F1 Sprint Qualifying Today: Dutch Grand Prix start time, TV channel and FREE live stream

The fourth Sprint qualifying session of the F1 2026 season takes centre stage later today (Friday August 21) as the final Dutch Grand Prix weekend gets under way at Zandvoort.

Vital championship points are on offer over the next 36 hours as the title contenders do battle over the shorter race distance via the Sprint format.

A 44-minute qualifying session today is followed by the Sprint race proper tomorrow (Saturday August 22) over 100km. The whole thing lasts around 30 minutes.

Championship leader Kimi Antonelli will be looking to continue his dominance at the front of the Drivers' standings, though he did have to pass title rival and pole sitter Lewis Hamilton to win the last Sprint at Silverstone in early July.

The signs are good so far for Antonelli after he topped the timesheets in Free Practice 1 earlier on Friday.

Today's Sprint Qualifying session will set the grid for tomorrow's race, and we have all the details of when the session starts and how to watch live. Wherever you are in the world.

There is already great news for fans looking to watch the session live on TV, with Viaplay TV broadcasting the entire weekend's schedule free to air.

Stream your favourite content with ExpressVPN and enjoy smooth, uninterrupted viewing of the Dutch Grand Prix. Click here to sign up to a secure network now.

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Dutch Grand Prix Sprint Qualifying start time

Sprint Qualifying for the F1 2026 Dutch Grand Prix takes place today (Friday August 21) at 16:30 local time (CEST).

Find the sprint qualifying start time converted to your local time zone below:

Dutch Grand Prix 2026 Session Times

Sprint Qualifying - Friday August 21, 2026

TV channels and live stream details

Broadcast details vary depending on your location. There is great news as we said for anybody who has access to Viaplay TV:

Where to watch: F1 2026 broadcasters by region

* - A free seven-day trial of Apple TV is available for fans in the US, allowing them to watch F1 for free this weekend.

F1TV Pro also carries coverage of the sport, depending on which territory you are in.

Please note if you click on a product link on this page, we may earn a small affiliate commission.

How do points work in F1 Sprint races?

The first eight drivers to finish score points with the winner claiming eight, down to one for the eighth-place finisher.

The Sprint Qualifying session operates in the same way conventional qualifying does - split into three segments. They are slightly shorter though than normal Saturday qualifying sessions.

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Written by

Graham Shaw - Consultant Editor

Digital sports leader with 30 years of senior level experience running global brands. Built sportinglife.com to be a behemoth in the UK as well as being in charge of the Planet Sport network of sites including planetf1.com, football365.com, teamtalk.com and planetrugby.com. Then grew goal.com to be the world's biggest soccer website in 18 languages and 37 territories. Was GM of Portals for Perform Group (now DAZN) with overall responsibility for sportingnews.com, spox.de and voetbalzone.nl.

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