McLaren’s MCL39 is proving to be an excellent all-rounder – but the thing it likes best is medium-speed corners, and there’s a lot of those at Zandvoort. The result, in qualifying, was Oscar Piastri pipping Lando Norris to pole, as the papaya cars locked out the front row.
Behind them, it’s more of a Stroopwafel-fight. Max Verstappen will start third – but Isack Hadjar did a magnificent job to join him on the second row, ahead of George Russell and the Ferraris.
On race day there will be different tyre strategies in play, and capricious weather around to mix things up. So let’s take a look at the tactical options the teams have when the lights go out…
.webp?ssl=1 "The state of play at Mercedes after three rounds of the 2026 season")
