Lando Norris takes his second consecutive Grand Prix pole position as he goes fastest in Zandvoort.
Q1
Ollie Bearman’s struggles this weekend continued as he was knocked out in the first part of qualifying, just as he had been in sprint qualifying yesterday, as well as having been outqualified by teammate Esteban Ocon once more, with the Frenchman having made it through to Q2, albeit by a narrow margin.
Aston Martin had looked better in comparison to how they performed in yesterday’s sprint qualifying, but despite having a much better car than the one they’ve had for much of this season, neither of the team’s drivers were able to make it through to Q2.
Gabriel Bortoleto has had a strong weekend up to this point, but was very much at risk during Q1, finding himself inside the bottom 6 after the first round of lap times. Though he was able to make it through after his final lap, it was certainly a bit of a scare for the Audi driver.
ELIMINATED
17. Carlos Sainz – Williams +0.022
18. Fernando Alonso – Aston Martin +0.098
19. Lance Stroll – Aston Martin +0.266
20. Ollie Bearman – Haas +0.274
21. Valtteri Bottas – Cadillac +0.819
22. Sergio Perez – Cadillac +1.048
Q2
There wasn’t any major surprises in who ended up getting eliminated in Q2, though more might have been expected from Pierre Gasly, who had entered the weekend with some new upgrades on his car.
Liam Lawson improved on the result he had in sprint qualifying yesterday, where he had been knocked out in the second session. This time, he comfortably made it through to Q3 in 8th place, while Yuki Tsunoda, who is replacing him at Racing Bulls this weekend while he drives in the Red Bull, was only able to go 12th quickest, just over a tenth shy of the top 10.
ELIMINATED
11. Pierre Gasly – Alpine +0.091
12. Yuki Tsunoda – Racing Bulls +0.102
13. Nico Hulkenberg – Audi +0.272
14. Franco Colapinto – Alpine +0.275
15. Esteban Ocon – Haas +0.612
16. Alex Albon – Williams +0.657
Q3
Lando Norris was the first to set a competitive lap time in the last part of qualifying, and set a strong enough lap that no one was able to beat him for provisional pole position. However, with looking to arrive towards the end of Q3, it was a question on whether that provisional pole would turn into actual pole position.
With the threat of rain ever looming, there was a real sense of urgency among the drivers to try and get their final lap times in as soon as possible, even causing both Norris and Russell to effectively race each other on their out laps.
While it did appear that rain began to fall, it was not with an intensity that would cause a drop in the levels of grip, which was seen when Antonelli briefly took provisional pole position from Norris.
However, the reigning world champion was not going to take that lying down, and would respond an even better time to regain top spot. Russell and Piastri would both get close, but neither would manage to go quickest, leaving Lando Norris on pole position for tomorrow’s Dutch Grand Prix.
Qualifying Results
1. Lando Norris – McLaren 1:11.163
2. George Russell – Mercedes +0.102
3. Kimi Antonelli – Mercedes +0.133
4. Oscar Piastri – McLaren +0.142
5. Lewis Hamilton – Ferrari +0.331
6. Charles Leclerc – Ferrari+0.395
7. Max Verstappen – Red Bull +0.455
8. Liam Lawson – Red Bull+0.570
9. Gabriel Bortoleto – Audi +0.916
10. Arvid Lindblad – Racing Bulls +1.022
