news-engine

With late rain once again threatening over Zandvoort, as it did earlier in the sprint race, Norris set his time with more than three minutes remaining in Q3, topping the session with a 1m11.163s to beat Russell by 0.102s, with Antonelli a further 0.031s behind. It was Norris’ second pole of the season and 18th of his career, following his pole last round in Hungary which he converted into McLaren’s first victory of 2026. Oscar Piastri was fourth, once again narrowly missing out on a higher spot on the grid, finishing just 0.142s behind Norris and only 0.009s behind Antonelli. The Ferrari pair of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc were fifth and sixth, while Red Bull duo Max Verstappen and Liam Lawson finished seventh and eighth. It was a particularly impressive performance by the Kiwi, who finished just one tenth behind Verstappen and reached the final part of qualifying for the first time as a Red Bull driver on his return to the squad in place of the injured Isack Hadjar. Gabriel Bortoleto reached the final phase of qualifying for the second time this weekend with an impressive ninth for Audi, while Arvid Lindblad also replicated his sprint qualifying position to line up 10th. Norris said he was surprised to take pole, admitting it was a good turnaround after the disappointment of only managing third in the sprint race earlier in the day. “It doesn’t get any better,” he said. View this post on Instagram “A little surprised honestly. But yeah, just a decent lap. I was pushing because you see how close it is. So every one hundredths, two hundredths can make a big difference in the end. “But just a good turnaround. A good turnaround from earlier today where I felt like we struggled a little bit today. “We certainly felt very strong. So the team did a good job. So credits to them on trying to get a little bit more out of the car. And it certainly helped me today.” He said the team had only made minor changes to the car between the two Saturday sessions. “We had to try something because what we had before wasn’t going to be enough,” he said. “So we made some small changes. Nothing that was going to make us gain two tenths or one tenth even. But enough to maybe give me a little bit more confidence. “And on a track like Zandvoort, you need good confidence in the car and you want to attack a lot. “I felt like I could do that more today, and it paid off.” Sprint race winner Russell said he was satisfied to finish second, despite not being able to back up his sprint pole with a grand prix pole. “Lando did a great job. So congrats to him and McLaren,” he said. “It was a strong session. I thought we had it in there just to fight for pole, but P2 I’m pretty satisfied with. Especially after such a tough last few races before the break. “Sort of get in my groove again and try and fight with them tomorrow.” He added he was looking forward to seeing how the race would unfold on Sunday. “I feel in a good place and just sort of feel myself again, which is really important,” he said. “It was really nice to drive around here and these cooler temperatures made the track feel really fast. “So it was a real joy for us all to drive and looking forward to the race.” Antonelli, meanwhile, said the session had been difficult for him, with a mistake late in Q3 costing him a shot at pole. “It was a difficult session for me overall,” he admitted. “Always found myself in the back foot, and then the last lap did a mistake in Turn 1. Lost a couple of tenths and it was my mistake. “Shame for that because we had a real shot for pole.” Norris topped Q2 by only 0.013s from Piastri, with only three tenths covering first to seventh. Pierre Gasly wasn’t able to replicate his earlier form in the sprint, missing out on Q3 by just a tenth as he finished in 11th, one spot behind Lindblad, who snuck into the final phase of qualifying. Yuki Tsunoda, Nico Hulkenberg, Franco Colapinto, Esteban Ocon and Alex Albon also joined Gasly in being eliminated in Q2. The slim margins were also on display in Q1, with Piastri topping the session by just 0.063s from Hamilton and 0.085s from Norris, with half a second covering the top 10 and less than a second separating the top 17. Carlos Sainz was the unlucky driver to finish within a second of Piastri’s benchmark and still be eliminated, missing out on Q2 by just two hundredths of a second, with teammate Albon one place ahead in 16th. Joining Sainz in Q1 elimination were Aston Martin duo Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll, Oliver Bearman and Cadillac drivers Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez. The Dutch Grand Prix gets underway at 3pm local time on Sunday (11pm AEST). Results: Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix, Qualifying | Pos. | No. | Driver | Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Laps | || | 1 | 1 | | | 1:12.695 | 1:11.628 | 1:11.163 | 21 | || | 2 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | 1:12.924 | 1:11.959 | 1:11.265 | 20 | || | 3 | 12 | Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | 1:13.022 | 1:11.915 | 1:11.296 | 21 | || | 4 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 1:12.610 | 1:11.641 | 1:11.305 | 21 | || | 5 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | 1:12.673 | 1:11.970 | 1:11.494 | 25 | || | 6 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1:13.064 | 1:11.910 | 1:11.558 | 23 | || | 7 | 3 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing | 1:13.290 | 1:11.874 | 1:11.618 | 22 | || | 8 | 30 | Liam Lawson | Red Bull Racing | 1:13.392 | 1:12.301 | 1:11.733 | 25 | || | 9 | 5 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Audi | 1:13.142 | 1:12.433 | 1:12.079 | 22 | || | 10 | 41 | Arvid Lindblad | Racing Bulls | 1:13.074 | 1:12.525 | 1:12.185 | 22 | || | 11 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | 1:13.115 | 1:12.616 | 14 | ||| | 12 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | Racing Bulls | 1:13.085 | 1:12.627 | 15 | ||| | 13 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Audi | 1:13.188 | 1:12.797 | 19 | ||| | 14 | 43 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine | 1:13.322 | 1:12.800 | 13 | ||| | 15 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Haas F1 Team | 1:13.544 | 1:13.137 | 17 | ||| | 16 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Williams | 1:13.552 | 1:13.182 | 16 | ||| | 17 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | Williams | 1:13.574 | 10 | |||| | 18 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | 1:13.650 | 10 | |||| | 19 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 1:13.818 | 10 | |||| | 20 | 87 | Oliver Bearman | Haas F1 Team | 1:13.826 | 11 | |||| | 21 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Cadillac | 1:14.371 | 10 | |||| | 22 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Cadillac | 1:14.600 | 10 |