By Alan Baldwin
ZANDVOORT, Netherlands (Reuters) -McLaren’s Lando Norris took pole position for the Dutch Grand Prix by a hefty margin on Saturday and became the first driver to qualify ahead of Max Verstappen at the Formula One championship leader’s home circuit.
Red Bull’s Verstappen, who had been on pole at Zandvoort every year since the circuit returned in 2021 and has yet to be beaten there, will still line up alongside the Briton on the front row.
Australian Oscar Piastri qualified in third place for McLaren and George Russell completed the second row for Mercedes, winners of three of the last four races.
“I felt comfortable out there. The car felt amazing. We had some upgrades and everything is working very well,” said Norris after lapping the seaside circuit with a best time of one minute 09.673 seconds.
“I’m excited for tomorrow. I’m sure it will be tough. Max has been quick all weekend. I know we got him today but he’s still second and will put up a good fight, especially at his home race.”
Verstappen, who could suffer a fifth defeat in a row on Sunday, took provisional pole from Norris with his second flying lap but the roar of the crowd soon subsided as the McLaren went 0.356 quicker.
McLaren boss Zak Brown, his team only 42 points behind Red Bull, hailed the effort as a ‘monster lap’.
“I tried the best I could. I’m still happy to be on the front row,” said Verstappen, who has a 78-point lead over Norris after 14 of 24 races.
“It was tricky out there with the wind. We had these gusts of wind, so every lap felt different, so you can’t really go off a reference. I’m happy with second. After yesterday, this is a good result.”
Verstappen had been only seventh fastest in the first phase and eighth in the second but, never to be counted out, he saved the best for last on an overcast afternoon.
“We will give it a good go but when you are more than three tenths behind in qualifying, I think you have to be realistic. I will just try to have a good race,” he said.
FOURTH CAREER POLE FOR NORRIS
Norris has won only once in his career so far, in Miami in May, and failed to convert previous poles in Spain and Hungary this season into victory.
The pole was the fourth of his career but Piastri will be a threat as well as Verstappen.
“Victory is not out of the question. The pace looked good on the long run and we have been pretty quick the last few weekends,” said the Australian, who won in Hungary from second on the grid.
Red Bull’s Sergio Perez qualified fifth with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc sixth and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso seventh.
Alex Albon was set to line up eighth for Williams with Lance Stroll ninth for Aston Martin and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly completing the top 10 on the grid.
But Albon was later disqualified after stewards found the floor body of his car had breached the regulatory volume, meaning he will start the race from the rear of the field.
Seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton, winner of two of the last three races, qualified 12th for Mercedes with Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz 11th and also unable to take part in the final top-10 shootout.
However, Hamilton was summoned by stewards after the session for allegedly impeding Perez and the Briton was handed a three-place grid penalty.
“It all went badly from the moment with Perez,” he said. “I did my best to get out of the way, I was as far to the left as possible, but timing was bad.”
Williams’s Logan Sargeant did not take part in qualifying after wrecking his car in a heavy crash during the day’s final practice.
The team said they would continue to repair and build his car in preparation for Sunday.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, Editing by Jan Harvey, Clare Fallon and Pritha Sarkar)
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