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Commentary

F1 Dutch GP Live commentary and updates - FP3 & Qualifying

Live updates from Saturday practice and qualifying for the Formula 1 Dutch GP at Zandvoort.

By: James Newbold, Stefan Mackley, Haydn Cobb, Megan White

Summary

Summary
  • Verstappen takes pole at the Dutch GP ahead of Hamilton and Bottas
  • Russell, Stroll, Norris, Latifi and Tsunoda out in Q2
  • Perez, Vettel, Kubica, Schumacher and Mazepin out in Q1
  • Mazepin will be investigated for blocking Vettel on his flying lap
Leaderboard
  1. Verstappen, Red Bull
  2. Hamilton, Mercedes
  3. Bottas, Mercedes
  4. Gasly, AlphaTauri
  5. Leclerc, Ferrari
  6. Sainz, Ferrari
  7. Giovinazzi, Alfa Romeo
  8. Ocon, Alpine
  9. Alonso, Alpine
  10. Ricciardo, McLaren
Status: Stopped
Well, that was a thrilling Dutch GP qualifying and sets the scene nicely ahead of Sunday's race. Please check back in tomorrow for the main event, with the race starting at 2pm BST. Until then, have a wonderful day!
Need a quick recap on what happened in qualifying at the Dutch GP? Look no further: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/dutch-gp-qualifying-report/6660304/
 
Verstappen secures his 10th career F1 pole position and his sixth in the last seven races, including winning the sprint race at Silverstone, of course. Over a single lap he's totally on song with his Red Bull.
Bottas on P3: "Red Bull were a bit out of reach today but we have two cars in the top three so we will see what we can do. Overtaking is tricky but I'm sure we'll still see an exciting race tomorrow."

Hamilton thanks the Orange Army for his welcome as a small section of boos gradually fades away. On his P2: “Strategy is going to come into this and I hope that the track provides a good race as it is a very tough circuit.”

Verstappen on his home pole: "It is an amazing feeling to get pole position here, the car was incredible and today was very enjoyable. This track in qualifying when the fuel comes out is incredible. It is the best starting position and we know overtaking is difficult here."
Verstappen gets a huge roar from the home fans as he pulls up behind the P1 board.
Gasly keeps hold of P4 ahead of the Ferraris of Leclerc and Sainz, while Giovinazzi deserves special recognition for qualifying in P7 for Alfa Romeo.
Verstappen takes pole by just 0.038s from Hamilton, as Bottas is pushed back to third place by his Mercedes team-mate.
It is! Hamilton improves but it isn't enough with a 1m08.923s - so Verstappen is on pole position for the Dutch GP!
Verstappen improves with a 1m08.885s but is it enough for pole?
Thankfully all cars make it to start their laps before the chequered flag comes out.

"Whoever it is [ahead] is standing still on the pit exit," Verstappen says over his team radio. Alonso is the guilty party but he gets going as all drivers are trying to create space between each other. It could leave those at the back at risk of missing the flag.

Not a great lap for Ricciardo nor Ocon who sit at the bottom of the top 10 but it is all to play for on these final Q3 runs.
That's it for the opening runs in Q3 and Verstappen has a 0.299s advantage over Bottas and a 0.345s gap to Hamilton in third. Around such a short circuit that's a big chunk of time to find for the Mercedes drivers.
Behind the top three, Gasly slots into P4 ahead of Leclerc and Sainz with a 1m09.663s. That's a super lap by the AlphaTauri driver.
What can Mercedes do about it? Not a lot, as Bottas goes P2 with a 1m09.222s and Hamilton goes P3 with a 1m09.268s.
Verstappen puts in a 1m08.923s! That's very fast. Provisional pole for the Dutch driver.
Small correction, Ricciardo was the first driver on the track at the start of Q3, with Verstappen and Giovinazzi following behind. All 10 drivers are on the track now for the first flying laps.
There we go, Verstappen leads out a train of cars.
No early takers for the Q3 session as we wait for some track action.
Anyway, time for F1 to face the music (sort of), as Q3 is underway.
Bon Jovi's Livin' On A Prayer to the backing of pounding drum. Zandvoort gonna Zandvoort.
Q3 will start at 15:07 BST - so the five-minute countdown begins.

The barriers are being repaired at where Latifi crashed, so that is why there is a delay to the start of Q3. It also gives the Zandvoort DJ a chance to play some pounding techno music over the circuit speakers. What fun.

 
The timing screen indicates a five-minute notice will be given before the start of Q3, so we'll have a bit of a delay to the start of the top-10 shootout. Time to make a cuppa.
So the surprise package to make it into Q3 is Giovinazzi, all while pressure had been increasing on his place at Alfa Romeo. Good timing Antonio, we'd say.
 
 
Out in Q2: P11 Russell, P12 Stroll, P13 Norris, P14 Latifi, P15 Tsunoda.
Latifi had just started his final lap in Q2 and spun at Turn 8, sustaining a heavy impact with the outside tyre barrier. That's the session over.
Red flag - it is the other Williams! Latifi has crashed!
Ah, we won't be seeing any more of Russell today as he hops out of the Williams. Clearly the damage to the car was too much to quickly fix for a final Q2 run. That means he's out and will start P11 at best.
Here we go again, Latifi and Verstappen out straight away while Giovinazzi's car is being attended to by the Alfa Romeo mechanics.
Q2 will restart at 14:46 BST - so two minutes to go.
 
The track is being cleared up where Russell went off to sweep away the gravel and dirt that was spilled at the final corner. After that Q2 should get going again soon.
The Q2 clock has stopped with 3m54s to go so there is enough time for all drivers to get back out for a final run when we get going again. That includes Russell who is back in his Williams ready for the restart.

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