Misfortune in the final Dutch Grand Prix

Aston Martin Aramco Formula One™ Team driver Lance Stroll did not finish the Dutch Grand Prix following a handling issue caused by damage to the AMR26.

Mixed weather in Friday's Free Practice

Rain hit the track on Friday morning. Lance started on the intermediate tyre, but Circuit Zandvoort was drying quickly, so Lance pitted for a set of Mediums.

For the final ten minutes, he moved onto the Soft tyre, eager to learn as much as possible in the weekend’s only Free Practice session.

Following Free Practice, the team worked on analysing the information ahead of the Sprint sessions.

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Sprinting by the sand dunes

Drivability issues affected both Aston Martin Aramco Formula One Team drivers. This resulted in Lance unfortunately losing time in Sprint Qualifying.

Due to this, Lance began the Sprint from P18. On the Medium tyre, he made progress off the line and was up to P17 by Lap 2.

Lance held onto the position over the course of the 24-lap Sprint race and concluded P17, just missing the rain which began to fall on the final lap.

WATCH: 2026 DUTCH GRAND PRIX SPRINT HIGHLIGHTS

Qualifying car issues continue

Similar drivability issues from Friday’s Sprint Qualifying affected Saturday’s Qualifying session. Lance qualified P19 after 10 laps around Circuit Zandvoort, setting a time of 1:13.818.

The team will continue working hard to analyse the data and extract performance.

WATCH: 2026 DUTCH GRAND PRIX QUALIFYING HIGHLIGHTS

Retirement from the Dutch Grand Prix

Rain hit the circuit right before the Grand Prix, but the track dried enough for drivers to begin on slick tyres.

From P19, Lance opted for the Soft compound. At the end of the first lap, a crash for Max Verstappen resulted in a Red Flag.

Once racing resumed with a standing start, Lance took to the track again on Softs. Lance had obtained damage to his AMR26 during the early stages of the Grand Prix which created a handling issue.

At the end of Lap 15, Lance came into the pits for a set of Hards. He returned to the track in P20 and worked on gaining positions amid the car damage.

He pitted again at the halfway mark from P15, returning to the track on new Hards. However, nine laps later, Lance was forced to retire the car due to the handling issues.

His season will continue on 4-6 September with the Italian Grand Prix.

WATCH: 2026 DUTCH GRAND PRIX RACE HIGHLIGHTS

Lance Stroll, Aston Martin Aramco Formula One™ Team, said:

"We picked up some damage early on which compromised the performance of the car. We had no pace and were sliding around a lot, so we stopped early for the Hard tyre, but unfortunately nothing helped. There's still a lot of work to do to improve the driveability of the car."