Zandvoort Gets One Last Sunday, and F1 Hands It a Sprint to Say Goodbye
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.
Logano Wins at Richmond and Blows the Playoff Bubble Wide Open
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.
Around the Paddock
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 the Spaniard more than two races clear of Kyle Kirkwood with the run-in under way.
Martín leads Bezzecchi by 31 as MotoGP waits for Aragón
Raúl Fernández's Silverstone win completed an Aprilia podium sweep and left the top five covered by 41 points. Round 13 goes green at MotorLand on August 30.
Budkowski replaces Lowdon as Cadillac team principal
The former Ferrari, McLaren, Alpine and FIA engineer takes over from the man who built the entry, with the team framing it as the next phase rather than a correction.
Pajari wins in Finland again and moves up to second
Elfyn Evans leaves Jyväskylä still in front on 201 points, 30 clear of Pajari, with Katsuta third. Rally del Paraguay follows on August 27-30.
Entry list lands for Lone Star Le Mans as BMW keep climbing
The Munich programme has gone from making up the numbers to a genuine title threat inside two seasons. Six hours at COTA settle the next instalment on September 6.
Honda brings an updated power unit to Zandvoort
It follows the chassis package that gave Fernando Alonso his first Q2 of the year in Hungary — small gains, but the first sign of Honda pushing on the 2026 rules.