DPA
Zandvoort (Netherlands)
Lando Norris of McLaren beat home favourite Max Verstappen of Red Bull to take pole position for the Formula One Dutch Grand Prix on Saturday.
Verstappen clocked his fastest time in his second flying lap but Norris improved to top the timesheets with 1 minute 09.673 seconds, 0.356s better than the three-time world champion.
Oscar Piastri in the other McLaren was third.
“It was a nice lap, qualifying was pretty smooth and I put in some good laps. It’s harder than it looks, it’s tricky out there but I felt comfortable. The car feels amazing, everything is working very well so a big thanks to the team. I’m excited for tomorrow,” Norris said.
Norris has won one race this season and finished on the podium seven other times. He’s widely considered the driver who can potentially end Verstappen’s three-year reign in F1.
The British man sits 78 points behind his Dutch rival ahead of Sunday’s race.
Can Verstappen win fourth consecutive home race?
Verstappen is aiming for a fourth straight win at his home race on Sunday, which will also mark his 200th Grand Prix since his debut in 2015.
But the man who has dominated F1 in the past two years has not won in four races and only made the podium once in the period.
“We just lacked a bit of pace, I tried the best I could and I’m still happy with the front row. It was tricky with the gusts of wind.
Hopefully the car is okay tomorrow in the race,” the Red Bull driver said.
Hamilton hit with
grid penalty
Mercedes, who won three of the past four races, had high hopes for the second part of the season following the summer break.
The team will be satisfied to see George Russell starting the Dutch GP in fourth, but Lewis Hamilton was only 12th after he was eliminated in Q2.
The seven-time world champion, however, will start the race in 14th after he was handed a three-place grid penalty, but moved up one position because Alex Albon of Williams was disqualified from the qualifying.
The stewards deemed that Hamilton had unnecessarily impeded the Red Bull of Sergio Perez during Q1, while Albon, who had clocked the eighth fastest time, was disqualified because his car’s floor body was found to be outside the regulatory volume.
Perez was fifth, followed by the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc and the Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso.
Logan Sargeant, who had to jump out of his burning Williams after a heavy crash in the final practice, didn’t take part in qualifying as the mechanics weren’t able to repair his car in time for the session.
