Hamilton baffled by 'completely different' Ferrari as Leclerc claims best lap of 2026 in Dutch GP sprint qualifying

George Russell claimed sprint pole for the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort on Saturday, edging out Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc in a three-team battle so tight that the top five were covered by just a tenth of a second. Lewis Hamilton, by contrast, could only manage seventh in the second Ferrari — 0.624 seconds adrift — after set-up changes between practice and qualifying left him struggling with an unrecognisable car.

Hamilton had felt comfortable during the opening practice session, but subtle adjustments made ahead of SQ3 appeared to transform the SF-26’s handling in ways the team had not anticipated.

“It was not a good session, unfortunately,” Hamilton said. “FP1 felt good. We made subtle adjustments to the car, but when we got into qualifying, it was a completely different car. We need to figure out what went wrong, and then we’ll do our best tomorrow. We’ve just got to go through the data and figure it out.”

Hamilton also noted that Leclerc had been set up in a slightly different configuration, which appeared to keep the Monégasque driver closer to the front of the field.

Leclerc, who starts Saturday’s 24-lap sprint from third, was openly upbeat after conceding just 0.055 seconds to polesitter Russell — a margin he described as the product of his strongest qualifying effort of the year.

“I would have preferred to start first, but I’m very happy about today because honestly, I think it was one of the best, if not the best, qualifying lap this year,” Leclerc said. “That means that we are doing something right with the feeling of the car. Especially after such a long break, you kind of want that feeling to start the second half, so it was a good effort.”

Leclerc was more cautious when assessing Ferrari’s sprint race prospects, noting that damp conditions during the single one-hour practice session had limited the team’s ability to read long-run pace. “The conditions this morning were a little bit tricky, so we’ll have to wait and see for the sprint race. But for now, it looks like a positive start to the weekend.”

Home favourite Max Verstappen qualified fifth in his Red Bull, splitting the two Ferraris and finishing ahead of Hamilton. With Zandvoort hosting its final Dutch Grand Prix on the current calendar, the sprint format — which allows just one practice session before qualifying — means the competitive order for the main race on Sunday remains difficult to predict.