Jess
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri took pole by 12 thousandths of a second over teammate Lando Norris, at Zandvoort this afternoon, in a wind-affected Q3.
Despite threats of a wet qualifying at the beginning of the race weekend, qualifying was bone-dry. Instead, the wind was crucial to drivers’ lap times, as it provided a tailwind in the lap time crucial corners.
The McLaren ran 1-2 each session, with Lando Norris the favourite after finishing P1 in every practice session.
However, it was Oscar Piastri’s first run on a new soft tire in Q3 that clinched pole position for the championship leader.
“Peaked at the right time, some might say” | Oscar Piastri’s Radio after Pole Position
After struggling in sector 1 compared to Norris, Piastri nailed the 1st sector, along with a personal best sector 2 and an overall best sector 3.
While he looked set to go faster in his second run, Piastri and Norris lost time in the final sector due to the wind conditions.
Despite this, Piastri sets a new lap record at Zandvoort, his third lap record of the season!
With 9 points between the McLaren teammates, all eyes are set on Sunday to see who comes out on top.
Piastri has been leading the championship since the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
The Ferraris and Mercedes cars have not challenged the McLarens in any session this weekend, with both teams sitting in the middle of the top ten in all three qualifying sessions.
Antonelli failed to reach Q3 for a second race in a row, despite showing signs of pace over his more experienced teammate George Russell.
Russell ended Q3 in P5, with both Ferraris behind him in P6 and P7.
The Ferrari car is capable of being further at the front, as proven by Hungary and China, but no advancement in improving the car’s predictability appears to have taken place over the summer break.
Although, after missing out on Q3 three-races in a row, Hamilton appears less downtrodden in the media pen after qualifying.
With ten races left, and a home race imminent, can Ferrari change their fortune and fight for wins, or is all hope on ’26?
Both Haas cars found themselves out in Q1, having shown little pace all weekend. Joining them at the back of the grid is Nico Hulkenberg, Franco Colapinto and Lance Stroll, who crashed early in Q1.
Franco Colapinto is on a run of bad form, with a crash in Pirelli’s tyre test in the summer break causing the Alpine team to request special permission to work on the car during the two-week mandatory break.
He is yet to score points this year and looks unlikely to do so on Sunday, as he starts in P16.
Isack Hadjar is the stand-out of the session, as he starts P4 for tomorrow’s race, his highest position ever.
He is only the 13th driver to achieve a P4 start at the Racing Bulls outfit (who have undergone many name changes, but have remained a constant part of F1 for decades).
Hadjar is rumoured to be in contention for the second seat at Red Bull next year, due to his high success and fast-growing maturity in his rookie season.
Hadjar has been in 9 Q3 sessions and all 15 Q2 sessions this year. He sits P13 in the championship with 22 points, ahead of teammates Liam Lawson and Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda.
Tsunoda found himself out in Q2 once again in P12, as his rough time at Red Bull continues.
Alex Albon lamented at P15 on the radio, asking “why do we [Williams] always do this to ourselves”.
With overtaking tricky at Zandvoort due to its narrow characteristics, drivers striving to do better will have to land their race starts and pray there is no rain.
- P1 PIASTRI 1:08.662
- P2 NORRIS 1:08.672
- P3 VERSTAPPEN 1:08.925
- P4 HADJAR 1:09.208
- P5 RUSSELL 1:09.255
- P6 LECLERC 1:09.340
- P7 HAMILTON 1:09.390
- P8 LAWSON 1:09.500
- P9 SAINZ 1:09.505
- P10 ALONSO 1:09.630
- P11 ANTONELLI 1:09:.493
- P12 TSUNODA 1:09.622
- P13 BORTOLETO 1:09.622
- P14 GASLY 1:09.637
- P15 ALBON 1:09.652
- P16 COLAPINTO 1:10.104
- P17 HULKENBERG 1:10.195
- P18 OCON 1:10.197
- P19 BEARMAN 1:10.262
- P20 STROLL NO TIME
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