Verstappen edges Leclerc for the pole, while Hamilton will start Sunday’s race in the #4 slot.
ZANDVOORT, The Netherlands—Friday’s poor showing in practices, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, and flares and pigeons on the side of the track did not deter Max Verstappen on Saturday from taking his 17th career pole and his second in a row on his home circuit. The Red Bull driver posting a 1:10:342 fastest time for Sunday’s Dutch Grand Prix. Leclerc finished second, and his Ferrari teammate, Carlos Sainz, took third. Lewis Hamilton had a decent performance in his Mercedes, placing fourth.
Verstappen waited in the garage late in the final session as Leclerc, slow early on, found his rhythm and took the provisional pole. But when the Dutchman returned to the track, his speed was quicker than the Monegasque by just 0.021 seconds.
Max Verstappen: Unbelievable, especially after yesterday. We had a difficult day, but we worked really well overnight, (and) the whole team turned it around. Today we had a quick race car again, but it was very close. The pole lap was insane. Yesterday was a bit rushed in FP2 to get the car together, but today the car was enjoyable to drive.
Red Bull’s Sergio Perez managed fifth, even with a late spin in the final banked corner just minutes from the end of qualifying, with Mercedes’s George Russell sixth. The lone McLaren of Lando Norris was seventh, along with Haas F1’s Mick Schumacher in eighth, his best performance since Austria. Yuki Tsunoda finished ninth in the Alpha Tauri.
While Lance Stroll took tenth in his Aston Martin, he will be unable to take part in the final session due to a technical issue.
Verstappen and Sainz took the first and second sessions, respectively, with Williams Nicholas Latifi and Haas F1’s Kevin Magnussen out in the opening round, along with a disappointing run for Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas and Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel. McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo continues to disappoint as he looks to further his career in Formula One.
Another team that had disappointments in the news lately, Alpine, lost both Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon in the second session, with Alpha Tauri’s Pierre Gasly, the second Alfa Romeo of Zhou Guanyu, and Williams Alex Albon joining them.
ESPN will televise Sunday’s race beginning at 9a Eastern time.
