Race Start
Sunday, August 23 at 9:00 AM EDT
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Free .ics download — sessions appear in your local time in Google, Apple & Outlook calendars.
Round 12 of 22 · Circuit Zandvoort · August 21–23, 2026 · Sprint Weekend
Free .ics download — sessions appear in your local time in Google, Apple & Outlook calendars.
| Session | Eastern | Central | Mountain | Pacific |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Practice 1 | Fri, Aug 21, 6:30 AM EDT | Fri, Aug 21, 5:30 AM CDT | Fri, Aug 21, 4:30 AM MDT | Fri, Aug 21, 3:30 AM PDT |
| Sprint Qualifying | Fri, Aug 21, 10:30 AM EDT | Fri, Aug 21, 9:30 AM CDT | Fri, Aug 21, 8:30 AM MDT | Fri, Aug 21, 7:30 AM PDT |
| Sprint Race | Sat, Aug 22, 6:00 AM EDT | Sat, Aug 22, 5:00 AM CDT | Sat, Aug 22, 4:00 AM MDT | Sat, Aug 22, 3:00 AM PDT |
| Qualifying | Sat, Aug 22, 10:00 AM EDT | Sat, Aug 22, 9:00 AM CDT | Sat, Aug 22, 8:00 AM MDT | Sat, Aug 22, 7:00 AM PDT |
| Race | Sun, Aug 23, 9:00 AM EDT | Sun, Aug 23, 8:00 AM CDT | Sun, Aug 23, 7:00 AM MDT | Sun, Aug 23, 6:00 AM PDT |
F1 returns from summer break at Zandvoort, in the dunes on the Dutch coast — and in 2026 it's a sprint weekend, so the second half of the season opens with points on all three days. Zandvoort's signature is its banking: the final corner is steeper than many ovals, slingshotting cars onto the main straight. Narrow, old-school, and surrounded by an orange sea of fans, it's one of the most atmospheric stops of the year.
Zandvoort is an old-school rollercoaster through the North Sea dunes, and its 2020 renovation added the feature that defines it today: the final corner, the Arie Luyendyk Bocht, banked at 18 degrees — steeper than most NASCAR ovals — which lets cars carry huge speed onto the pit straight and was designed specifically to make the DRS run into Turn 1 a real overtaking chance. The Hugenholtz hairpin behind the pits is banked too, rewarding cars that can ride the camber.
The circuit is narrow and mistakes are expensive — the dunes funnel sand onto the racing line, grip changes with every gust of wind off the sea, and the blind crests hide apexes all lap long. As a sprint weekend in 2026 with points available Saturday and Sunday, and with the whole venue drenched in orange smoke from the Dutch crowd, it's the loudest and most compact party on the calendar.
Zandvoort hosted the Dutch Grand Prix through F1's golden eras — Jim Clark won four times in the 1960s, and Niki Lauda took the last race of the original run in 1985 — before a 36-year absence ended in 2021 on the back of Max Verstappen mania. Verstappen duly won the first three revived editions in front of his home crowd. The 2026 race is a poignant one: it is scheduled to be Zandvoort's final Grand Prix for the foreseeable future, with the event leaving the calendar after this season.
Saturday and Sunday morning sessions for US viewers, with the sprint adding a Friday-afternoon (US time) qualifying hit to ease you back in after the summer break. Coastal wind off the North Sea is Zandvoort's invisible variable — it changes braking points lap to lap and catches drivers out all weekend.
F1 returns from its summer break here, with the sprint format easing everyone back in: Friday's sprint qualifying lands in the US morning, and both the Saturday sprint and Sunday Grand Prix start at 9 AM Eastern / 6 AM Pacific. With 2026 set to be the last Dutch Grand Prix for now, and a home crowd that treats every Verstappen lap like a goal in a World Cup final, this one is worth the early Sunday alarm.
The race starts Sunday, August 23 at 9:00 AM EDT. That's 8:00 AM CDT Central, 7:00 AM MDT Mountain, and 6:00 AM PDT Pacific.
Yes. In addition to the Grand Prix, the weekend includes Sprint Qualifying (Friday, August 21 at 10:30 AM EDT) and a points-paying Sprint race (Saturday, August 22 at 6:00 AM EDT).
72 laps of the 4.259 km Circuit Zandvoort, a race distance of about 307 km.
Zandvoort's organizers announced that the Dutch Grand Prix will leave the F1 calendar after the 2026 edition, making this scheduled as the final race at the seaside circuit for the foreseeable future.
New to Formula 1 or planning your viewing weekend? Read our guides to watching F1 in the US, how a race weekend works, and why F1 start times vary.