Lando Norris seals Dutch Grand Prix pole ahead of George Russell

McLaren’s Lando Norris has taken pole position ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell and Kimi Antonelli at the Dutch Grand Prix.

Feature image credit: Pirelli

The defending world champion, Norris, has denied Russell back-to-back pole positions across the Dutch weekend after the #1 McLaren clinched the top grid spot under the threat of rain.

In what was a primarily dry session at Zandvoort, rain threatened to ruin proceedings late on in Q3. Many drivers pitted after their banker laps of Q3 and quickly sprinted back out onto the circuit earlier than they usually would as the weather started to turn.

Despite the incoming rain, the McLaren driver bested the conditions, setting a lap time of 1m 11.163s, beating Russell by a tenth of a second.

The two looked to be locked into a race-like condition on their final runs of Q3, racing the worsening conditions. Russell had already jumped Piastri in the pit lane to get track position, but Norris did not allow the Briton to pass him on the outlap.

The #63 Mercedes finished ahead of his championship-leading teammate, Antonelli, who rounded out the top three.

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The Ferrari drivers of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc found themselves down in fifth and sixth, with the seven-time world champion having a scare in Q1.

Hamilton went on a timed lap into the opening corner, during the first third, and suffered a big lock-up, running wide at the T1 hairpin. The #44 Ferrari was forced to run over the gravel trap and onto the tarmac run-off before returning to the circuit.

Red Bull’s home hero, Max Verstappen, could only best seventh in what would be his final home race before the event drops off the calendar, ahead of his stand-in teammate Liam Lawson.

Yuki Tsunoda, who temporarily replaces Lawson at Racing Bulls in his second qualifying session of any format, managed to climb up to 12th overall for Sunday’s race.

Qualifying order:

1. Lando Norris, McLaren
2. George Russell, Mercedes
3. Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes
4. Oscar Piastri, McLaren
5. Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari
6. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari 
7. Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing
8. Liam Lawson, Red Bull Racing
9. Gabriel Bortoleto, Audi
10. Arvid Lindblad, Racing Bulls
11. Pierre Gasly, Alpine
12. Yuki Tsunoda, Racing Bulls
13. Nico Hulkenberg, Audi
14. Franco Colapinto, Alpine
15. Esteban Ocon, Haas
16. Alexander Albon, Williams 
17. Carlos Sainz, Williams
18. Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin
19. Lance Stroll, Aston Martin
20. Oliver Bearman, Haas
21. Valtteri Bottas, Cadillac
22. Sergio Perez, Cadillac

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Kamron Kent

Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.

I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.

Kamron Kent

Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.