Mercedes duo: Last chance for their first Zandvoort GP victory since 1955

It has been a very long time since Mercedes last won a Grand Prix on the demanding Zandvoort circuit: in 1955, Juan Manuel Fangio was the first to cross the finish line after starting the race from pole position. His team-mate Stirling Moss rounded off the success by finishing second.

Since then, Mercedes has not celebrated another Grand Prix victory on the Dutch dune circuit. The race, which was held intermittently until 1985 and resumed in 2021, has been won three times by Max Verstappen (2021 to 2023), once by Lando Norris (2024) and once by Oscar Piastri (2025).

Close on several occasions

This year, eight of the eleven Grand Prix victories to date have gone to one of the two Mercedes drivers, Kimi Antonelli and George Russell. Mercedes fans are therefore full of hope that a victory might be on the cards this year – especially as the race will then disappear from the World Championship calendar once again.

Team principal Toto Wolff says: “Zandvoort has been a unique challenge ever since its return to the World Championship calendar. The circuit is difficult to master, the fans create an incredible atmosphere, and the teams and drivers always look forward to the race weekend. We’ve come close before, but we’ve never won there in the modern era. This is our last chance to change that, and we’re keen to rise to this challenge.”

Toto Wolff’s self-critical assessment

Looking ahead to the second half of the season, the Viennese team principal is self-critical despite the team’s strong performance in the opening races of the season: “We’ve dropped points, whilst our rivals have closed the performance gap.” And he warns: “We know that the second half of the year will demand more of us than the first.”

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Zandvoort: 1. Freies Training

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21.08.2026 - 12:15

“Ultimately, both World Championship battles will be decided by how well we perform in the races and how quickly we can further develop the car over the next twelve races. Even though we’re following a slightly different pace with our upgrades compared to our rivals, we’re aware that we haven’t yet realised our full potential. And we have a clear development plan to achieve that,” adds the 54-year-old.