Dutch GP: Piastri shocks Norris to claim pole as Stroll crashes again

Oscar Piastri stunned Lando Norris as beat his title rival to pole position for the Dutch Grand Prix on a weekend in which Norris had dominated in all three practice sessions.

Max Verstappen will line up third on the grid ahead of Isack Hadjar and George Russell.

Lance Stroll suffered second Zandvoort crash in Q1

Blue skies, sunshine and a tailwind into Turn 1 greeted the drivers as Yuki Tsunoda led the field out at the start of Q1 for the Dutch Grand Prix.

Lewis Hamilton was up in P1 when the yellow flags were waved as Lance Stroll dropped it into Turn 13.

The Canadian put a wheel on the grass and went spinning off the track and into the barrier, breaking his AMR25’s front wing. “Just crashed, but I’m bringing it back,” he told Aston Martin.

With Stroll heading back to the pits, the track went green but a dirty green for Max Verstappen as he was the first on a flier to drive over the dirt and gravel dragged onto the track by Stroll.

The Red Bull driver still went P1, but it was short-lived as McLaren grabbed the 1-2 with Lando Norris up on Oscar Piastri. The team-mates swapped positions, Piastri finding time to finish Q1 a tenth up on Norris with George Russell third.

Heading into the final minute, Ferrari were in trouble with Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc knocking on the door of the drop zone. Hamilton improved to ninth, Leclerc P10.

The drivers eliminated were: Franco Colapinto, Nico Hulkenberg, Esteban Ocon, Oliver Bearman and Stroll, who didn’t make it back out.

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Antonelli and Tsunoda eliminated in Q2

Back on track for Q2, Leclerc reported a “a fox at Turn 10” but that it was taking the exit road. The Ferrari team-mates were out on used soft tyres with Leclerc posting a 1:10.0. That was blitzed by Verstappen by over nine-tenths.

His time up in P1 didn’t last long as Norris came through with a 1:08.874, a new Zandvoort lap record. Piastri slotted into second, 0.09s off the pace. Verstappen wasn’t impressed with Norris as he found the McLaren driver too close to the racing line for his liking.

Swapping to new soft tyres, Hamilton improved to fourth with Leclerc P5, but their rivals still had to complete their second runs. They didn’t drop any positions while late improvements from Alonso and Liam Lawson booted Kimi Antonelli and Tsunoda out of qualifying.

The drivers eliminated were: Kimi Antonelli, Yuki Tsunoda, Gabriel Bortoleto, Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon

on pole position in Zandvoort

The McLaren team-mates went into the pole position shoot-out in a straight fight between Norris and Piastri for pole position.

The Australian driver grabbed the early advantage with a 1:08.662, a new lap record, with Norris the next to cross the line. He was 0.012s slower.

Verstappen was third in the early running ahead of Russell, Hamilton and Leclerc.

Out for a second run, Norris was the first of the McLaren team-mates on the track and went purple in the second sector, but Piastri went purple in the first. Norris wasn’t able to improve his time, Piastri taking a surprise pole position on a weekend in which his team-mate had dominated.

Verstappen finished third, closing the gap to 0.263s with Isack Hadjar putting in a late burst to qualifying fourth ahead of Russell and Leclerc.

Dutch GP qualifying times

1 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:08.662
2 Lando Norris McLaren +0.012
3 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing +0.263
4 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls +0.546
5 George Russell Mercedes +0.593
6 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +0.678
7 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +0.728
8 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls +0.838
9 Carlos Sainz Williams +0.843
10 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +0.968

11 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:09.493
12 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull Racing 1:09.622
13 Gabriel Bortoleto Kick Sauber1:09.622
14 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:09.637
15 Alex Albon Williams 1:09.652
16 Franco Colapinto Alpine 1:10.104
17 Nico Hulkenberg Kick Sauber 1:10.195
18 Esteban Ocon Haas F1 Team 1:10.197
19 Oliver Bearman Haas F1 Team 1:10.262
20 Lance Stroll Aston Martin – no time

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