Norris beats Russell to Dutch GP pole

Lando Norris has taken his second consecutive grand prix pole position after seeing off both Mercedes drivers and his McLaren teammate in a drizzly qualifying hour at the Dutch Grand Prix.

Norris led the way after the first runs of Q3 with a 0.151s advantage over George Russell, but some additional excitement was injected into the tight session with the appearance of rain on the team’s radar. The forecast suddenly predicted rain to fall on Circuit Zandvoort in the final five minutes of Q3, forcing teams to rapidly turn around their cars for the final runs of the hour before the track became slippery.

Russell was particularly eager to hit the track. He made sure he was ahead of Oscar Piastri as he exited pit lane, and he then engaged Norris in a race-style duel for track position in a bid to maximize his chance of beating the weather.

Norris held his ground as rain began to fleck helmet visor, but both drivers had got out early enough to avoid the circuit slowing down.

Title leader Kimi Antonelli, however, had beaten both to the circuit and was the first to complete his final flying lap. The Italian’s attempt was strong, pipping Norris’s provisional time by 0.05s with a purple final sector.

Norris, though, was on a flyer of his own. Fastest in the middle split, he resumed top spot with 0.133s in hand over the Italian. Russell, hot on his heels, was quickest in the opening sector but couldn’t quite keep up the pace, cutting the timing beam just 0.102s off the pace.

Only Piastri remained to cross the line among the pole contenders, but when last year’s pole-getter couldn’t get closer than 0.142s of his session-topping teammate, Norris’s pole position was confirmed.

“It doesn’t get any better,” he said. “A little surprised, honestly, but just a decent lap. I was pushing because of how close it is. Every 0.01s, 0.02s can make a big difference at the end.

“A good turnaround from earlier today [in the Sprint] when I felt like we struggled a little bit. Today we certainly felt very strong.”

If Russell was disappointed to have missed out on pole, he didn’t show it, with the Briton remaining upbeat about a better feeling in the car after taking the opportunity to mentally reset during the mid-season break.

“It was a strong session,” he said. “I thought we had it in there just to fight for pole, but P2 I’m pretty satisfied with, especially after going back to such tough last few races before the break – get in my groove again and try and fight with them tomorrow.I’ve been in a good place and just sort of feel myself again, which is really important.”

As had been the case for Sprint qualifying, Antonelli’s session was error-prone, with the Italian lamenting an error on his final lap that could have cost him more than his deficit to Norris.

“It was a difficult session for me overall,” he said. “I always found myself on the back foot. then on the last lap I did a mistake at Turn 1.

“I lost a couple of tenths, and it was my mistake. A shame for that, because we had a real shot for pole, but all to play for tomorrow.”

Piastri qualified fourth for the second day in a row to complete a top four spread over less than 0.15s.

Lewis Hamilton led the way for Ferrari in fifth, but the seven-time champion was 0.331s off the pace, thanks in part to being the last front-running driver to set a time, by which point the rain was beginning to make conditions more slippery. Teammate Charles Leclerc was sixth and 0.064s adrift, the combined result well beneath the Italian team’s expectations.

Max Verstappen was a muted seventh in his last home qualifying session, his Red Bull Racing car good enough for a distant 0.455s off the pace.

Liam Lawson, substituting for the injured Isack Hadjar, was impressive in eighth, lapping just 0115s slower than Verstappen.

Gabriel Bortoleto took midfield honors for Audi, 0.916s off the pace, while Arvid Lindblad completed the top 10, 1.022s adrift of pole.

Pierre Gasly couldn’t replicate his top-10 Sprint qualifying result from Friday and was instead knocked out 11th, bested for a Q3 berth by 0.091s.

Yuki Tsunoda qualified 12th again after returning the same result in Sprint qualifying, but he slashed the deficit to his Q3-bound Racing Bulls teammate to an impressive 0.102s.

Nico Hulkenberg qualified 13th ahead of Franco Colapinto, while Esteban Ocon and Alex Albon were never in contention for the top 10 on their way to 15th and 16th on the grid.

Carlos Sainz was eliminated in Q1 for only the fourth time this season, missing out on a spot in the top 16 by just 0.022s, with Williams teammate Albon the driver fractionally ahead of him at the end of the segment.

Fernando Alonso failed to improve with a scrappy final lap, leaving him 18th and 0.244s adrift of Sainz. Aston Martin teammate Lance Stroll slotted into 19th a further 0.168s off the pace.

Oliver Bearman was outqualified by teammate Ocon for the second consecutive afternoon, after being eliminated in 20th.

Cadillac locked out the back row for only the second time this season – but for the second grand prix in a row – with Valtteri Bottas 1.761s off the pace, while Sergio Perez was 0.229s further back.

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