The second half of the Formula One season begins in the beach resort of Zandvoort in the North Holland region of the Netherlands as the sport returns from the annual summer shutdown.

Snaking through the sand dunes which inspires its name, the track first hosted a world championship race in 1952, the third ever Formula One season, with Alberto Ascari taking victory. The race was run during the majority of seasons until 1985. Following a 36-year hiatus, it returned in 2021 and has provided five memorable Grands Prix in recent times with 2026 set to mark the final edition of the Dutch Grand Prix, which leaves the Formula One calendar in 2027.

The 2023 edition of the race was a historic weekend and holds the record for the most on-track overtakes in the sport's history with 186 passes. The wildly changing weather conditions caused chaos across the whole circuit and the Pit Lane as strategies were changing every lap. In his first season with Alpine, Pierre Gasly mastered the mixed conditions and made all the right decisions, including a pit-stop on the very first lap for Intermediate tyres after starting 12th. At the full race distance, Pierre finished on the podium in third, his first Grand Prix trophy for the team.

For the first time in its history, the Dutch Grand Prix will be a Sprint weekend. Teams will have just one practice session to get back up to speed after the summer before Sprint Qualifying on Friday afternoon. Pierre and Franco Colapinto will be looking to restart the season with strong results from the get-go as the midfield fight continues.

Pierre Gasly: "I have very nice memories of Zandvoort as it's where I had my first podium with the team back in 2023. That was certainly a memorable day where we had to make the right decisions throughout the entire race and I just had to keep calm behind the wheel with such variety in the conditions. It is nice to be going back into race week after a few weeks off. It's always a really good time of year where we can reflect and spend much needed time with family and friends. I spent a bit of time at home, a lot of doing nothing, some dog walks, beach runs, gym sessions and days by the pool! Now I am ready to go and begin this next phase of the season. We have a big task ahead of us as it's very close in the Championship and we know if we can deliver upgrades we can really stay in the fight with our rivals. It will be a big challenge and I am ready for it beginning with the Sprint in Zandvoort."

Franco Colapinto: "I'm really excited to get back racing after a well-needed summer break. I started my holidays a bit later than everyone else as I was finishing the Pirelli tyre test in Hungary but after that I was able to properly relax and recharge my batteries after the really intense first half of the season. We ended a bit disappointed which I was able to reflect on because it shows how far we have come as a team from this position last year. To now be fighting for fifth in the Constructors' Championship is really impressive and we all really want to do a great job and secure the result for the team. There is a long way to go still so we need to start on the front foot in Zandvoort this weekend. The circuit is one I really enjoy and I remember it well from junior single-seaters. It will be interesting to see what it's like as a Sprint weekend and we need to start well on Friday morning so we can find a rhythm and push to the limits early on as we aim for a return to the top-10."

Steve Nielsen: "It's always a good time of year over the summer shutdown where pretty much everyone who works in Formula One is mandated to have a break from racing. We have worked on some general maintenance at the factory as it really is the only proper time to do it while the car park and offices are empty! We also had the pleasure of hosting the Pramac MotoGP Team at Enstone during the first week of the shutdown. As a fan of motorbikes I was very pleased to see some of the videos on social media and it looks like Jack, Toprak and the team had a great time here with Toprak leaving a few lines of rubber for us to clean up. Now our focus is fully on racing this weekend in Zandvoort as we resume the season. We have said many times that we are in a close championship fight and if we are able to bring performance to our car we can achieve our objective by the end of the season. We have a few upgrades available this weekend, which we will run on the car in Practice ahead of Sprint Qualifying. The plan is to bring more as and when we can and hopefully it will be enough to put us in the on-track fight to score as many points as possible."