Oscar Piastri beat pole position at the Dutch Grand Prix after defeating McLaren companion Lando Norris in an exciting battle.
Norris led the way in all three practice sessions throughout the weekend, but Piastri laid the gloves the fastest in the first quarter. Norris then set the pace with Q2, eventually ending with tight scraps in the third quarter, which allowed Piastri to grab the makeshift pole with a 1m 08.662s effort.
Norris tried to improve this in the finals, but with the drivers improving, the British had to settle in P2, second only to 0.012 seconds. Meanwhile, Max Verstappen cheered his family by putting Red Bull in third place.
Isack Hadjar claimed the P4 as an impressive best result for the P4 in the Racing Bulls machine, putting himself in the lead of Mercedes's George Russell in P5, while Ferrari was ahead of Charles Leclerc and Ferrari in P6 and P7.
Liam Lawson finished the Racing Bulls’ two top ten in the eighth place, with Williams’ Carlos Sainz and Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin gathering orders in the ninth and tenth place orders.
Kimi Antonelli of Mercedes just missed the top 10 shootout in P11, just like Red Bull's Yuki Tsunoda in P12. Gabriel Bortoleto won the P13 of kicker Sauber, and Pierre Gasly of the Alpine joined him in the seventh row of the P14.
Meanwhile, Alex Albon expressed disappointment after being eliminated at No. 15, and the Williams man was upset about his tire struggles.
Franco Colapinto missed the Q2 cut, Alpine drivers exited Q1 in p16, while Kick Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg took another tough qualification in p17.
It was also a challenging day for Haas, with Esteban Ocon and Ollie Bearman finishing the meeting in No. 18 and 19, while Aston Martin's Lance's Lance Stroll lifting the rear in the P20 and unable to rejoin after early contact barriers in the first quarter.
It happened
Q1 – Piastri surpasses Norris because Stroll has a close
After Norris completed a clean scan through a full schedule in all three exercises, Zandvoort's Paddock's focus shifted to Saturday's most important qualification. Can the McLaren man continue his P1 winning streak to seal the pole position?
Although FP3 started with overnight rains, it was dry and clear as 1500 local time in Q1. Tsunoda was the first to hit the track, and the soft C4 fully incorporated the choice tires at the opening ceremony.
When Stroll went through a rotation that sent him through the gravel and into the obstacle, the yellow flag was only a few minutes. The Canadian had a conference crash at FP2 on Friday, but this time he managed to bend back into the pit where Aston Martins evaluated the losses.
After getting back on track, the lap was fast and fast, and once everyone didn't stroll, Norris once again played the fastest again through the effort of 1M 09.469S, only one tenth away from his teammate Piastri.
Meanwhile, with a few minutes of clock left, the drivers in the elimination zone are Bortoleto, Tsunoda, Colapinto, Ocon and Stroll. The latter doesn't seem to go back to action as he climbs out of his car in the garage.
Because the grid position of the Zandvoort circuit is crucial, a series of laps on the board ticked at the end of the first quarter as the clock ticked. Piastri defeated Norris in the 0.131s, while Leclerc tried to improve his efforts after finding himself trapped in the P15 bubble.
Monegasque managed to move up to ninth place, then Lawson made a compelling performance to climb to fifth place. Colapinto initially escaped the dangerous area until it was pushed to the 16th, and Bortoleto was not in the 15th place.
Brazil's teammate Hulkenberg was not so lucky to quit in P17, while Haas eliminated Ocon and Bearman in P18 and P19, respectively, which was a disappointing day. Stroll ended the meeting in P20 and he was unable to rejoin after the earlier incident.
Elimination: Colapinto, Hulkenberg, Ocon, Bearman, Stroll
Q2 – Norris Back to Top
Ferrari was the first to go out at the beginning of Q2, and Hamilton and Laker were initially on their own tracks. Leclerc found something unusual in the process, and the Monaco driver reported that he saw a fox on Turn 10 – fortunately, it didn't seem to be hurt.
A few minutes later, the rest of the field joined the competition, Verstappen scored early benchmarks of 1M 09.122S, the closest challenger Antonelli, with only Norris defeating Norris at 1m 08.874s, while Piastri's efforts made him 0.090s Adrift few se Merfift he finished his lap.
Meanwhile, Verstappen was upset after encountering Norris (which seemed to be trying to stop the racing line). But as far as order is concerned, the names in trouble are Alonso, Lawson, Seinz, Baul Torto and Gasley.
The move happened again as the second run went on, and Gasly was one of the first to raise himself from the elimination zone to 10th place before Sainz rose to 8th place. However, the Williams sisters' Alson could not improve because it was reduced to P13, which triggered an unpleasant response from Thai drivers on the radio.
Lawson, on the other hand, once again entered the top 10 in the P8, while Alonso climbed to the P7. All these moves resulted in Antonelli dropping to P11, while Tsunoda was in p12 of bortoleto and gasly, while Albon ended up dropping at P15.
Eliminated: Antonelli, Tsunoda, Bortoleto, Gasly, Albon
Q3 – Piastri Edge Norris
In every previous part, Norris and Piastrie were seen on the track early in the third quarter – this time it was Piastrie who snatched the temporary pole and the Australian pumped in 1m 08.662s.
When Norris crossed the line, the British were just 0.012 of his teammates, emphasizing the advantage in combat. Meanwhile, Russell initially proved to be their closest challenger until Verstappen ranked his Red Bull third.
Hamilton and Leclerc's Ferrari were close behind the P5 and P6, while Hadjar, Alonso, Sainz and Lawson completed the order after the opening. But how will the situation work as the focus switches to the final decisive running?
This time it was Norris leading the Piastri, leading to a stimulating order as Piastri improved his first division while Norris improved in the second inning – but in the end no driver improved the pace in the last time, he handed it to Piastri Pole Pole.
Verstappen walked the fastest in the second division, but the Dutchman's final lap time put him in third place, earning an impressive Hadjar in the Best No. 4 of the Racing Bulls' career.
Russell leads fifth in Ferrari at Leclerc and Hamilton, with Lawson, Sainz and Alonso in the top 10 in Zandvoort.
Key Quotation
“That's the definition of reaching the peak at the right time,” Piastri said. “I think I felt pretty good all weekend, but there were only a few corners I couldn't walk faster, and I didn't walk faster in those corners, but I found other places. But I'm glad I still got all the views tomorrow. But tomorrow still had all the views.
What's next
The 2025 Dutch Grand Prix will be 1500 local time on Sunday. Go Racing Center To learn how to capture actions from zandvoort.