Lando Norris dominated all three practice sessions at Zandvoort and looked to be the clear favourite for pole position. But title rival Oscar Piastri saved his very best for when it mattered with a circuit-record lap to ensure he will start the Dutch Grand Prix ahead of his McLaren team-mate.
Norris was the quickest man on track all weekend – until he wasn't. The Brit even topped the timesheets in the first two parts of qualifying, but when the time came to push for pole, it was Piastri who found the extra pace he needed to get the better of the Brit.
Home hero Max Verstappen had feared the worst heading into this weekend, but he had the performance he needed in his Red Bull to go third quickest and give the Dutch faithful something to cheer about. And there was more applause for Isack Hadjar who stunned in his Racing Bulls machine to take fourth place on the grid.
George Russell continued his consistent run of qualifying results by going fifth fastest in the Mercedes, ahead of the two Ferrari cars as Charles Leclerc pipped team-mate Lewis Hamilton to sixth place on the grid. Liam Lawson, Carlos Sainz and Fernando Alonso rounded off the top 10.
Lance Stroll's Aston Martin mechanics stayed at Zandvoort until 1am to fix his car after he destroyed the right side in a crash in practice on Friday. But all he repaid them with was more work after dipping his left wheels into the grass and spinning into the barrier early in qualifying, causing enough damage to ensure he would not set a time.
Just above him on the timesheets at the end of Q1 were Oliver Bearman and Esteban Ocon as Haas endured a wretched start to the second part of the season. Nico Hulkenberg in the Sauber and Alpine's Franco Colapinto were the other two who failed to make it out of the bottom five.
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Lawson made his F1 debut at Zandvoort two years ago when Daniel Ricciardo suffered a hand injury in a crash. And the Kiwi looked right at home as he and Racing Bulls team-mate Hadjar booked their places in the top 10, while Yuki Tsunoda in the supposedly faster Red Bull was only 12th quickest.
Alex Albon was furious with 15th after struggling for grip and made his displeasure with his Williams team's tyre warm-up issues clear over the radio. Pierre Gasly and Gabriel Bortoleto qualified above him, while Kimi Antonelli missed out on a spot on the top 10 as his struggles at Mercedes continued.
When Q3 began, the pole battle was all about two drivers from one team. Piastri landed a key psychological blow, setting the quickest first sector time of the whole weekend and built on that to edge out Norris in their first runs.
It set up a mouth-watering duel over one lap each but, in the end, neither of them could find improvement on their final runs. Verstappen did and put his Red Bull third on the grid, ahead of Hadjar who will be delighted with his best ever F1 qualifying result.
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