Norris clinches pole at Zandvoort, leading McLaren’s charge as Verstappen, the defending champion, valiantly contends.
The Dutch Grand Prix presented yet another challenging weekend for the teams, with rain affecting both the first and third practice sessions. This set the stage for potentially difficult qualifying conditions, although the race itself is expected to proceed under dry conditions.
However, the weekend was further complicated by Logan Sargeant’s substantial accident this morning, which effectively reduced the track time for all competitors, aside from a few limited laps. This led to expectations of a challenging and unpredictable qualifying session.
McLaren F1 and Mercedes drivers dominated the first day, while Max Verstappen lurked closely behind. The Red Bull driver is keen to shine at his home race, appearing well-positioned to contend for the pole position.
The outlook seemed less promising for the Ferrari drivers, whose vehicles were not up to par with the front-runners this Friday. On a relatively short track, every error is costly, and rain could further disrupt the session.
Initially, a deluge was expected, but the forecast has since been adjusted, suggesting that only the end of the qualifying session might be affected by rain, rather than the entire session as previously thought. The risk of rain stands at 40% for the session.
At 14:55, Williams confirmed that Sargeant’s chassis was reusable, and the team was working to get the car ready before the end of Q1 to enable his participation in the qualifiers.
By 14:59, seeing that Sargeant’s FW46 was still partially dismantled made it seem unlikely that he would be able to compete in Q1, unless a red flag delayed the session.
Q1 – 18 minutes
Nico Hülkenberg, having gone off-track twice this weekend, posted the first time of the session at 1’13″062. Guanyu Zhou did not surpass him, but Valtteri Bottas did before Pierre Gasly took the lead, only to be overtaken by Lance Stroll at 1’11″382.
Alex Albon slotted into second place, with Sergio Pérez taking third. Meanwhile, Carlos Sainz was only eighth fastest, and Charles Leclerc managed the third-best time. Oscar Piastri then set a new benchmark with a lap time of 1’11″541.
Lewis Hamilton bettered this with a 1’11″375, just as Lando Norris was completing a fast lap. The McLaren F1 driver missed the top time by a mere two-thousandths of a second. Max Verstappen had yet to set a lap time with ten minutes remaining in Q1. He was the only driver besides Sargeant not to record a time in the first part of this session.
Albon did not improve on his second attempt, while Bottas could do no better than 16th. Verstappen finally took to the track and posted the fastest time in the first sector. However, the Red Bull driver failed to improve in the next two sectors and ended up third, just eighteen thousandths of a second off the pace.
Sainz endeavoured to improve on his provisional 18th place, managing only a modest 12th, temporarily ousting Ocon. Gasly climbed to fifth, with Yuki Tsunoda settling into 14th place as Ocon improved to 12th. Russell advanced to a somewhat unsettling ninth position.
Hülkenberg secured seventh while Sainz quickly fell to 15th. Pérez suffered a mishap in a turn and accused Hamilton of impeding him, with the latter sticking to the outside line of the turn. Stroll improved to fourth, and drivers began their final runs on the track.
Verstappen’s attempt faltered, and he resumed for another lap. Zhou failed to improve beyond 19th, and Bottas moved up to 15th. Kevin Magnussen claimed a provisional sixth place, while Sainz dropped out of the qualifying zone.
Albon posted a provisional fourth-fastest time, while Sargeant remained in the pits with an unrepaired vehicle. Tsunoda ascended to seventh, and Ricciardo to 13th. Alonso recorded the fourth fastest time, and Sainz outdid all with a lap of 1’11″327.
Leclerc improved to post the second-fastest time. Russell surpassed the Ferraris with a lap of 1’11″049, and Pérez also improved to top the timesheets at 1’11″006.
The eliminations included Ricciardo, Ocon, Bottas, Zhou, and Sargeant.
Q2 – 15 minutes
Clouds began gathering over the circuit, with rain still looming as a threat. The Ferrari drivers were prompt to hit the track. Sainz recorded a time of 1’11″835, not as good as in Q1 due to a minor error, and Leclerc did better with a 1’11″665.
Verstappen queried the likelihood of rain, and his engineer confirmed that showers were still anticipated. Only Russell and Hamilton had not ventured out in the first five minutes, but they joined the track shortly after a third of Q2 had elapsed.
Piastri outperformed the Ferrari drivers with a rapid 1’10″505, significantly faster than his Q1 time. Hülkenberg slotted between the Australian and Leclerc. Albon positioned just behind the Scuderia duo. Magnussen claimed second.
Verstappen secured the second position, three-tenths behind Piastri, and Norris improved to 1’10″496. Pérez took the fifth time just behind Stroll, who had just positioned fourth. Alonso was sixth, and Russell third, less than a tenth behind Norris. Hamilton provisionally ranked fifth, Sainz ninth, and Leclerc sixth.
All drivers except for the provisional top four — Piastri, Norris, Russell, and Verstappen — re-emerged on the track. Gasly improved to seize the fifth fastest time! Tsunoda positioned himself in sixth, while Pérez climbed to fourth.
Albon slotted into fifth, and Alonso took eighth. Sainz managed only the ninth fastest time, and Stroll delivered an excellent lap to secure the fourth fastest time. Hamilton could do no better than 11th and faced elimination. Leclerc secured sixth, which also saw Sainz eliminated!
The drivers knocked out were thus Sainz, Hamilton, Tsunoda, Hülkenberg, and Magnussen.
Q3 – 12 minutes
McLaren and Verstappen were first onto the track, with the Australian driver setting the initial benchmark at 1’10″193. Verstappen narrowly missed out, posting a time of 1’10″222. Norris concluded with the session’s best at 1’10″074, while Leclerc recorded a time of 1’10″758, the slowest of the quartet to have run.
Gasly positioned himself fifth, trailing the leading teams. Russell secured the fourth fastest time, while Pérez, Stroll, Alonso, and Albon opted to remain in the pits to make a single attempt in this final part of the session.
The Aston Martin drivers delayed their outing, choosing to sacrifice a more rubbered track for the advantage of a less congested circuit. Stroll slotted into sixth between Leclerc and Gasly, and Alonso shortly after clinched the fifth fastest time, edging ahead of Leclerc and relegating Stroll to seventh.
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 1:11.377 | 1:10.496 | 1:09.673 |
| 02 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1:11.393 | 1:10.811 | 1:10.029 |
| 03 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 1:11.541 | 1:10.505 | 1:10.172 |
| 04 | George Russell | Mercedes | 1:11.049 | 1:10.552 | 1:10.244 |
| 05 | Sergio Pérez | Red Bull | 1:11.006 | 1:10.678 | 1:10.416 |
| 06 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1:11.370 | 1:10.689 | 1:10.582 |
| 07 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | 1:11.493 | 1:10.845 | 1:10.633 |
| 08 | Alex Albon | Williams | 1:11.503 | 1:10.768 | 1:10.653 |
| 09 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 1:11.518 | 1:10.661 | 1:10.857 |
| 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | 1:11.718 | 1:10.815 | 1:10.977 |
| — | —————- | ————— | ———- | ———- | ———- |
| 11 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | 1:11.327 | 1:10.914 | |
| 12 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes W15 | 1:11.375 | 1:10.948 | |
| 13 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB | 1:11.603 | 1:10.955 | |
| 14 | Nico Hülkenberg | Haas | 1:11.832 | 1:11.215 | |
| 15 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 1:11.630 | 1:11.295 | |
| — | —————- | ————— | ———- | ———- | ———- |
| 16 | Daniel Ricciardo | RB | 1:11.943 | ||
| 17 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | 1:11.995 | ||
| 18 | Valtteri Bottas | Stake | 1:12.168 | ||
| 19 | Guanyu Zhou | Stake | 1:13.261 | ||
| 20 | Logan Sargeant | Williams | – :—.— |
- You may also like>Dutch FP3: Sargeant Crash Halts F1 Action
- Also make sure you follow us on social media>Facebook and>Twitter
Dutch GP Qualifying: A Weekend of Unexpected Turns Dutch GP Qualifying: A Weekend of Unexpected Turns f1 2024 Dutch GP Qualifying: A Weekend of Unexpected Turns
