Oscar Piastri overturned his deficit to McLaren team-mate and Formula 1 title rival Lando Norris when it mattered to claim a narrow pole position for the 2025 Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort.
The McLarens were predictably in what Williams team boss James Vowles called “a world of their own” on a Zandvoort track that features the sort of long, medium-speed corners in which the 2025 McLaren thrives.
Norris had the edge on Piastri throughout practice, particularly through sector one, but Piastri did “the definition of peaking at the right time” in Q3, outpacing Norris by just 0.012 seconds in what turned out to be the crucial first runs, as neither could improve in the final stages when many drivers struggled to find time on a windy circuit.
Defending F1 world champion Max Verstappen was one of those who did find time on his final run, but it was only good enough to be a closer third, 0.263s off pole in his Red Bull.
Rookie Isack Hadjar delivered another stunning Saturday performance to qualify a season’s best fourth for Racing Bulls, beating the Mercedes of George Russell and the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton.
Hadjar’s team-mate Liam Lawson was eighth quickest in the other Racing Bulls, ahead of Carlos Sainz’s Williams and Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin, which lacked the impressive pace that split the two McLarens on Friday but was still good enough to mix it in the top 10.
Tsunoda suffers Q2 elimination at hands of Lawson
The top five after the first new-tyre runs in Q2 didn’t need a second lap to progress, so the two McLarens, Verstappen’s Red Bull and the two Ferraris all saved a set of tyres.
Just 0.339s covered Russell’s Mercedes in sixth to Alex Albon’s Williams in 15th in Q2.
Within that narrow margin, Kimi Antonelli’s Mercedes, Yuki Tsunoda’s Red Bull, Gabriel Bortoleto’s Sauber, Pierre Gasly’s Williams and Albon - furious at his car’s tyres not being up to temperature - all missed out on a place in Q3.
Tsunoda was hanging on to a top-10 spot before the driver he replaced at Red Bull, Lawson, pumped in a lap good enough for eighth.
That put Mercedes rookie Antonelli on the bubble, but he too fell after Alonso jumped up to seventh with a last-gasp lap just 0.053s down on Russell’s Mercedes.
Ferrari survives Q1 scare as Stroll crashes out
Ferrari’s miserable weekend looked set to continue at the start of qualifying, as Leclerc was out-paced by Ollie Bearman’s Haas on his first run and sat uncomfortably close to the drop zone in 14th after another go.
Hamilton and Leclerc at least clawed their way to top-10 respectability in the final moments of the session, but they needed a third run to do so - ending up separated by just 0.006s.
Tsunoda’s Red Bull was the other leading team car to rescue itself in the final moments, ending up 12th fastest in this segment and condemning Franco Colapinto’s Alpine to Q1 elimination.
Colapinto joined Nico Hulkenberg’s Sauber, the Haas pair of Esteban Ocon and Bearman, and Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin in the bottom five.
Having crashed heavily in the early stages of FP2 on Friday and forced his team to break the overnight curfew to repair the car, Stroll crashed again in Q1 - this time wandering onto the grass approaching the penultimate corner and spinning into the barrier.
Stroll returned to the pits in his damaged car, but did not reappear so finished the session 20th and last with no lap time on the board.
Provisional Dutch GP grid
1 Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
2 Lando Norris (McLaren)
3 Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
4 Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls)
5 George Russell (Mercedes)
6 Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
7 Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari)
8 Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls)
9 Carlos Sainz (Williams)
10 Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
11 Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)
12 Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull)
13 Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber)
14 Pierre Gasly (Alpine)
15 Alex Albon (Williams)
16 Franco Colapinto (Alpine)
17 Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber)
18 Esteban Ocon (Haas)
19 Ollie Bearman (Haas)
20 Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
