Lando Norris showed his joy after returning from Formula One’s summer vacation with a spectacular performance to take pole position for the Dutch Grand Prix.
It proved to be an eventful qualifying session for the race at Zandvoort
Lando Norris takes pole
McLaren driver Norris, who had been very self-critical leading into the break and spoke of the need to “reset,” produced a time of 1m 09.673s in the crucial Q3 phase to beat Red Bull opponent Max Verstappen by more than three-and-a-half tenths.
“An amazing day. It’s nice to be back and start with a pole. It was a nice lap, honestly,” said Norris.
“The qualifying was always pretty smooth and I put in some good laps, especially the one at the end, which is always the most important. A great job by the team and I’m happy with today.”
Mav Verstappen laments lack of pace
Max Verstappen dampened excpectations of a home win, as he felt his Red Bull was off the pace.
The front row placing still delighted Verstappen.
“I couldn’t quite fight for pole today against but we are doing everything we can to make the car as competitive as possible,” Verstappen said.
“I was happy to be on the front row, it is not quite as close as we would have liked but we will see what happens tomorrow.
“We are looking to optimise the balance of the car, especially as it is very windy on the track, but we will see how the car runs tomorrow and analyse the limited long runs we got yesterday. In the past we have been very strong in the race, which is a positive. It will also depend on the tyre degradation; we will need to see how much it will rain overnight and see how everything goes tomorrow. On pure pace, it will be difficult to beat the McLarens but anything can happen in Formula One so we will see. I will try my best tomorrow in front of my home crowd and we will see where we are.”
Lewis Hamilton penalised
Lewis Hamilton has been handed a three-place grid penalty for the Dutch Grand Prix after the stewards determined that he had ‘unnecessarily impeded’ Sergio Perez’s Red Bull in Q1 of Saturday’s qualifying session.
Perez was forced to lift when he approached Hamilton’s slow-moving Mercedes in the early parts of the session, eliciting a heated outburst from the Mexican over the radio. He later claimed that the event had hampered his session because he had to use an extra set of tires thereafter.
At 17:00 local time, both drivers and their respective team representatives were summoned to meet the stewards regarding the situation, and it was determined that Hamilton had violated Article 37.5 of the FIA Formula One Sporting Regulations.
As a result, Hamilton will start P15 in the following race, down from P12 for the Dutch Grand Prix.
Alex Albon disqualified for Dutch Grand Prix qualifying
Williams driver Alex Albon has been disqualified from Saturday’s qualifying session at Zandvoort for violating technical requirements.
Albon qualified seventh for the Dutch Grand Prix, but will now start from the back of the grid due to a problem with the floor of his significantly modified vehicle.
The stewards’ conclusion read: “The floor body of Car 23 was found to lie outside the regulatory volume mentioned in Article 3.5.1 a) of the FIA Formula One Technical Regulations.
“The team did not dispute the calibration of the FIA measuring system and the measurement of the car, but stated that their own measurements have produced different results.
“The Stewards determine that the result of the measurement conducted with the FIA system in Parc Ferme is the relevant one and the due process prescribed by the regulations has been followed. Therefore the standard penalty for such an infringement is applied.”
Dutch Grand Prix Qualifying results
| Pos | No | Driver | Car | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren Mercedes | 1:11.377 | 1:10.496 | 1:09.673 | 14 |
| 2 | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT | 1:11.393 | 1:10.811 | 1:10.029 | 14 |
| 3 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren Mercedes | 1:11.541 | 1:10.505 | 1:10.172 | 16 |
| 4 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | 1:11.049 | 1:10.552 | 1:10.244 | 18 |
| 5 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT | 1:11.006 | 1:10.678 | 1:10.416 | 17 |
| 6 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1:11.370 | 1:10.689 | 1:10.582 | 24 |
| 7 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes | 1:11.493 | 1:10.845 | 1:10.633 | 16 |
| 8 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Williams Mercedes | 1:11.503 | 1:10.768 | 1:10.653 | 18 |
| 9 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes | 1:11.518 | 1:10.661 | 1:10.857 | 19 |
| 10 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine Renault | 1:11.718 | 1:10.815 | 1:10.977 | 20 |
| 11 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | 1:11.327 | 1:10.914 | 18 | |
| 12 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:11.375 | 1:10.948 | 13 | |
| 13 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB Honda RBPT | 1:11.603 | 1:10.955 | 15 | |
| 14 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas Ferrari | 1:11.832 | 1:11.215 | 17 | |
| 15 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas Ferrari | 1:11.630 | 1:11.295 | 15 | |
| 16 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | RB Honda RBPT | 1:11.943 | 9 | ||
| 17 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine Renault | 1:11.995 | 9 | ||
| 18 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Kick Sauber Ferrari | 1:12.168 | 9 | ||
| 19 | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | Kick Sauber Ferrari | 1:13.261 | 9 | ||
| Note – Sargeant did not take part in qualifying and races at the stewards’ discretion. | |||||||
Who will win the Dutch Grand Prix?
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