Skip to main content

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe
Live text
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

Lando Norris, McLaren MCL60

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.

Live Text

Sort by
Oldest first
Russell cuts three seconds out of Albon's earlier effort, but his effort is swiftly beaten by both McLarens. Norris is quickest from Piastri as things stand.
Red flag
Verstappen was third, then Norris and Leclerc. But the Ferrari driver won't get another shot because he's hit the wall on the exit of Turn 9 to bring out the red flags again.
Crash
Its a hefty impact on the left-hand-side of the Ferrari as Leclerc simply understeers wide and smashes into the wall.
The clocks are stopped with four minutes to go. Albon didn't manage to set a time in that brief window of green flag running and has tumbled back to seventh, with Perez also ahead of him in sixth.
Alonso and Sainz are currently ninth and tenth, having yet to better the early effort from Sargeant.
Qualifying will resume at 16:21 local time, we're informed.
That was a strange old hit for Leclerc. Of all the hotspots you'd have expected him to see him go off, that wouldn't be in the top five to pick. I don't think I've ever seen anybody crash there before.
Lights green
The clock is running again. Hopefully for the last time, we're back to green!
Could a McLaren 1-2 really be on the cards? Here comes Verstappen, seeking to better his current P3, to cheers from the crowds.
Leclerc is watching scenes unfold trackside from the comfort of a deckchair, instead of hot-footing it back to the paddock riding pillion on a scooter. Don't think he's got the right tabard though, to be fair.
One minute to go. Now or never.
Checkered flag
Verstappen pulls out all the stops and he's on pole! It's a 1m10.567s, beating Norris and Russell.
Norris was 0.537s down on the local hero, who blitzed sectors two and three after the McLaren man had gone purple in the first stanza.
Remarkably, each of the top six will be driving different cars. Albon is fourth on a brilliant day for Williams, with Alonso fifth and Sainz sixth.
Perez ends up seventh ahead of Piastri, as the red-faced Leclerc and Sargeant complete the top 10 after their accidents.
Well that was a suitably exciting end to an action-packed session. Verstappen had showed his hand on the inters in Q2, and after switching to slicks had the same margin again plus one thousandth of a second.
Alas its the third year in a row that Verstappen will start from pole at his home race. All odds point to him also making it a hattrick of wins, after at one stage it appeared McLaren could be on course for a 1-2.
Say what you will about the predictability of a Red Bull being fastest in qualifying, but who could have predicted a Williams outqualifying one of the all-conquering RB19s? A stunning effort from Albon to put him fourth, while Aston Martin's much-vaunted push for upgrades can only yield fifth for Alonso.
Another question mark this evening will concern how much damage was done to the cars of Leclerc and Sargeant. The Williams looked just to be damaged in one corner, but it was a hefty side-on impact for the Ferrari which could have the potential to cause a few headaches.
Judging by the sky now, you'd never have guessed at how difficult the track conditions were earlier on. Its somehow remarkable that everybody kept it fairly clean when the circuit was oh-so slippery during Q1 and Q2 before bedlam in Q3 when there were fewer cars on track and the road was dry enough for slicks (although of course perhaps not absolutely everywhere).
Here's the full report from qualifying as Max Verstappen gave his home fans the result they wanted after two red flags in Q3: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/f1-dutch-gp-verstappen-enthrals-home-fans-with-pole-in-wild-qualifying-session/10511839/
Qualifying today had a little bit of everything, and sets us up nicely for what promises to be an entertaining grand prix tomorrow. Can Albon get in amongst the podium places? Can Hamilton recover to the points after falling in Q2? And how will Red Bull's latest rookie fare on his debut?
We'll call it a day there on the Live blog, but we'll be back tomorrow to bring you all the action as it happens at Zandvoort. Thank you as always for joining us and we look forward to your company once more. Until next time!

By: Autosport Staff

Published: