Formula 1 comes back from its mandatory factory shutdown at Zandvoort on Friday, and the venue that gave the sport its loudest grandstands of the last five years gets to leave on its own terms. Having taken a one-year contract extension to reach 2026, the Dutch Grand Prix hosts a sprint weekend for the first and last time: FP1 at 12:30 local on Friday, sprint qualifying at 16:30, the sprint at noon on Saturday, qualifying at 16:00, and the race at 15:00 on Sunday. Forecasts have rain in them on all three days, which on a circuit this narrow is less a detail than a plot.

Kimi Antonelli arrives leading by 50 points and turns 20 next week, an opening season that has outrun every projection made for it. Behind him Lewis Hamilton sits on 169 and George Russell — who by common consent needed the break — on 160 in what is still the fastest car. The complication is McLaren, who broke Mercedes' run of six straight wins in Budapest and bring a second upgrade package here.

Max Verstappen has a helmet made for the occasion and a home crowd that has never needed a reason. He is sixth on 109, a season that has quietly become the paddock's most-watched contract story rather than its title fight. Honda brings an updated power unit for Aston Martin, and Cadillac arrive with a new team principal after replacing Graeme Lowdon with Marcin Budkowski.

The Paddock Post wire

Joey Logano led 95 of 400 laps at Richmond and took the lead for good with 25 to run, holding off Chase Briscoe by 0.392s. "It's awesome to see the speed in the 22 again," he said afterwards; the win vaulted him from 20th to ninth in the standings and out of the argument he had spent the summer having.

Seven drivers have now locked in — Hamlin, Blaney, Gibbs, Reddick, Briscoe, Elliott and Bell. New Hampshire on Sunday and the Daytona regular-season finale on August 29 are all that remain for the rest, with Shane van Gisbergen holding the sixteenth and final spot by 50 points over Ryan Preece. Daytona being Daytona, none of that is safe.

The Paddock Post wire

IndyCar — Palou wins again and stretches the gap to 110 points. A sixth win of the season and a third at Portland, taken on an overcut, puts him more than two races clear of Kyle Kirkwood.

MotoGP — Martín leads Bezzecchi by 31 with the series idle until Aragón. Raúl Fernández's Silverstone win completed an Aprilia podium sweep and left the top five covered by 41 points.

Formula 1 — Budkowski replaces Lowdon as Cadillac team principal, the former Ferrari, McLaren, Alpine and FIA engineer taking over from the man who built the entry.

WRC — Pajari wins in Finland again and moves up to second. Elfyn Evans leaves Jyväskylä still in front on 201 points, 30 clear, with Rally del Paraguay next on August 27–30.

WEC — The entry list lands for Lone Star Le Mans as BMW keep climbing — from also-rans to genuine title threat inside two seasons. Six hours at COTA on September 6.

Aston Martin — Honda brings an updated power unit to Zandvoort, following the chassis package that gave Fernando Alonso his first Q2 of the year in Hungary.