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Formula 1
Dutch GP
F1 Dutch GP Live Commentary and Updates - FP3 & Qualifying
Saturday's action from the 13th round of the 2023 Formula 1 season
F1 is back after its summer break, following a busy opening day at Zandvoort which saw Lando Norris top the times while Daniel Ricciardo suffered a broken hand in a crash which has ruled him out of the rest of the Dutch GP.
Ricciardo's injury has given Liam Lawson his F1 debut, stepping into the AlphaTauri from final practice.
Max Verstappen arrived at Zandvoort for his home event with a 125-point championship lead over Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez.
FP3 starts on Saturday at 10:30 BST followed by qualifying at 14:00 BST.
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Setting the pace in Q1 was none other than Albon in the Williams. A special moment for him and the Grove team. It won't count for the grid as we'll of course have to go again in Q2 and Q3, but that will give him a certain boost.
Replays show Leclerc had not one but two hairy moments on what turned out to be his fastest lap. He ran a bit deep into Turn 11, then had a huge slide through Turn 13 that required all of his car control skills to save.
Magnussen's hopes of extending his qualifying session were curtailed by going off at Turn 1 on his final run.
Lights green
Around 20 minutes ago there were clear skies and sunny streaks, but now you wouldn't be surprised if it rained again. Q2 is now underway.
The near-miss earlier on involving Sainz and Piastri will now be investigated after the session, we've been told.
Verstappen's opening gambit for the session is a 1m21.921s, just under a second off his best in Q1.
Russell slots into second behind Verstappen, while Albon and Sargeant demonstrate the former's Q1 pace was no fluke in third and fourth for Williams.
Verstappen now gets down to 1m20.690s, over a second quicker than Sargeant in second. Gasly meanwhile goes wide at Turn 3 and kisses the mud on the corner exit, without doing anything as dramatic as Magnussen managed this morning in FP3.
Hamilton had voiced displeasure over the radio at the end of Q1 about Alonso impeding him in the final sector, but the stewards say there's no case to answer in that instance.
Three drivers have now ducked below 81s, with Norris moving to the head of the timesheets ahead of Verstappen and Albon now up into third.
Verstappen doesn't allow Norris to lead the way for long though and wrests back the top spot on 1m20.282s.
Sainz says the track is drying quickly and has called to have new intermediates ready for the final runs. He's currently languishing in 15th as things stand.
Russell, Piastri and Albon are the fastest drivers in the respective three sectors, but Verstappen is the most consistent across the full lap. That said, he's now just usurped Russell's sector one best and is on course to improve again.
Perez, Tsunoda, Hulkenberg, Gasly and Sainz are the quintet who would miss out were the clocks to stop now. A big final run ahead for them as they seek to break into Q3.
Perez responds with a 1m20.591s to go second, but Verstappen has shown what the Red Bull can do with a 1m19.652s.
Both are now beaten by Albon's 1m19.399s, with Russell moving into second. The Williams really does have good pace today it seems. Could he be a surprise pole contender?
Now Piastri lowers the benchmark to 1m19.392s. What can the rest do on their final runs?
Checkered flag
Leclerc pops up in third, a 1m19.600s, just before the checkered flag comes out. Who can make the difference?
A statement lap there from Verstappen, who on fresh inters slaps down a 1m18.856s to go 0.536s quicker than Piastri.
Sargeant makes it two Williams in Q3! He beats Stroll by 0.054s to snatch tenth place away from the Aston driver.
Gasly is another to miss out by a narrow margin - he's P12, just 0.061s down on Sargeant, Hamilton 0.084s adrift in 13th. Wowzers.
So it is that Stroll, Gasly, Hamilton, Tsunoda and Hulkenberg miss the cut for Q3. Sargeant's first Q3 appearance means this will be his best grid slot yet, the Williams rookie having never bettered 14th to date.
The top 10 in that Q2 session were Verstappen, Piastri, Albon, Alonso, Leclerc, Russell, Norris, Perez, Sainz and Sargeant. Red Bull, McLaren, Williams and Ferrari both make it through with two cars.
Replays show that at the end of the session Leclerc made his latest trip down the Turn 1 escape road. How many visits is that today?
Norris over the radio tells his team that it could try a slick in Q3. The sun has reappeared and it seems conditions are continuing to improve.
We're green for Q3 and there's a split in tyre strategy. On inters are Piastri, Leclerc and Perez, while on the soft slicks are Albon, Alonso, Russell, Sainz and Sargeant.
Piastri immediately pits to fit slicks.
Verstappen also went out on inters and realises quickly it was a mistake. "We have them ready, right?" he asks his team, referencing the slicks. His engineer replies to tell him to focus on the job at hand.
Williams are 1-2! Albon logs a 1m15.743s ahead of Sargeant on 1m16.748s.
Red flag
But Sargeant has crashed heavily at Turn 2! Red flags are out.
The American rookie emerges from the cockpit under his own power, after the back end stepped out from him into the right-hander. No chance to save that one given the limited space before the barrier. Big damage to the front right corner on the Williams.
The clock has been paused, so others will have an opportunity to beat his time. A disappointing way to end Sargeant's best day in F1 to date.
Only four drivers had managed to set a time prior to the stoppage. They were Albon, Sargeant, Sainz and Russell. Albon has been in the top three in both prior sessions, but both of those were held in intermediate conditions. Can he remain at the sharp end in the dry?
Another impeding incident, this time Hamilton against Tsunoda, will be investigated after the session.
We're still waiting for a time for the session to restart. But the crowds don't seem to mind as the relentless DJ continues his mission with another song whose name I've forgotten.
We've been informed that the extended delay is due to repairs to the barriers. Sargeant caught them with quite a thump.
Qualifying will resume at 16:11 local time, we're told by the FIA.
Nine cars remain then to battle for pole. Sainz has been quick on the buzzer and trundled down to the end of the pitlane already.
Lights green
We're back to green. Just over seven minutes on the clock to decide who will start on pole tomorrow.
Albon remember leads the way from Sargeant, who will take no further part in the session, Sainz and Russell.
By: Autosport Staff
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