Dutch Grand Prix preview: Season resumption, driver market and Zandvoort
26th August 2025Formula 1 returns this weekend for the Dutch Grand Prix after the annual summer shutdown, with a penultimate trip to the seaside circuit, Zandvoort.
Feature image credit: Getty Images
Season resumption
After a three-week break, the F1 season returns this weekend for the Dutch GP, marking round 15 of the 2025 championship.
It ignites the final double header of the season, situated in Europe, with the Dutch and Italian Grand Prix being the last European races of the season. The sport will then head around the rest of the world, starting in Azerbaijan.
It also means the title fights will resume. Well… what is left of it. Both championships are controlled by McLaren, with the team holding the top spot in both the drivers and constructors’ championships.
Oscar Piastri holds onto the driver’s championship lead, nine points ahead of teammate Lando Norris, with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen trailing 97 points behind – a fifth consecutive championship victory looking unlikely with each race weekend that passes.
On the other hand, the constructors’ championship is McLaren’s to lose as the Woking-based team has dominated the season so far and leads by 299 points ahead of second-placed Ferrari.
Driver market
Some of the talk across the summer break, nearer the back end of the shutdown, was around Cadillac, F1’s incoming 11th team on the grid in 2026.
It has been rumoured that the team will opt for experienced drivers when they arrive on the grid next year, with both Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas said to be prime candidates for the seats. This has now been confirmed on Tuesday. It now ends a 12-month spell for both drivers who have spent the current season on the sidelines.
There are still six seats available for 2026, with all other seats occupied by pre-existing contracts being in place.
Alpine are yet to announce their second driver, to partner Pierre Gasly, whilst Mercedes and Racing Bulls are yet to confirm both seasons.
However, it is expected that both George Russell and Kimi Antonelli will get extensions on their current contracts, following rumours that Max Verstappen will seal a seat. Of which, Red Bull is similar to Alpine and is yet to announce a second driver to partner Verstappen.
Zandvoort
This weekend marks the penultimate round of the Dutch Grand Prix after it was announced in December last year that the event would step away from F1 after the 2026 season, for the foreseeable future.
It would mark a six-year spell on the calendar since its introduction in the 2021 season. But it will bow out of the championship with a sprint race next season.
The seaside circuit has been a fairly good hunting ground for Verstappen, who had won at the circuit for three consecutive seasons (2021-2023) until Norris ended that run last year.
While the Dutchman’s Orange Army will head to Zandvoort backed with his huge amount of supporters on the North Sea coast, the Dutchman will not be the favourite to win the race this weekend.
Red Bull has not won a grand prix since Imola, in May, except for the Belgian sprint race in July. Additionally, he has not achieved a podium since Canada, where he finished second behind Russell.
Read more Formula 1 here:
- Weather Report: the latest ahead of the Dutch Grand Prix
- Rumours: Valtteri Bottas set for F1 comeback with Cadillac
- F1 Mid-Season Ranking #11: Carlos Sainz
- F1 Mid-Season Ranking #12: Nico Hulkenberg
- F1 Mid-Season Ranking #13: Pierre Gasly
Please follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to keep up with the latest news from ApexMotorsports.co.uk!
You can also support us on Patreon or our website!
Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.
I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
Kamron Kent
Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
