Lando Norris secured his second pole position in as many Grand Prix weekends, setting the pace as the rain began to fall at the Zandvoort circuit on Saturday.
The McLaren driver grabbed pole position by a tenth ahead of George Russell, with Kimi Antonelli a further 0.04s off the pace.
Double Aston Martin elimination in Q1
The drivers counted down to the start of Q1 in a queue in the pit lane, with Nico Hülkenberg leading out the field. The Audi driver posted a 1:21.443 to get the timesheets rolling.
Yuki Tsunoda beat that, the Racing Bulls reserve driver shaving seven seconds off the P1 time, while Arvid Lindblad slotted into second place behind his new teammate. The teammates were displaced by Lewis Hamilton, with Liam Lawson up to second place ahead of Max Verstappen.
McLaren and Mercedes were two of the last teams to venture out of the pit lane. Lando Norris went quickest but lost out to Oscar Piastri. George Russell split the McLaren teammates in second place, with Kimi Antonelli P4.
Antonelli was fastest in the first sector, Piastri on top in the second, and Russell set the pace in the third.
Fernando Alonso popped up into 12th place in his upgraded Aston Martin with its new Honda power unit. However, his teammate Lance Stroll was P22 after his lap time was deleted for track limits.
Hamilton had a big moment at Turn 1, flying off the track and through the gravel before making his way onto the outside escape road. Carlos Sainz was off at Turn 3, and Pierre Gasly was noted for an unsafe release.
Tsunoda made a great jump to set the eighth fastest time, 0.01s off Lindblad. Lawson was 14th, a tenth slower than Verstappen in 12th. Lawson was noted for failing to follow Race Directors’ notes, “maximum delta time”.
Eliminated: Carlos Sainz, Fernando Alonso, Lance Stroll, Oliver Bearman, Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez.
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Liam Lawson progresses, but Yuki Tsunoda is out in Q2
Verstappen led the field out for the start of Q2, followed by Hulkenberg and Antonelli.
The Dutch racer clocked a 1:12.634 as he was cheered on by the partisan Dutch crowd. He dropped to third when the Mercedes came flying through, Russell moving into P1, four-tenths clear of Antonelli.
As more drivers set lap times, Verstappen dropped to eighth place with Lawson in ninth. The two were separated by 0.004s. Tsunoda was the first driver in the drop zone in 11th place.
Gabriel Bortoleto improved to eighth place, pushing the Red Bull teammates closer to the drop zone.
With the top 13 separated by just one second, “all the drivers – even the pace-setting McLarens – ventured out for a second run.
Norris pipped Piastri with a 1:11.628 to finish Q2 fastest of all, with Verstappen making a big jump into third place. Lawson progressed in eighth place.
Eliminated: Pierre Gasly, Yuki Tsunoda, Nico Hulkenberg, Franco Colapinto, Esteban Ocon and Alex Albon.
Lando Norris secures pole position in Zandvoort
Verstappen and Russell left the pits at the same time, with Verstappen quipping that Russell will probably complain about the release. GianPiero Lambaise told his driver that there was nothing in it.
With the threat of rain growing minute by minute, Norris went quickest with a 1:11.344, while Piastri was two-tenths down on his teammate. Russell split the teammates.
Leclerc moved up to fourth place, but was three-tenths down on Norris, with Antonelli fifth in the provisional standings.
Heading out for a second run, Russell overtook Piastri in the pit lane to run behind Norris. And the rain arrived.
Antonelli grabbed provisional pole position but Norris fought back with a 1:11.163. As the rain came down hard, Russell moved ahead of Antonelli, with Piastri fourth.
Norris grabbed pole position, his second successive Grand Prix pole, by 0.102s ahead of Russell with Antonelli third on the grid
Dutch GP Qualifying result
1 Lando Norris 1:11.163
2 George Russell 1:11.265
3 Kimi Antonelli 1:11.296
4 Oscar Piastri 1:11.305
5 Lewis Hamilton 1:11.494
6 Charles Leclerc 1:11.558
7 Max Verstappen 1:11.618
8 Liam Lawson 1:11.733
9 Gabriel Bortoleto 1:12.079
10 Arvid Lindblad 1:12.185
The full results from Qualifying at Zandvoort
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