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# Norris takes pole in tense Dutch GP qualifying finale
- URL: https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/norris-takes-pole-in-tense-dutch-gp-qualifying-finale/
- Published: 2026-08-22T15:10:24.000Z
- Updated: 2026-08-22T15:10:24.000Z
- Description: Lando Norris made it back-to-back pole positions by topping qualifying at Formula 1’s Dutch Grand Prix, beating the Mercedes duo as rain loomed
- Author: Josh Suttill
- Tags: Formula 1, #dutch-grand-prix, #lando-norris, #mclaren, #secondary_feature_2

Lando Norris made it back-to-back pole positions by topping qualifying at Formula 1’s Dutch Grand Prix, beating the Mercedes duo.

Norris took pole at Zandvoort with a 1m11.163s in Q3 to best sprint race winner Russell by just over a tenth of a second.

Norris and Russell were among those to set their final Q3 laps relatively in anticipation of rain at the end end of the session, with the McLaren driver ending up quickest.

Championship leader Kimi Antonelli was third fastest, just 0.031s shy of Russell, with Oscar Piastri fourth, a tenth and a half adrift of his McLaren team-mate.

Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc set their final laps slightly later but ended up fifth and sixth with Hamilton the last of the leading teams to set a time, jumping Leclerc in the process.

Max Verstappen was seventh for Red Bull with his stand-in team-mate Liam Lawson doing a solid job to qualify eighth, just over a tenth slower.

Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto led the midfield fight in ninth ahead of Arvid Lindblad’s Racing Bulls.

Having been the top midfielder in sprint qualifying and the sprint race, Pierre Gasly struggled in the upgraded Alpine, missing out of Q3 and ended up 11th.

Racing Bulls stand-in Yuki Tsunoda was 12th ahead of Nico Hulkenberg’s Audi and Franco Colapinto in the older spec Alpine.

Albon Albon made it back-to-back intra-team qualifying victories, beating team-mate Carlos Sainz by 0.022s to advance into Q2 while Sainz was knocked out in 17th place.

Albon ended up 16th as the slowest driver in Q2, half a tenth behind Esteban Ocon’s Haas.

### Upgraded Aston Martin Honda falls short of Q2

The upgraded Honda engine went better in the back of the Aston Martins than it did in sprint qualifying, with Fernando Alonso 12th ahead of the final runs in Q1.

However Alonso couldn’t improve on his final lap and ended up being eliminated in 18th place, just ahead of team-mate Lance Stroll.

Ollie Bearman’s Haas was 20th - his worst qualifying of the year - ahead of the two Cadillacs, led by Valtteri Bottas for the fifth consecutive qualifying session.