F1 LIVE | F1 nears return from summer break, as 'Franz Antonelli' takes part in German karting event

Welcome to GPblog's daily live blog, where we'll keep you updated with all the biggest Formula 1 stories throughout the day as the sport nears its return from the summer break this week.

After nearly four weeks, F1 is back. The sport returns to action this coming weekend at the iconic Zandvoort Circuit for what is set to be the last Dutch GP for the foreseeable future.

Paying tribute to the final Dutch GP, Red Bull have revealedspecial race suits for drivers Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar. Racing at his home race, Verstappen's otherwise black suit features orange accents on the shoulders, while Hadjar’s suit features a white outline instead. The starting numbers of both drivers, 3 and 6, are rendered as a wave, a nod to Zandvoort’s location by the seaside.

Last week, Verstappen revealed his own tribute to the Dutch GP, a special helmet that features Delft blue accents. On his Instagram post unveiling the helmet, Verstappen wrote: "For my last home race. Dankjewel Zandvoort." Red Bull themselves responded to the post:"A special helmet for a special race. Ready for one last charge around Zandvoort."

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While eyes will most certainly be on home racer Verstappen, F1's heated battle for the world championship will not go under the radar. The youngest ever to do so, Kimi Antonelli leads the Drivers' standings by 50 points ahead of Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton, while his Mercedes teammate George Russell sits a further nine points behind in P3.

Despite reliability concerns, Mercedes restart the 2026 campaign in a strong position in the Constructors', 72 points ahead of challengers Ferrari. However, third-placed McLaren could be in the process of another remarkable mid-season turnaround after Lando Norris' dominant victory last time out in Hungary.

As for the schedule in Holland, a Sprint weekend gets underway on Friday at 12:30 local time (11:30 UK time) with the only free practice session of the weekend, followed by Sprint Qualifying at 16:30 (15:30 UK). Saturday's Sprint will get underway at 12:00 (11:00 UK), before qualifying for the Grand Prix at 16:00 (15:00 UK). The final Dutch Grand Prix will then start on Sunday at 15:00 local time, or 14:00 in the UK.

Here is the full Dutch GP schedule:

Mercedes' Antonelli has seemingly copied Max Verstappen by reportedly adopting the pseudonym 'Franz Antonelli' to race 'undercover' in a go-kart event.

Verstappen famously first used the "Franz Hermann" alias in May 2025 when making his first appearance at the Nürburgring, joining the official NLS test and setup day ahead of the third round of the 2025 Nurburgring Langstrecken-Serie (NLS).

A year later, Verstappen competed in the historic Nürburgring 24 Hours, only for his race to end in heartbreak due to a technical failure while his Verstappen Racing team were in the lead.

With the Dutch GP a week from getting underway, Antonelli reportedly spent some of his remaining time away from the paddock karting in Germany. Antonelli entered the event under the pseudonym "Franz Antonelli", a not-so-subtle nod to the alias famously used by four-time world champion Verstappen.

Photo: Race Pictures