Dutch Grand Prix Results 2026 -- Double Podium Finish for Mercedes-Benz

 

Double Podium in Dramatic Final Dutch Grand Prix

• Kimi Antonelli finished second with George Russell third in Sunday’s Dutch Grand Prix. 
• In a dramatic 72 lap race, Kimi and George defended well throughout but ultimately didn’t have the pace in the car to fight for victory.
• Nevertheless, they both maintained good track position throughout the afternoon, following an opening lap red flag; Kimi leading for most of the race and George holding P3. 
• The team opted to stop both drivers before they could be undercut by rivals behind at their first two stops, switching to the Hard compound both times after starting on the Medium tire.
• Kimi had to relinquish the lead when the hard-charging McLaren of Lando Norris came past on fresher tires on lap 54, before taking advantage of a Virtual Safety Car on lap 56 to switch to the Soft compound.
• That gave the team the best possible chance of protecting P2 from the Ferraris, behind who were showing strong pace, whilst maximizing our points scoring.
• So it proved, as George ceded position back to Kimi and then put together a stellar defense in the closing stages to secure P3 and a double podium by keeping the Ferraris at bay.
• That is the team’s fourth double podium of the season, and first since the Austrian Grand Prix in June.
• It also helps extend the team’s advantage in the Constructors’ Championship to 87 points. 

Kimi Antonelli

I am disappointed to have led so many laps today and not won. Unfortunately, the pace wasn’t quite there, and that’s a shame. P2 was ultimately the maximum we could have done, though, given that, so we must be happy coming away with that and a double podium secured. It is a great result for the team with George doing a brilliant job to keep the Ferraris behind and take P3.

We made two good starts and gained places at both. That gave us belief we could fight for victory, but I didn’t have the feeling with the car on the second set of Hard tyres and that was when Lando (Norris) was able to get past. I was a little nervous in the closing stages after we pitted under the Virtual Safety Car, but it turned out well. We were able to have both cars finish ahead of the Ferraris and extend our lead in the Constructors’ Championship, which is a good feeling leaving Zandvoort. 
 
George Russell

We did our best today, and it was clear that we were going to have a tough time of it defending from Lando (Norris) and the Ferraris, who were incredibly fast. The field is even more competitive than at any point during the season; that said, the pace of both McLaren and Ferrari has surprised us. To come away with a Sprint victory and a P3 is a solid return, therefore, on what has been a challenging weekend from a pace perspective. 

My race wasn’t the smoothest. I lost a couple of positions early on, but was able to fight my way back to P3. That became P2 when Kimi pitted under the Virtual Safety Car, but ultimately, Kimi was ahead of me before that, so the position was his. It was clear that we couldn’t cost ourselves any time fighting, as we needed to protect from the Ferraris behind, too. If we had, we would have likely lost a lot of time, and I would have lost the podium. In the end, we were able to maximise the result for the team, and that’s positive.

Toto Wolff, Team Principal & CEO

We ultimately didn’t have the pace to fight for victory today. Finishing second and third was very much damage limitation therefore, but both the drivers and the team did a good job to maximize our result. 

We were able to gain track position early on, but it became clear that it would be a tall order to hold onto that, given the pace of our rivals. Once Norris had passed Kimi, we knew our race was about finishing ahead of the Ferraris. The Virtual Safety Car gave Kimi the chance to stop and protect from them behind, using fresher tires and on the Soft compound rather than the Hard. We were then able to invert the cars on track, and George then did a brilliant job to keep both Lewis (Hamilton) and Charles (Leclerc) behind. We were able to avoid losing time fighting together and have discussed similar situations like this all year. If it had been the other way around, we would have made the same decision. 

We leave Zandvoort knowing that we need to improve the pace of the car. We have further developments to come, but over the past two weekends, we haven’t had the fastest car. It is a tight championship fight, but we are happy to leave here having extended our advantage in the Constructors.  

Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director

That was a busy afternoon, where we weren't quick enough to fight for victory, but raced well to maximize our points scoring. The drivers did a good job of getting the absolute most out of what we had, and a double podium with P2 and P3 is a solid result. 

The conditions at the start were tricky, but the track was too dry to go for anything other than a slick tire. George struggled for grip on the dirty side of the grid, which allowed Kimi to get ahead before the race was red flagged. On the restart, Kimi made another strong start, held the inside line and took the lead from Norris. He was able to build enough of a lead to protect from Norris undercutting him, but it was clear the McLaren had superior pace, and we would need to box ahead of him to protect the position.

George was able to take P3 from Piastri at his first stop but faced a similar situation with the faster Ferraris behind. After our second stops, both drivers were looking to hold off the cars behind, but Norris ultimately made his way past Kimi before the Virtual Safety Car was deployed. That ultimately worked well for Kimi, as once both Ferraris stopped, we were able to get him onto the Soft tire and back out ahead of them, although he gave up track position to George. Once Kimi caught up, we decided to invert the cars, as Kimi had the pace to get through, but had they raced, it would have put both drivers at greater risk to the Ferraris. 

George did an amazing job to defend on those final laps. It was a very difficult situation to handle, but ultimately staying out gave George his only shot at making the podium. He did brilliantly to achieve that and secure the strongest result for the team we could have got today. Whilst it's been a difficult weekend, we still managed our second highest point score of the season to date and have extended the lead in both championships.

The Dreaded Single Row Timing Chain on the 1981-1983 Mercedes-Benz 380 sl

 Even the very best Mercedes mechanic can be flummoxed and fooled by this issue! 

As mentioned in the previous post, when I bought my Mercedes 380 sl via Ebay in 2014 I was oblivious to the fact that 1981-1983 SLs in the American market came with single chain timing chains. The cars were later taken care of by Mercedes, but a number were never repaired and are still out there waiting for an unsuspecting buyer. And to replace with a double chain now is costly -- minimally $3 thousand dollars (Probably 5k now). 

That makes my buy of a very clean body California/Arizona car in jeopardy of turning into a boondoggle! 

You can quickly check whether you have a single or double chain easily by looking through the space under the valve cover after taking out the oil filler cap. And by God, I was saved again from a financial decision by a faithful God.

The single row chain was just not strong enough for any Mercedes V-8, even the M116. Failure resulted in bent valves damaged valve train and in sum catastrophic engine damage. Warning signs (Justin case you have one) include rattling chain noise on start-up. (Not to be confused with a disintegrating air pump clutch). The chain can fail without warning.

And if you want to know how to replace a timing chain, see this:

Within a week after I got the car home, I took it to Foreign Excahnge in Moraine and had an experienced mechanic replace my double chain. The car had 99K miles on it, and it was reported that my replaced double chain had stretched.  Now my new Mercedes should be good for another 100k.

The Mercedes_Benz 1982 380 Sl -- How It All Began

 

I rarely do things logically or after careful and thoughtful research, when it comes to my own cars. That was certainly the case in 2014 when I purchased a Mercedes-Benz 380 SL. It was February in Dayton, Ohio, a particularly dark winter Saturday and the demons that purse me must have been active. 

I made a similar mistake about 30 years later when I purchased a molested 1971 Porsche 911T targa. No ida what I was buying escape a cursory inspection. I had no experience with air cooled Porsches, or any Porsche for that matter. It would be a painful, long illness, finally ending with a sale to a buyer equally as ignorant as I was three decades prior. But it also served as a mechanical and technical education, though costly one.

Back to the Mercedes. It was advertised as an unmolested car with Southern California and Arizona homes. Purportedly it had good compression.  It looked great (most for sale Mercedes SLs  do!). 99K miles.  All original, everything in its proper place. So I made an impulsive bid, went to the gym, watched some tennis, and then discovered that I had just won a car I knew nothing about.

Before I gave the man who posted the ad -- an agent for a woman artist from San Diego who washout of money (who isn’t), my son-in-law and daughter living in SoCal took a look at the car and OKed it -- albeit not terribly enthusiastically -- and the money was handed over.  Arrangements were made for Pablo to haul the car to Centerville, Ohio, and I now owned a vehicle that would be a money pit without end.  But loved by me beyond all reason.

The car was a 1982 -- and came off the assembly line with a fatal flaw any intelligent buyer (but not me) would know -- the dreaded single timing chain. In time, it wobbled and then snapped, destroying the engine if not attended to.  Luckily I dodged one bullet, as a double chain had been retrofitted some time in the past. But there was more bullets to dodge, as I learned that this beautiful car that was pristine in several ways -- was the result of German over engineering, complex electronics an fuel system, and vacuum connections and actuators that befuddle even the best of mechanics, let alone me. I was in store for another education over the net 12 years.  

Oh, for the simplicity of my old 1973 Pinto with a Kent engine.

I did not go with the best transport outfit, but here is an ad for the best!

2026 Hungarian Grand Prix F1 -- Results

 

• Kimi Antonelli finished third with George Russell P7 in Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix.
• Both drivers started on the Medium tire with George lining up P6 and Kimi P7. 
• George unfortunately dropped to the back of the field after suffering anti-stall off the line; the team is investigating the cause.
• Kimi moved up to P6 and held that in the opening laps. From there, he ran a two-stop strategy by switching to the Hard tire at both stops and built up a tire offset on those ahead.
• That enabled him to cycle through to P3 and, despite an unfortunately timed Virtual Safety Car, he held off the Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton to take the final spot on the podium.
• George meanwhile fought back valiantly and scythed his way through the field and back into the points.
• He also ran a two-stop strategy and fell just short of passing the Red Bull of Isack Hadjar in the final laps, settling for P7.
• The team heads into the summer break leading both the Constructors’ and the Drivers’ World Championships and returns to action in Zandvoort next month.

• Kimi Antonelli

  It was not an easy race today. It was very difficult to overtake, even when we had significantly more pace than the cars ahead. We knew it might be like that today and so it proved. We did well to build a decent tyre offset to those ahead though throughout the race and that enabled us to get up into the podium positions.

  I initially wanted to target a one-stop race. It seemed like it might be possible in the opening stint but then we started to suffer with the rears. We made the call to go onto the two-stop and in the final stint, had really good pace. The Virtual Safety Car made our lives a little more difficult with Lewis (Hamilton) getting fresh tyres and being right behind us, but we were able to bring home P3. 

  We have had a much better first half of the season than we perhaps expected at the very start. This is where we are at now though and we need to keep going, keep pushing on and doing the best job we can. It is going to be an intense second half of the year, but we are ready for it. 

  George Russell

  That was another tough race. We lost lots of positions off the line and that ruined our chances of fighting for the podium. We’re not sure exactly what happened just yet. We did all the procedures as we normally do but it didn’t behave as we expected. The anti-stall then kicked in, and we dropped to the back of the field. The positive is that our pace across the rest of the race was strong and we were able to fight back to P7. That is not where we want to be finishing but is still points.

  It has not been a smooth first half of the season. I am looking forward to this break so we can reset and come back stronger after the summer shutdown. It has been a bit of a rollercoaster on my side so far and I am hoping the second half of the year can be much better. 

  Toto Wolff, Team Principal & CEO

  Both drivers put in strong races today. Kimi did well to get onto the podium and P3 and George did brilliantly to fight back after the opening lap. His problem at the start was fully on us as a team and it isn’t good enough. He has suffered too many of these problems; we are doing everything we can to get on top of them, but it is unfortunately another issue that has cost him again today.

  We nearly got very unlucky with yet another ill-timed Virtual Safety Car, but Kimi defended well to hold off Lewis (Hamilton). It was good damage limitation after a difficult day yesterday. 

  We go into the summer shutdown with a points gap in both championships that we would have taken at the start of the season. That is good but we know we need to keep pushing after the break, keep developing and improve our reliability. That will be the key if we are to not only fight for both championships but win them.

  Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director

  Today was the first race of the season where we were starting further back with both cars and therefore was about damage limitation. Kimi delivered a very measured race, and we used the flexibility of the two-stop strategy well. By managing the first two stints carefully, we were able to build a significant tire life advantage over the cars ahead, and that gave him the pace he needed to move into podium contention in the final part of the race. The Virtual Safety Car was not ideal as it reduced that advantage and brought Lewis onto our gearbox, but Kimi managed the situation well and defended strongly to secure P3.

  On George's side, we are obviously disappointed by the issue at the start. The anti-stall activation dropped him to the back of the field and made what was always going to be a challenging race even more difficult. We need to understand exactly why that happened, but once he recovered from the opening lap, his pace was very competitive, and he fought back through the field to salvage important points.

  We head into the summer break leading both championships, which is a good position to be in, but we know there are areas where we need to improve. Reliability remains a key focus, and we will use the shutdown to analyse the first half of the season and ensure we return after the break ready for a very competitive run to the end of the year.

1960 Plymouth Fury

 I saw this at the Kettering Ohio Cruise-In this afternoon and very much liked it. It was an example of the age of tailfins at its best, but also just as the age was in the last years of its life. Lter years would tone them done before leaving them to the auto graveyard. There are not many of these cars around now. In part, build quality at Chrysler was pretty low in 1960, plus sales were lower of these cars, perhaps because customers were now turning away from the tailfin design after 5 years of excess.

I love the oblong steering wheel, complex design of taillight, and push button transmission controls. It was the era of "Leave it to Beaver" and "Palladin."

My 1982 Mercedes-Benz R 107 380 SL

 Friday night Cruise-In, Greene County, Ohio.