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A close and windy Qualifying session in Zandvoort saw one team as the clear favourite for pole position.
After rain in Free Practice 3, the track was fresh for qualifying. Though the sun had since come out, the risk of rain for the session was still 40%.
With no rain but with plenty of wind and no rubber on the track, it was McLaren’s Lando Norris who took pole position for the Dutch Grand Prix. Max Verstappen finished second, and will start there for tomorrow’s race, ahead of Oscar Piastri.
Q1
Drivers were hesitant to head out on track for the first session of Qualifying, the Haas and Kick Sauber drivers among the first to venture out and set their laps.
But with 15 minutes to go, almost everyone came out to set a lap. Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll set a lap time of 1:11.832 to hold the top slot for a minute before Oscar Piastri eclipsed him by almost three tenths.
Then it was Lewis Hamilton taking P1 overall, as his future team, Ferrari, struggled to make a dent in the top times. As everyone completed their first lap, Max Verstappen came out of the pits for the first time, having waited longer than anyone else (bar Logan Sargeant, whose car was still undergoing repairs after a crash in FP3).
Verstappen managed third place on his first fast lap, just 0.018s off Hamilton’s time but not quick enough to take second place from Lando Norris.
About ten minutes into the session, everyone but Stroll headed back to the pits to regroup, the Canadian driver hoping for a good lap in clean air on an empty track. His choice paid off, landing him fourth behind Verstappen.
With just three minutes to go, the bottom five consisted of both Visa CashApp RB drivers, both Kick Sauber drivers, and Sargeant (still stuck in the garage).
Zhou Guanyu didn’t improve on his final lap, as his teammate Valtteri Bottas made it out of the bottom five, but only up to 15th. He knocked Carlos Sainz into the elimination zone.
Sainz, under pressure for his final lap, took the top spot with a 1:11.327. He was quickly displaced by George Russell and then Sergio Perez, but remained easily through to Q2.
Yuki Tsunoda bumped his way into the top 15, leaving his teammate, Daniel Ricciardo, among those out in the first part of qualifying.
Eliminated in Q1:
16. Daniel Ricciardo
17. Esteban Ocon
18. Valtteri Bottas
19. Zhou Guanyu
20. Logan Sargeant
Q2
The Ferrari pair were the first drivers to come out and set their laps in Q2 as everyone else hung back a bit longer. With nine minutes to go, Piastri set a lap time 1:10.505, the first driver in the 1:10s range. He was quickly joined in the top three by Verstappen (behind him) and Norris (in front of him).
Then Stroll came fourth again, Perez ending up behind him in fifth. As most drivers came back into the pits, the Haas drivers were among those at risk of elimination, along with Williams’ Alex Albon, Tsunoda, and Pierre Gasly.
Coming out for his final lap, Gasly improved significantly to go fifth overall, three tenths off Norris’ top time of the session.
Perez was the second driver to set his final lap, coming fourth. Both Ferraris were sitting in the bottom five before Sainz improved, but only to tenth. Fernando Alonso was the driver to improve out of the elimination zone and knock his fellow Spaniard out of Qualifying.
The McLaren pair remained on top, as Russell nabbed third place. Also knocked out with Sainz were Hamilton, Tsunoda, and both Haas drivers.
Eliminated in Q2:
11. Carlos Sainz
12. Lewis Hamilton
13. Yuki Tsunoda
14. Nico Hulkenberg
15. Kevin Magnussen
Q3
McLaren, Red Bull, and Aston Martin were the only teams with both drivers in the top ten, as Mercedes, Alpine, Ferrari, and Williams all had one contender present.
Piastri was first with his fast lap, setting a 1:10.193, taking provisional pole briefly before Norris outdid him by 0.119s. Verstappen, Charles Leclerc, and Gasly quickly filed in behind him. The Aston Martin pair were the next to set their first laps, Alonso displacing Leclerc to take fifth and Stroll displacing Gasly to take seventh.
With both Verstappen and Norris on their final laps, it was impossible to tell which one would take pole position in the end. Verstappen crossed the line first, setting a 1:10.029, taking provisional pole with an incredible lap.
But nothing could stop Norris, who crossed the line seconds later with a lap time of 1:09.673, over three tenths faster than Verstappen. Piastri was unable to improve on third place, where he remained as everyone else completed their final laps.
Top ten starting:
1. Lando Norris
2. Max Verstappen
3. Oscar Piastri
4. George Russell
5. Sergio Perez
6. Charles Leclerc
7. Fernando Alonso
8. Alex Albon
9. Lance Stroll
10. Pierre Gasly
Feature Image Credit: Peter Fox – Getty Images