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Qualifying report
Formula 1 Dutch GP

F1 Dutch GP: Norris revels in beating Verstappen to pole

McLaren driver claimed third pole of 2024, with Oscar Piastri completing the top three

Lando Norris, McLaren MCL38

Lando Norris, McLaren MCL38

Photo by: Alastair Staley / Motorsport Images

Lando Norris beat Red Bull driver Max Verstappen to pole position for Formula 1’s 2024 Dutch Grand Prix, stating afterwards that McLaren “got him today”.

Oscar Piastri completed the top three, while George Russell finished just behind for Friday practice pacesetter Mercedes, which had Lewis Hamilton fail to progress from Q2.

It was a session where all the drivers were struggling to build tyre temperature on the cool track surface that was very green after further rain hit the event earlier on Saturday, which provided a big track evolution factor for the session.

Wind picking up and then increasing throughout the session also made things tricky for the drivers, with a strong tailwind into Turn 1, then crosswind snaps through Turns 9 to 12.

Norris led Q3 throughout – his initial 1m10.074s on the first runs putting him ahead of Piastri and Verstappen at this stage.

Verstappen led the pack around for the final go and improved significantly to rise to provisional pole with a 1m10.029s, gaining particularly from a very strong middle sector, but Norris’s final sector was very strong and allied with a small slip from Verstappen at Turn 11.

Lando Norris, McLaren MCL38

Lando Norris, McLaren MCL38

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

Norris roared to a 1m09.673s – the only driver to crack that barrier – as Verstappen was pushed to 0.356s adrift.

“Qualifying was always pretty smooth and I put in some good laps – especially the one at the end, which is always the most important,” Norris said afterwards. “So, great job by the team and happy with today.

“I’m excited for tomorrow. I’m sure it’s going to be tough. Max has been quick all weekend and I know we got him today, but he’s still second. And he’s going to be putting up a good fight. Especially at his home race. So, looking forward to it.”

Piastri could not knock the home hero off the front row as he paid the price for not going quicker than before in the middle sector and finished 0.499s down on his team-mate despite putting in a personal best time.

Russell did enough to beat Sergio Perez to fourth, with Charles Leclerc the lead Ferrari in sixth.

Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll ran offset to the rest in the middle of Q3 as they only had one set of new tyres left for the final segment – as did everyone except the McLarens, Verstappen and Russell.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB20

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB20

Photo by: Andrew Ferraro / Motorsport Images

Alonso took seventh and Stroll ninth, with Alex Albon getting in between them and Pierre Gasly behind in 10th.

In Q2, Leclerc’s last-gasp improvement knocked out his Ferrari team-mate Carlos Sainz, who had not driven on the softs this weekend pre-qualifying due to his Friday gearbox issue and the rain seen so far at this event, while Hamilton missed the cut behind in 12th.

Then came Yuki Tsunoda and the Haas pair Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen.

In Q1, Perez’s jump from the drop zone to head the segment using an extra set of softs shuffled Daniel Ricciardo to a swift exit for RB.

Perez’s extra lap was required after his first attempt was scuppered coming across Hamilton going slowly on the outside of Turn 9 in an incident that will be investigated after qualifying.

Esteban Ocon could not find the same improvements as others amid the track evolution factor and was out in 17th despite setting a personal best time on his last Q1 lap, with Sauber pair Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu also out after doing their final efforts ahead of many others.

Logan Sargeant missed qualifying for Williams as his car could not be repaired in time after his fiery FP3 crash.

F1 Dutch GP - Qualifying results

   
1
 - 
3
   
   
1
 - 
2
   
Cla Driver # Chassis Engine Time km/h
1 United Kingdom L. Norris McLaren 4 McLaren Mercedes

1'09.673

220.062
2 Netherlands M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing 1 Red Bull Red Bull

+0.356

1'10.029

218.943
3 Australia O. Piastri McLaren 81 McLaren Mercedes

+0.499

1'10.172

218.497
4 United Kingdom G. Russell Mercedes 63 Mercedes Mercedes

+0.571

1'10.244

218.273
5 Mexico S. Perez Red Bull Racing 11 Red Bull Red Bull

+0.743

1'10.416

217.740
6 Monaco C. Leclerc Ferrari 16 Ferrari Ferrari

+0.909

1'10.582

217.228
7 Spain F. Alonso Aston Martin Racing 14 Aston Martin Mercedes

+0.960

1'10.633

217.071
8 Thailand A. Albon Williams 23 Williams Mercedes

+0.980

1'10.653

217.009
9 Canada L. Stroll Aston Martin Racing 18 Aston Martin Mercedes

+1.184

1'10.857

216.385
10 France P. Gasly Alpine 10 Alpine Renault

+1.304

1'10.977

216.019
11 Spain C. Sainz Ferrari 55 Ferrari Ferrari

+1.241

1'10.914

216.211
12 United Kingdom L. Hamilton Mercedes 44 Mercedes Mercedes

+1.275

1'10.948

216.107
13 Japan Y. Tsunoda RB 22 RB Red Bull

+1.282

1'10.955

216.086
14 Germany N. Hulkenberg Haas F1 Team 27 Haas Ferrari

+1.542

1'11.215

215.297
15 Denmark K. Magnussen Haas F1 Team 20 Haas Ferrari

+1.622

1'11.295

215.055
16 Australia D. Ricciardo RB 3 RB Red Bull

+2.270

1'11.943

213.118
17 France E. Ocon Alpine 31 Alpine Renault

+2.322

1'11.995

212.964
18 Finland V. Bottas Sauber 77 Sauber Ferrari

+2.495

1'12.168

212.454
19 China Z. Guanyu Sauber 24 Sauber Ferrari

+3.588

1'13.261

209.284
20 United States L. Sargeant Williams 2 Williams Mercedes

 

 

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