Max Verstappen claims Dutch Grand Prix pole for the THIRD year in a row as reigning world champion shows all his class in frantic qualifying
- It was a chaotic qualifying in the Netherlands, which featured two red flags
- Charles Leclerc and Logan Sargeant crashed out, as Lewis Hamilton came 13th
- Max Verstappen delivered to great expectations in front of an expectant crowd
Max Verstappen sent the home crowd into paroxysms of rapture by taking pole position at the Dutch Grand Prix – by a mile.
After a stop-start, wet-to-dry trial, the world champion did what he does best at the very end, setting a time half-a-second quicker than second-best Lando Norris, an impressive star himself for McLaren.
George Russell was third quickest for Mercedes and Alex Albon a notable fourth for Williams – a triumph for the team under new boss James Vowles.
Verstappen stood on his car to the acclaim of his orange-clad supporters. ‘A mighty lap,’ intoned Red Bull team principal Christian Horner.
‘That last lap was very enjoyable,’ said Verstappen, who only had one crack at pole after several interruptions.
He now chases a record-equalling ninth successive victory in the 72-lap race.
Max Verstappen stood on his car to the delight of a partisan home crowd after taking pole
A sea of orange roared on their main man as he took pole position at the chequered flag
Lewis Hamilton was eliminated in Q2 and will start 13th, a blow to his avowed ambition to finish second in the drivers’ standings.
He currently lies fourth, 41 points behind Sergio Perez (seventh in qualifying, a giant 1.3sec off Verstappen!) in runners-up spot. Hamilton’s progress was not helped by being impeded slightly by Yuki Tsunoda’s AlphaTauri.
Albon’s team-mate Logan Sargeant crashed out on the entry of Turn Two, bringing out a red flag that delayed Q3 for 20 minutes. It must have been a blow to the American’s confidence in what is turning out to be an error-strewn season for him.
The 22-year-old Sargeant was unhurt and climbed out of the cockpit of his bruised car unaided. There was a pause as the barrier was repaired.
Charles Leclerc ran wide at Turn Nine and out of Q3.
The Monegasque makes too many errors to be Ferrari’s No 1. He is quick but cannot keep it on the track regularly enough.
In this latest instance, he carried too much speed into the corner, a right-hander he failed to make.
He walked back and found a deckchair to park himself as proceedings were red-flagged again.
It was a day to forget for Williams’ Logan Sargeant as he crashed into the wall during Q3
It was a second red flag soon after the restart when Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc went off track
The stoppage lasted six minutes, with 4min 5sec remaining on the clock – the window Verstappen had open to him to pull off his latest minor miracle.
Meanwhile, it was a chastening afternoon for debutant Liam Lawson.
The 21-year-old New Zealander was drafted in by AlphaTauri after Daniel Ricciardo broke his wrist when he hit the wall during practice on Friday, but could only qualify last.
He was a second slower than the rest, but given his inexperience little more could have been expected of him.
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