Following the summer break, the 2024 Formula 1 season resumes this weekend with the Dutch Grand Prix in Zandvoort.
Max Verstappen holds a commanding 78-point lead at the top of the drivers’ standings but arrives at his home Grand Prix on a run of four races without a victory.
The Dutchman remains the clear favourite to retain his world championship crown but his Red Bull team’s dominance of the last couple of years appears to be a thing of the past with McLaren, Mercedes and Ferrari all having claimed multiple wins this season.
McLaren’s Lando Norris – Verstappen’s nearest challenger – must make a fast start to the final stretch of the season if he is to increase the pressure on his rival, who will have the passionate backing of his loud and loyal Orange Army.
Whether or not Norris can take the fight to Verstappen, the battle in the Constructors’ Championship appears hugely likely to go down the wire with McLaren having reduced Red Bull’s advantage to 42 points.
However, both will be wary of Mercedes, who won three of the last four races before the summer break after finally appearing to get to grips with the design regulations that have troubled them so severely since being introduced in 2022.
A reinvigorated Lewis Hamilton has claimed the last two of those victories and will no doubt be eager to maintain a strong finish to his time with Mercedes ahead of his move to Ferrari at the end of the season.
The F1 Academy season also resumes in the Netherlands, with Britain’s Abbi Pulling holding a 66-point lead at the top of the standings going into the fourth of seven rounds in the all-female series.
Sky Sports F1’s live Dutch GP schedule
Thursday August 22
12.30pm: Drivers press conference
Friday August 23
9.05am: F1 Academy: Practice One
11am: Dutch GP Practice One (session starts 11.30am)
2.45pm: Dutch GP Practice Two (session starts 3pm)
4.25pm: F1 Academy: Practice Two
5.15pm: The F1 Show
Saturday August 24
9.10am: F1 Academy: Qualifying
10.15am: Dutch GP Practice Three (session starts 10.30am)
1pm: Dutch Qualifying build-up
2pm: DUTCH GP QUALIFYING
4pm: F1 Academy: Race One
Sunday August 25
9.40am: F1 Academy: Race Two
12:30pm: Grand Prix Sunday: Dutch GP build-up
2pm: The DUTCH GRAND PRIX
4pm: Chequered Flag: Dutch GP reaction
Formula 1 returns after the summer break with the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort this weekend, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream every F1 race and more with a NOW Sports Month Membership – No contract, cancel anytime.