Championship leader Oscar Piastri edges out ahead of his McLaren teammate Lando Norris by a tiny margin of 0.012 seconds to take pole position for the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort.
Although Norris had been the fastest of the two Papaya drivers over the course of the weekend, Piastri just got ahead of his title rival on the first run of Q3.
Qualifying was held in sunny conditions after overnight rain had washed away some of the grip on offer at Zandvoort’s spectacular seaside circuit.
In the deciding top ten shootout Piastri set the benchmark on the first of two runs, besting Norris by a mere 0.012 seconds with his lap time of one minute, 08.662 seconds thanks to marginally quicker first and third sectors.
Neither McLaren driver was able to find any improvement on the second Q3 run, with Piastri keeping P1. In doing so he moves ahead of his teammate with five poles for the 2025 season, compared to four for Norris, who trails him by nine points in the drivers’ championship.
Underlining McLaren’s dominance, Max Verstappen gave it a go in the Red Bull but was only to fall four tenths behind in third after the first run, with George Russell conceding six tenths to the McLarens in his Mercedes.
But Verstappen then delivered a promising second sector on his final run to cut the time gap to Piastri to a quarter of a second. Isack Hadjar also producing a solid qualifying effort in his Racing Bulls to be with Verstappen on row two, the rookie bumping Russell down to fifth with his second lap.
Lewis Hamilton had made an encouraging start by being 0.010 seconds faster than Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc on run one, but unlike Leclerc he could not find any more lap time on his final attempt, with Leclerc claiming sixth ahead of the seven-time world champion.
Liam Lawson was eighth, with Carlos Sainz and Fernando Alonso rounding out the top ten.
Norris had earlier led the way in Q2 with a lap of one minute, 08.874 seconds, less than a tenth clear of Piastri, with Verstappen a quarter of a second in third.
Having set his first lap on used soft tyres, Fernando Alonso was on the outside of the top ten looking in, needing to find just 0.005 seconds to move his way back into Q3.
On better tyres Alonso did so and grabbed seventh as the last driver over the line. Lawson also joined Hadjar in the top ten at the end, knocking out Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Yuki Tsunoda.
Antonelli fell just 0.019 seconds short of Carlos Sainz at the end of an extremely tight session, meaning the Williams driver booked a place in Q3 for the first time since Imola.
Sauber rookie Gabriel Bortoleto, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and a frustrated Alex Albon were also eliminated, with Albon blaming the team’s tyre preparation.
The McLarens were out in front in Q1 as well, but Piastri took top position ahead of Norris for the first time over the Zandvoort weekend. Russell narrowly edged Verstappen for third, with the pair three tenths behind.
Tsunoda once again came under pressure, having been knocked out of Q1 four times this season, but the Red Bull driver was able to get a Q2 spot, while Alpine’s Franco Colapinto missed the cut-off by less than a tenth compared to Bortoleto.
Bortoleto also beat experienced teammate Nico Hulkenberg for the fifth time in a row in regular qualifying – the sixth time including sprint qualifying. The Hulk took P17, ahead of Haas duo Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman.
Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll was unable to set a lap time after a crash in Turn 3. He also shunted on Friday, dropping a wheel onto the grass at the entry to Turn 13 and spun into the barriers.
So an exciting qualifying battle between the McLaren drivers and it was Oscar Piastri who claimed an important P1 ahead of his title rival Lando Norris. Home crowd favourite Max Verstappen is P3 with an impressive Isack Hadjar next up in the Racing Bulls.
Dutch Grand Prix, qualifying positions:
1 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:08.662
2 Lando Norris McLaren 1:08.674
3 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:08.925
4 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls 1:09.208
5 George Russell Mercedes 1:09.255
6 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:09.340
7 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:09.390
8 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls 1:09.500
9 Carlos Sainz Williams 1:09.505
10 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:09.630
11 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:09.493
12 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull 1:09.622
13 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber 1:09.622
14 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:09.637
15 Alexander Albon Williams 1:09.652
16 Franco Colapinto Alpine 1:10.104
17 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber 1:10.195
18 Esteban Ocon Haas 1:10.197
19 Oliver Bearman Haas 1:10.262
20 Lance Stroll Aston Martin No time
Oscar Piastri has sealed pole position for the Dutch Grand Prix after beating McLaren team mate Lando Norris in a thrilling battle that played out through to the closing moments of Qualifying.
While Norris had led the way during all three practice sessions throughout the weekend, Piastri laid down a gauntlet by going quickest in Q1. Norris then set the pace in Q2, culminating in a close scrap in Q3 that saw Piastri grab provisional pole with his effort of 1m 08.662s.
Norris tried to better this during the final runs but, with neither driver improving, the Briton had to settle for P2, with his time being just 0.012s adrift of his team mate’s. Max Verstappen, meanwhile, gave his home crowd something to cheer about by slotting his Red Bull into third.
Isack Hadjar claimed an impressive career-best result of P4 in the Racing Bulls machine, putting himself ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell in P5 and the Ferrari pair of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton in P6 and P7 respectively.
Liam Lawson completed a double top-10 showing for Racing Bulls in eighth, with Williams’ Carlos Sainz and the Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso rounding out the order in ninth and 10th places.
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/piastri-beats-norris-to-pole-position-in-thrilling-zandvoort-qualifying.4rN1I0N2XA7dYLH6VfrgU9
Oscar Piastri expressed his satisfaction after delivering when it mattered during Qualifying for the Dutch Grand Prix – the Australian pipping McLaren team mate and title rival Lando Norris to pole position.
Piastri trailed Norris during all three practice sessions around the tight, twisty Zandvoort track, but turned the tables at the end of Saturday’s grid-deciding session to snatch the top spot by 12 thousandths of a second.
Offering up his instant reaction when he jumped out of the car in Parc Ferme, Piastri said: “That was the definition of peaking at the right time!
“I think the whole weekend I’ve felt pretty good, but there’s just been a couple corners that I’ve not been able to go any faster, and I didn’t really go any faster in those corners, but I found some more [pace] elsewhere.
“I’m super happy to come away with the result. Obviously [we have] still got all the points [to score] tomorrow, but it was looking like a little bit of a tricky weekend so far, so to come away with that… I’m pretty stoked.”
Pushed on how difficult it was to overcome the early-weekend deficit to Norris, he added: “You just keep chipping away, and that’s one of the nice things about having so much practice, is you’ve got time to work on it.
“Like I said, I think I just improved the parts [around the track] where I was already not bad and made up the difference that way. Still, some things to try and improve and work on, but overall I’m very happy.
“We’re both trying to beat each other every weekend. There’s a few variables in there that you can mix up, so let’s see what happens tomorrow.”
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/piastri-stoked-with-zandvoort-pole-as-he-peaks-at-the-right-time-to-edge-out.5wyugwJdwAolsrj4kykmVp
Lando Norris took a sly jab at former Formula 1 driver and F1 TV presenter Jolyon Palmer’s recent ‘luck’ comments, as he reacted to securing second place on the grid for the 2025 Dutch Grand Prix.
“It’s close, it’s been close the whole weekend, so easily could go one way or the other. I guess a little bit disappointed that I’m not on pole, but it’s close. Were still some decent laps, so not the end of the world either,” Norris explained to Palmer after qualifying.
Palmer claimed during a summer break episode of the F1 Nation podcast that luck had brought Norris closer to his McLaren team-mate and championship leader in the drivers’ standings.
“With the wind like this, a lot of it’s down to luck as well. Even with all the luck I’ve been having,” Norris added, with a smile as he couldn’t resist a little jab.
“It’s tough. I had a good lap, Q3, run one, but just a small headwind down the straight, and I lost like one hundredth, so you could easily say it’s there.
“But I’m in a good position. We’re in a good fight. Oscar’s been driving well all weekend, we’ve been driving well all season, so we’ll have some fun tomorrow.”
“I’ve not switched off over the summer break this year,” he told Tom Clarkson. “I’ve been just poring through data and numbers. I’m not in my racing driver era now. I’m going to be washed by the time we get to Qatar. I’m going to have no energy. I didn’t recharge the batteries.
“But what I’ve been thinking is Piastri’s been the better driver. And we’re talking about the fine margins: nine points, Lando winning three of the last four.
“But on pretty much all stats and viewing, Piastri has been the better driver so far. And I looked through and I think that championship lead is nine points – could easily be 61 points but for largely a bit of luck.”
http://walkingleaf.co.uk/2025/08/30/piastri-takes-dutch-grand-prix-from-norris-by-0-012-seconds/#comment-72138
Isack Hadjar registered the best Qualifying result of his fledgling Formula 1 career, as he set the fourth-fastest time on Saturday.
Racing Bulls rookie Hadjar will start from the second row of the grid for the first time after putting in a scintillating performance at Zandvoort. Lining up alongside Red Bull driver Max Verstappen, only the four-time champion and the two McLaren drivers start ahead of the Frenchman.
His previous best result was a sixth place in Qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix.
“I’m feeling great! An amazing Qualifying,” said Hadjar. “Honestly, yesterday was a complete disaster for me, so it was really unexpected.
“This morning, I had a really good feeling, but we knew it would be very hard to reach Q3, and actually, both of us [Racing Bulls drivers] managed to reach Q3.
“He [team mate Liam Lawson] was really pushing me hard, and I put it all on the line on that final lap and put it all together. It was a great lap, so I’m happy.”
Without a point in five races, Hadjar added: “It gives me a lot of confidence, because recently, I’ve felt like maybe our race pace has been a bit better. I think the car is really healthy around here. Liam [Lawson] was quite fast on the long run on Friday, so it gives us a lot of confidence going into the race.”
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/hadjars-career-best-dutch-gp-qualifying-really-unexpected.HvGlJXaiVEwjWijDUP9Qe