Formula 1 ®
Norris takes pole position at Zandvoort with authority, Max pushes his GP2 engine for P2 and Piastri in third. Russell outqualifies his team mate for P4 and Sergio Perez finally in the top five. Williams disqualified from qualifying.
ZANDVOORT, Netherlands (AP) — Max Verstappen can be beaten at his home Dutch Grand Prix, after all.
Lando Norris produced a blistering lap to qualify on pole position ahead of the three-time world champion on Saturday. Next he’ll aim to end Verstappen’s winning streak on home soil in Sunday’s race, further cutting into the Dutch driver’s lead at the top of the overall standings.
Norris’ final lap was far ahead of anyone else’s pace, beating second-place Verstappen by .356 of a second. Verstappen, who is heading into his 200th race on Sunday, had taken pole position and won all three of the races held at Zandvoort since the Dutch Grand Prix returned to the F1 schedule in 2021.
It was wet and windy for much of the race weekend — including rain in two of the three practice sessions — but it stayed dry for qualifying. McLaren has brought new upgrades for its car and qualifying gave the latest indication it now has the edge on pace over the once all-conquering Red Bull.
Oscar Piastri was third-fastest in the second McLaren, ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell and Verstappen’s under-pressure Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez. Charles Leclerc was sixth for Ferrari. There were two big surprises in the second part of qualifying as Carlos Sainz Jr. was 11th for Ferrari and seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton, who won the last race in Belgium, was 12th for Mercedes.
Logan Sargeant didn’t take part after a heavy crash in practice Saturday morning which left his Williams on fire.
Fernando
QUALIFYING P7
“I am happy with my Qualifying today and both cars in Q3 is a positive result for us. It felt like a lottery sometimes out on track depending on how gusty it was, particularly in Turns 9 and 10. I wasn’t too comfortable in Q1 and Q2, but in the end I was happy with my lap in Q3. I felt like it was the maximum we could achieve today. Tomorrow the weather looks clear, so we will need to execute a good race and battle hard to keep some fast cars behind us.”
