Dutch Grand Prix starting grid changed hours before race as team steps in | F1 | Sport

Oliver Bearman will start the Dutch Grand Prix from the pit lane after his Haas team changed a number of components under Parc Ferme conditions. The British racer qualified 19th for Sunday’s race at Zandvoort Circuit, making it a logical decision to take the hit for new parts.

The 20-year-old will have a new internal combustion engine, turbocharger, MGU-H, MGU-K, control electronics and exhaust system when he ventures out of the garage for round 15 of the 2025 F1 season. This news will benefit Lance Stroll, who was set to start 20th on the grid after he crashed on his first Q1 attempt. He will now gain a place in the starting order as a result of Bearman’s penalties.

Bearman’s hopes for the weekend were dealt a significant blow in qualifying. Both Haas cars were eliminated in Q1 at Zandvoort, with only Stroll, who failed to set a representative lap time, below them on the timing screens.

“The first run went really well and I had a good feeling in the car,” Bearman said on Saturday. “It seemed like we were in a good window. On the second run, we were on used tires, and we still looked to be pretty decent, but then going onto new tires, everyone else improved, and I didn’t manage to make that improvement.

“I had a very different feeling underneath me compared to the previous set of tires, and there is a small change we made between the two runs, so we need to see if that was the cause of our issues or not. Our race pace has been okay. I’m not super hopeful, but we’ll see what we can do.”

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Beaman’s penalty will be only a minor consolation for Stroll, who was left wondering what could have been. Aston Martin looked very strong throughout the free practice sessions, with Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko even declaring them to be the second-fastest team behind McLaren.

“I got a wheel on the grass and that was it,” Stroll said after qualifying. “It’s really frustrating. Nothing more to say. We tried to repair what we could, but not possible.” Asked about his chances of recovering points, he replied: “Ah, difficult, difficult. Our chances now are kind of done.”

Team-mate Fernando Alonso also felt underwhelmed after Saturday’s final runs. He made it into Q3 but was the slowest driver in that particular session, which was populated by midfield rivals Isack Hadjar, Liam Lawson and Carlos Sainz.