Verstappen secures hat-trick of poles at Dutch GP beating Norris by half-a-second

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen has secured the hat-tricks of three successive pole positions at the Dutch Grand Prix as he secured the top spot by half-a-second over McLaren’s Lando Norris.

Since the Dutch Grand Prix returned to the calendar, during the 2021 F1 world championship, Verstappen has secured every pole and win at the seaside Zandvoort circuit. 

This year was no different but will the race be the same with a ninth-consecutive win for Verstappen on Sunday?

Q1

Ahead of qualifying, the heavens opened up and soaked the circuit. As such the entire field opted to complete the initial runs on the green-walled, intermediate tyres. When the pit lane opened up, Williams’ Alexander Albon was the first driver to venture out on track and naturally set the first lap time on the board with a 1:31.315.

However, this was quickly beaten but this was because the Thai driver took an adventure across the gravel at turns 11 and 12.

Due to the wet conditions, the entire field remained out on track and pumped in lap after lap as they worked to set faster lap times while the circuit continued to dry out. Verstappen also took a skip across the gravel on his early laps, at turn one, as he struggled to slow down the dominant RB19.

The reigning world champion was heard over the team radio with frustration about his car performance. It wasn’t long before he jumped to the top of the timing board.

With five minutes left on the clock, a number of drivers peeled into the pit lane for a fresh set of intermediate tyres while the bulk of the field remained out on track.

In the dying minutes, a few drivers had to avoid other competitors out on track. Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton had an incident with Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll – then Fernando Alonso later on – while McLaren’s Oscar Piastri had to avoid a collision with Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz.

At the same time, the rain had begun to fall once more as Verstappen was alerted there was ‘light rain in the pit lane.’

In his first competitive session, Alpha Tauri’s Liam Lawson – who has replaced the injured Daniel Ricciardo – ended his first F1 qualifying session with the slowest time on the board and will start the Dutch Grand Prix at the back of the grid.

Eliminated:

20. Liam Lawson, Alpha Tauri

19. Valtteri Bottas, Alfa Romeo

18. Kevin Magnussen, Haas

17. Esteban Ocon, Alpine

16. Zhou Guanyu, Alfa Romeo

Q2

Ahead of the start of Q2, the rain continued to fall and the pack quickly queued at the pit exit. Once the traffic light went green to signal the start of Q2, the field bolted out onto the Dutch circuit.

Shortly after the session resumed, the incident between Alonso and Hamilton was not worthy of further investigation from the stewards. As such the stewards deemed ‘no further action’ was the appropriate response.

With just over 10 minutes left on the clock, the sun had broken through the clouds and started to shine down onto the Zandvoort circuit. At the same time, Verstappen topped the timing boards before he was momentarily demoted by McLaren’s Lando Norris.

The Dutchman quickly improved and returned to the top of the timing board with a 1:20.282 as Norris and Hamilton occupied second and third respectively.

Five minutes remained on the clock and a dry line had begun to form throughout the lap. Despite this, a number of drivers remained on the intermediates.

Williams’ Alexander Albon soon went onto the top of the leaderboard with a quick 1:19.399. But this was quickly beaten by Piastri who went seven-thousandths of a second quicker. Concurrently, Verstappen peeled into the pit lane for a fresh set of intermediate tyres.

At the end of Q2, Verstappen jumped to the top of the timing boards ahead of Piastri and Albon in second and third respectively. However, the big shock was Hamilton who was eliminated from qualifying and will start in 13th

Eliminated:

15. Nico Hulkenberg, Haas

14. Yuki Tsuonda, Alpha Tauri

13. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes

12. Pierre Gasly, Alpine

11. Lance Stroll, Mercedes

Q3

While the rain remained at bay for the final third of qualifying, this meant a number of drivers opted for a mixed tyre strategy. The field of drivers peeled out of the pit lane booted with the soft, slick tyres while only a couple ran with the intermediates – notably Verstappen.

The Dutch world champion quickly peeled back into the pit lane for a change of tyres, he swapped over from the inters to the soft compounds.

Qualifying was quickly red flagged as Sargeant – who broke into Q3 for the first time – crashed into the barrier on the exit of turn two with eight minutes left of Q3. Replays showed that the American driver touched a damp section of the track as he broke into the right-hander, spun out, skipped over the gravel and into the barrier.

After some extensive repairs to the barriers where Sargeant crashed out, the session got back underway. It wasn’t green for long as Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc – who was in fifth – stopped at the side of the circuit at turn nine. Replays showed that the Monegasque had understeered off the circuit and into the barrier with a whack – and significant damage – to the left-side of his SF-23.

With four minutes to go, Norris and Piastri topped the timing board in first and second respectively as Verstappen rounded out the top three, in third.

When the qualifying session went green for the final time, Perez was the first to venture out of his garage into the pit lane and out onto the circuit. Unlike previous moments, there was no queue at the pit exit as Perez managed to slip straight out onto the Zandvoort circuit.

Straight out of the box, and on his final flying lap, Verstappen put in some blistering sector times. At the same time, so was Norris. Despite the McLaren driver’s best efforts, the reigning world champion sent the Netherlands into raptures as he powered his way through to secure yet another pole position by half-a-second over Norris.

Top 10:

10. Logan Sargeant, Williams

9. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari

8. Oscar Piastri, McLaren

7. Sergio Perez, Red Bull

6. Carlos Sainz, Ferrari

5. Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin

4. Alexander Albon, Williams

3. George Russell, Mercedes

2. Lando Norris, McLaren

1. Max Verstappen, Red Bull

That’s all for the article: Verstappen secures hat-trick of poles at Dutch GP beating Norris by half-a-second!

Read more Formula 1 here:

• Liam Lawson to replace Daniel Ricciardo for Dutch GP after breaking hand
• Verstappen tops FP1 in first session back at Dutch GP
• Daniel Ricciardo utilised break to build fitness ahead of second half of F1 season
• Robert Shwartzman takes Sainz seat in FP1 of Dutch GP
• Three predictions for the rest of the F1 2023 season
• Verstappen taught how to drift by ‘Mad’ Mike Whiddett amid F1 summer break

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