F1 Dutch GP: Lando Norris pips George Russell to…

Lando Norris pipped George Russell to pole position for the Dutch Grand Prix with Formula 1 championship leader Kimi Antonelli rounding out the top three.

The reigning world champion beat sprint winner Russell by 0.102s to cap off a perfect qualifying for McLaren, as the defending champions had topped every session at Zandvoort.

It came after Norris, who also topped Q2, had already claimed provisional pole with a 1m11.344s and that was 0.151s quicker than Russell with Oscar Piastri two tenths off in third.

Until then, the session had been held in dry conditions but rain was about to fall down on the seaside track, causing a flurry of cars to soon leave the pitlane for their second laps in Q3.

This did cause some trouble though, as Norris and Russell entered the track at identical times and were seen racing each other on their outlaps with five minutes remaining.

Both finally got rid of each other and Norris was first to cross the line, improving to a 1m11.163s on his final tour and although Russell also bettered his own time, it was only to a 1m11.265s.

Kimi Antonelli settles for third (Photo by: Simon Galloway / LAT Images via Getty Images)

They displaced Antonelli who had briefly gone to the top of the timesheet and Russell’s Mercedes team-mate was eventually 0.133s off pole with Piastri taking fourth.

The Australian was 0.142s behind team-mate Norris and it will be an all-Ferrari third row with Lewis Hamilton in fifth, 0.331s off the pace, and Charles Leclerc sixth, 0.395s behind pole.

Seventh went to Red Bull’s home hero Max Verstappen, who was 0.455s behind Norris, and he will share the fourth row with temporary team-mate Liam Lawson as he is replacing the injured Isack Hadjar.

Gabriel Bortoleto qualified ninth for Audi and impressive Racing Bulls rookie Arvid Lindblad rounded out the top 10 on the day he achieved his fifth, straight Q3 appearance.

Pierre Gasly was just a tenth away from Q3 as he took 11th for Alpine and will share the sixth row with former team-mate and Racing Bulls stand-in Yuki Tsunoda upon his F1 return.

A late improvement from Nico Hulkenberg left the Audi veteran in 13th, meaning Gasly’s team-mate Franco Colapinto dropped to 14th ahead of Haas driver Esteban Ocon in 15th.

Carlos Sainz was knocked out in Q1 (Photo by: Simon Galloway / LAT Images via Getty Images)

Zandvoort marks the first time since Miami-Imola-Monaco in May last year that the under pressure Ocon has outqualified team-mate Oliver Bearman on consecutive occasions.

Rounding out the Q2 drop zone was Alex Albon, whose team-mate Carlos Sainz suffered a second, consecutive Q1 exit as he took 17th on the weekend he’s signed a Williams extension.

Relatively speaking, it was more positive for Aston Martin, who confirmed the step forward it has made with its upgraded engine and chassis despite drivability woes in the sprint sessions.

Fernando Alonso took 18th with team-mate Lance Stroll in 19th, while Bearman’s fears that Haas had regressed to becoming the ‘second worst team’ came true as he qualified 20th.

That was ahead of only newcomer Cadillac, which was a second off Q2 and 1.7s behind Piastri’s Q1 benchmark with Valtteri Bottas taking 21st and Sergio Perez sitting in 22nd.