Max Verstappen delights Dutch GP crowd with pole position as Sergio Perez crashes

Max Verstappen delighted the Dutch Grand Prix crowd with a very impressive lap to secure pole position for Sunday's race.

He was given a huge helping hand by his Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez, who crashed at the final corner on his last flying lap. The yellow flags were out as a result, and everyone else still on track never got the chance to try to beat the Dutchman's time.

But that takes nothing away from an excellent lap from Verstappen, who pipped Charles Leclerc to top spot with his final run. He will start with the two Ferraris directly behind him, while Lewis Hamilton and George Russell are fourth and sixth respectively, sandwiching Perez.

Alex Albon impressed by reaching Q3 last weekend in Belgium, and looked in danger of a Q1 exit here but produced an excellent lap to dig himself out of trouble. His team-mate Nicholas Latifi did go out, though, joined by the experienced quartet of Sebastian Vettel, Kevin Magnussen, Daniel Ricciardo and Valtteri Bottas in the bottom five.

There was a delayed start to Q2 as an orange flare was thrown onto the track. The session was immediately red flagged until it was removed while Albon, who was the only driver on track at the time, was left to note the huge number of pigeons on the inside of Turn 7 as he ambled back to the pit lane.

Verstappen on track during qualifying at the Dutch Grand Prix (Getty Images)

Once the flare had been taken care of and the offending supporter identified and kicked out, the action was able to resume. Verstappen was one of the first out on track and immediately set an impressively quick time to book his place in Q3 with little effort.

Back-to-back Q3 appearances were beyond Albon, who qualified 15th, behind Zhou Guanyu, Fernando Alonso, Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly. Lance Stroll, Mick Schumacher and Yuki Tsunoda impressed by reaching Q3, while Russell and Sainz set up an epic final part of the session by going faster than Verstappen in Q2.

Stroll was not able to make any further progress as a car problem prevented him from setting a time. He will share row five with Tsunoda, with Schumacher and Lando Norris ahead of them.

Full 2022 Dutch Grand Prix qualifying results

1. Max Verstappen - Red Bull
2. Charles Leclerc - Ferrari
3. Carlos Sainz - Ferrari
4. Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes
5. Sergio Perez - Red Bull
6. George Russell - Mercedes
7. Lando Norris - McLaren
8. Mick Schumacher - Haas
9. Yuki Tsunoda - AlphaTauri
10. Lance Stroll - Aston Martin
11. Pierre Gasly - AlphaTauri
12. Esteban Ocon - Alpine
13. Fernando Alonso - Alpine
14. Zhou Guanyu - Alfa Romeo
15. Alex Albon - Williams
    
16. Valtteri Bottas - Alfa Romeo
17. Daniel Ricciardo - McLaren
18. Kevin Magnussen - Haas
19. Sebastian Vettel - Aston Martin
20. Nicholas Latifi - Williams