A positive opening day for the McLaren Mastercard Formula 1 Team in Zandvoort saw the team pick up where it left off before the Summer Shutdown.

Encouragingly, with the team's upgrades performing as expected, the McLaren MCL40 was firmly in the mix on a circuit of this nature with Lando Norris securing his place on the front row for Saturday's Sprint, followed by Oscar Piastri on row two in P4.

The day began with the team keen to return to track action, using the single practice session to assess a new rear wing and a series of smaller rear-end updates. The weather wasn't entirely cooperative, with the session beginning slightly damp after earlier rain. Race Control formally declared the session wet, activating, for the first time this year, the various low-grip condition rules for power delivery and active aero.

The team were curious to see these in action and assess potentially different approaches from rivals - but the wet running proscriptions only lasted for the first eight-and-a-half minutes, before the announcement of normal grip conditions. The changing weather will remain an area of focus throughout the weekend with various conditions a possibility for the remaining competitive sessions.

Both drivers started FP1 with an Intermediate tyre fitted - for the first time in a live session this year. Both however, immediately assessed the track dry enough for slicks. Oscar switched to a Medium tyre in the box, while Lando did out- and in-laps before also going to Medium. There was a threat of rain for later in the session, and a light drizzle started with 10 minutes remaining, but not enough to interrupt a programme that had both cars switch to Soft tyres in the second half of the hour.

Practice suggested Sprint Qualifying was going to be incredibly tight between the front running teams in Mercedes, Ferrari and McLaren and so it transpired.

With all drivers using the mandatory Medium tyre throughout SQ1 and SQ2, conditions started off tricky, with a strong and gusting wind, which forced Lando and Oscar to abort their first attempts. Lando came through SQ1 in P2, with Oscar in P3. They hit their stride in SQ2 with Oscar fastest and Lando P2... but just one-thousandth of a second ahead of the first Ferrari, and barely two-tenths covering the three leading teams.

Both drivers elected to stick with warm-up laps when moving to the Soft tyre for SQ3. Everyone left their runs late, choosing to do a single attempt, and Lando was the first car on track, three-and-a-half minutes into the session. His benchmark time was good but closely bettered by George Russell to give the reigning World Champion the second spot on tomorrow's front row. Oscar, running fifth, came home in P4. With the leading three teams at Zandvoort covered by less than a tenth of a second, the rest of the Dutch Grand Prix weekend - and conceivably the run-in for the 2026 season, promises to be a thrilling battle.

Lando Norris: "We came into this Qualifying session expecting a tight battle, and that's exactly what we got. To be so close to Pole shows how competitive we are, but of course, it's a little disappointing to end up second when first was clearly within reach.

"The car is performing well, continuing the strong form we showed in Budapest, and that gives us a lot of confidence for the rest of the weekend. We've started on a strong footing, and I'm happy with the overall package. We'll do our best to fight for the win tomorrow, it's always tricky starting from the dirty side of the grid, but we'll see what we can do."

Oscar Piastri: "P4 today, a bittersweet result because we made positive progress from this morning and the pace was right there during Sprint Qualifying. It was so close at the top that with a cleaner lap I might have had Pole.

"There are still plenty of positives to take away. Today is all good learning and we're improving every weekend which is crucial because we want to be firmly in the mix. The performance is encouraging, and it shows we're moving in the right direction, but we know that it's going to be tight with Ferrari and Mercedes, and the difference will come down to the fine margins.

"Our job now is to tidy up those last little details and close the small gaps that still remain. If we execute well, we'll give ourselves a real shot in the remaining sessions throughout the weekend."

Neil Houldey, Technical Director - Applied Engineering: "We've brought some upgrades to the car this weekend, including the rear wing and a number of smaller components, which have worked as expected and delivered the performance we were looking for. Lando was able to hook the car up very quickly in Practice 1 and put in some strong lap times, while we had a little more to work through on Oscar's side. The team did an excellent job during the break between Practice 1 and Qualifying to understand where the performance was, and it was really pleasing to see that translate immediately when qualifying began.

"Across Q1 and Q2 we looked like we were right in the mix, and being fastest in Q2 showed the underlying pace in the car. Of course, the perfect lap could have delivered Pole, but having four cars covered by one tenth shows just how fine the margins are. Overall, we are in a strong position for the Sprint and for the rest of the weekend. It is encouraging to carry the level of performance we showed in Hungary into this event, and with upgrades continuing to come, we will keep pushing to build on that momentum."

Check out our Friday gallery from the Zandvoort here.