F1 Dutch GP – Verstappen claims pole position

F1 Dutch GP – Formula 1 returns to the Netherlands for the first time in over 30 years as it takes to Zandvoort. Max Verstappen edged out Formula 1 title rival Lewis Hamilton by just 0.038s in a tight and truncated qualifying session for the returning Dutch Grand Prix.

The Red Bull driver appeared to be in a league of his own as he dominated qualifying and held a three-tenth advantage after the first runs in Q3 before Hamilton fought back on the final runs.

A huge improvement from the seven-time world champion ensured he joined Verstappen as the only drivers to dip under the 1m09s, but it was not enough to deny his main rival a home pole as he delighted the Dutch crowd.

Full Q1, Q2 and Q3 results from qualifying at the Dutch Grand Prix, Round 13 of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship.

POS.	DRIVER	NAT.	TEAM	Q1	Q2	Q3
1	Max	NED	Red Bull	1m10.036s	1m09.071s	1m08.885s
2	Lewis	GBR	Mercedes	1m10.114s	1m09.726s	1m08.923s
3	Valtteri	FIN	Mercedes	1m10.219s	1m09.769s	1m09.386s
4	Gasly	FRA	AlphaTauri	1m10.274s	1m09.541s	1m09.478s
5	Leclerc	MON	Ferrari	1m09.829s	1m09.437s	1m09.527s
6	Sainz	ESP	Ferrari	1m10.022s	1m09.870s	1m09.537s
7	Giovinazzi	ITA	Alfa Romeo	1m10.050s	1m10.033s	1m09.590s
8	Ocon	FRA	Alpine	1m10.179s	1m09.919s	1m09.933s
9	Alonso	ESP	Alpine	1m10.435s	1m10.020s	1m09.956s
10	Ricciardo	AUS	McLaren	1m10.255s	1m09.865s	1m10.166s
11	Russell	GBR	Williams	1m10.382s	1m10.332s
12	Stroll	CAN	Aston Martin	1m10.438s	1m10.367s
13	Norris	GBR	McLaren	1m10.489s	1m10.406s
14	Latifi	CAN	Williams	1m10.093s	1m11.161s
15	Tsunoda	JPN	AlphaTauri	1m10.462s	1m11.314s
16	Perez	MEX	Red Bull	1m10.530s
17	Vettel	GER	Aston Martin	1m10.731s
18	Kubica	POL	Alfa Romeo	1m11.301s
19	Schumacher	GER	Haas	1m11.387s
20	Mazepin	RUS	Haas	1m11.875s

Verstappen also found time on his second lap to move onto a 1m08.885s, which proved enough to pip Hamilton and secure his sixth sixth pole in the last seven races as he topped qualifying for the 10th time in his career.

Valtteri Bottas ended up over three-tenths adrift of the 2021 title protagonists in the second Mercedes, while a stunning lap from Pierre Gasly saw the AlphaTauri driver take fourth on the grid.

While George Russell was able to recover to the pits after sliding off the track at the final corner, Nicholas Latifi was not so fortunate as he suffered a heavy crash with an off at Turn 7.

The disruption meant the session was not resumed, preventing drivers from being able to improve their Q2 times.

Russell was 11th ahead of Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin and McLaren’s Lando Norris, who struggled for pace throughout qualifying and was left a disappointing 13th in what marked just the second time this season the Briton not made it into Q3.

Having ended his qualifying rearwards in the barriers, Latifi was classified 14th, though given the high-energy impact it is likely he will have to take a new gearbox and subsequently trigger a grid drop.

Yuki Tsunoda was unable to replicate the pace of his AlphaTauri teammate and was knocked out with the slowest time of Q2.

The big shock in Q1 saw Sergio Perez eliminated after the Red Bull driver was caught up in a late rush to improve amid dramatic track evolution and ran out of time to complete a second lap, leaving the Mexican only 16th on the grid.

Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel also failed to progress into Q2 having been impeded by the Haas cars as he prepared for his final flying lap. Both Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin have been summoned to the stewards over the incident.

With Kimi Raikkonen ruled out of the rest of the weekend thanks to a positive COVID-19 test, Alfa Romeo reserve driver Robert Kubica stepped in and qualified 18th on an unexpected return to grand prix racing.

As they have been for much of the season, Haas’ rookie pairing occupied the bottom of the qualifying timesheets, with Schumacher half a second clear of Mazepin as he once again got the better of his teammate.

F1 Dutch GP – Verstappen claims pole position F1 Dutch GP – Verstappen claims pole position

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