Norris claims authoritative pole over Verstappen at Zandvoort as F1 kicks back into gear; Piastri P3, Russell P4

Formula 1’s long summer break has come and gone, as the circus reopened for Round 15 of the 2024 World Championship at the small but technical Zadvoort Circuit amidst the dunes along the coast of the Netherlands. After nothing but wet practices on Friday and Saturday morning, Qualifying itself was dry and the cars finally got to show their speed. Looking tan, ready and rested, McLaren’s Lando Norris continued his run of good form by laying down a dominant lap to earn pole position during Qualifying for tomorrow’s Dutch Grand Prix, some four-tenths to the good of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, the current points leader in the Drivers standings. Despite the throngs of orange-clad countrymen willing on the Dutch master from the stands, it was the papaya orange of Norris’s McLaren setting the pace when push came to shove. Adding to McLaren’s satisfaction, Oscar Piastri set the third fastest time, while Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez could only muster P5. Mercedes’ George Russell split those two and will line up alongside Piastri on the second row after claiming P4. But Silver Arrows teammate Lewis Hamilton, winner of two of the last three races prior to the break, had a bit of a disastrous day. First, the seven-time champion was bounced in Q2 after only being twelfth fastest in that session; then he was assessed a three-place grid penalty after being found guilty of impeding Perez in Q1. On a circuit where track position is king, Hamilton will really have to pull something out of the bag come race day now starting from a lowly fourteenth.

Charles Leclerc was the only Ferrari to make it into Q3 and will start P6 on Sunday, as teammate Carlos Sainz struggled with handling en route to an initial P11 grid spot. But Williams’ Alexander Albon, who had been looking good with the eighth fastest time at the end of quali, was DQ’d after the session due to a technical infraction on the floor of his car. That elevated not only Sainz into the top ten, but also promoted Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll to P8 on the grid, alongside his P7 teammate Fernando Alonso, and lifted Alpine’s Pierre Gasly up to P9.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Dutch GP:

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Revised grid taking into account multiple penalties is here.

Tomorrow’s race amidst the dunes airs live on ESPN tomorrow starting at 9 am Eastern here in the States. Hope to see you then to find out of Norris can hold off Verstappen for another win and tighten up the championships even further and we fly into the second half of the season!