Verstappen snatches Masters F3 pole

Max Verstappen snatched pole position for Sunday's Zandvoort Masters Formula 3 invitational event in the final  minutes of second qualifying. The 16-year-old, son of ex-Formula 1 driver Jos, was top of the times in the dry session before dropping behind Jules Szymkowiak in the closing stages.

Verstappen reacted in his Motopark Dallara-Volkswagen F311, setting a time of 1m32.813s that was seven tenths quicker than his rival. He then improved again on his final lap, his final pole time of 1m32.628s leaving him six tenths up on eventual second-place driver Sam MacLeod.

"My first run wasn't perfect, so we made some little changes and put on some new tires," he said. "Compared with my first run, we were better in the fast corners and the braking was quite good; that was where we won the time."

MacLeod, who had been third aboard his Van Amersfoort Dallara-Volkswagen before the second runs, edged out Motopark driver Nabil Jeffri on his final set of tires with a 1m33.248s.

Steijn Schothorst took fourth in his Performance Racing Dallara-Volkwagen, but will drop three places on the grid for improving his time under waved yellows in second free practice.

Van Amersfoort driver Szymkowiak faded to fifth in the times after the final runs in his Motopark entry, while Indy Dontje ended up sixth with a time just over a second slower than team-mate Verstappen.

Max Verstappen is the first driver to claim pole position for Zandvoort's Masters F3 fixture with a Volkswagen engine? Mercedes' unbeaten sequence of victories as an engine supplier dating back to 2003 is set to come to an end tomorrow as the top Merc qualifier is Double R driver Andy Chang in seventh place.