Antonelli leads Dutch GP FP1 for Mercedes as F1 returns from summer break

Formula 1 has returned from its summer break with a single practice session at Zandvoort ahead of a compressed sprint weekend. Kimi Antonelli set the fastest time for Mercedes in FP1, narrowly edging out McLaren's Lando Norris and teammate George Russell as teams worked to dial in their upgraded packages before Friday afternoon's sprint qualifying.

Why it matters:

With only 60 minutes of running before sprint qualifying, engineers face a condensed window to evaluate changes and lock in a competitive setup. The opening session offers the first real look at the post-break pecking order, and misreading the data now could set the tone for a difficult weekend.

The details:

• Kimi Antonelli led the way with a 1:12.949, just 0.121s clear of Lando Norris and 0.125s ahead of George Russell.
• Ferrari placed both cars in the top five, with Lewis Hamilton fourth (+0.190s) and Charles Leclerc fifth (+0.289s).
• Oscar Piastri finished sixth but was 0.659s off the pace, leaving a notable gap to his McLaren teammate.
• Audi showed encouraging pace as Nico Hülkenberg took seventh and Gabriel Bortoleto claimed ninth, sandwiching Pierre Gasly's Alpine.
• Max Verstappen could only manage 11th, over 1.3s off the benchmark, while Carlos Sainz sat at the bottom of the timesheets in the Williams, 3.396s adrift.

What's next:

Sprint qualifying follows later today, forcing teams to make rapid setup calls based on minimal long-run data. The drivers who best adapted to the sole practice session will carry that confidence into qualifying, while those on the back foot must recover quickly or risk starting Saturday's sprint race from unfavorable positions.