a teenager
Kimi Antonelli, in his second full season with Mercedes, sits top of the standings on 219 points. Lewis Hamilton is second on 169, George Russell third on 160, Charles Leclerc fourth on 138 and Norris fifth on 128.
That leaves Norris 91 points behind Antonelli, with 316 still on the table across the remaining rounds. He is closer to sixth-placed Max Verstappen (109) than to the championship leader.
For that gap to close, the Zandvoort parts have to work as well as the Hungary floor did, and Norris has to finish ahead of Antonelli, Hamilton and Russell on the same afternoon. Neither has happened yet in 2026.
Rain, sprint and one practice session
Zandvoort hosts a sprint weekend for the first time. That means one practice session on Friday, sprint qualifying later the same day, the sprint on Saturday morning and grand prix qualifying on Saturday afternoon, before the 72-lap race at 3pm local time on Sunday.
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Formula1.com’s preview notes that “rain could impact all three days of track running”, which would eat into the value of any straight-line gain and reward drivers willing to commit through Zandvoort’s banked corners.
The pole-sitter has won each of the five races since the Dutch GP came back onto the calendar in 2021. With only one practice hour before the sprint format takes over, McLaren’s margin for error on setup is thin.
Verstappen chases a Clark record on the way out
Verstappen has won at Zandvoort three times. A fourth on Sunday would match Jim Clark’s record for wins at the circuit, and Honda will bring an updated power unit to Red Bull that was tested at the Hungaroring during the shutdown.
“I mean, I just want to enjoy it with the fans. It’s incredibly impressive what they have done to bring it back,” Verstappen said of the weekend.
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“So, yeah, it’s a shame, but on the other hand, the track’s still there and I’m sure I will do more laps around there.”
The Dutch Grand Prix runs from Friday 21 August through Sunday 23 August at Circuit Zandvoort.
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