Dutch GP Qualifying: Oscar Piastri beats Lando Norris to Zandvoort pole with Max Verstappen third, Isack Hadjar shock fourth
Title leader Oscar Piastri pips practice pacesetter Lando Norris again in qualifying to win all-McLaren pole duel; Max Verstappen third for home race with Isack Hadjar a shock fourth; watch Sunday's Dutch Grand Prix live at 2pm, with build-up from 12.30pm, on Sky Sports F1
Saturday 30 August 2025 17:12, UK
Oscar Piastri turned the tables on Lando Norris when it mattered most to claim pole position for the Dutch Grand Prix after a gripping qualifying duel between the title-contending McLaren drivers.
Norris had set the pace in all three practice sessions at Zandvoort but, not for the first time this season, championship leader Piastri saved his best until qualifying to beat his British team-mate to the head of Sunday's grid by a mere 0.012s.
Piastri is now in the perfect position to try and extend his nine-point advantage over Norris in the 72-lap race on the banks of the North Sea on F1's resumption after its summer break.
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Max Verstappen gave the orange-clad home crowd something to cheer by taking third place on a return to form of sorts for Red Bull, although their quarter-of-a-second deficit to pole underlined McLaren's continued dominance.
The Dutchman will unexpectedly be joined on the second row by Isack Hadjar from sister team Racing Bulls after the French rookie delivered a storming final lap to get ahead of Mercedes' George Russell and the Ferrari drivers.
With Russell fifth, Charles Leclerc won out in the battle of the Ferraris by jumping ahead of Lewis Hamilton on the final laps of Q3 by 0.050s to take sixth despite the latter having been the quicker of the two up to then.
It was still Hamilton's first Q3 appearance since the British GP at the start of July and so the seven-time champion said "that is progress to get back in", although Ferrari's overall form remains thoroughly underwhelming.
Capping a fine Saturday for Racing Bulls, Liam Lawson took eighth ahead of Williams' Carlos Sainz and Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso, who saw the team's Friday promise fade as the pace at the front ramped up.
But Lance Stroll qualified 20th and last in the second Aston Martin after crashing for the second successive day.
Approaching the fast right-handed Turn 13 in the early laps of Q1, Stroll touched the grass with his left-hand wheels under braking and was sent spinning off the track, across the gravel into the barriers.
He was able to drive the car back to the pit lane but the damage was too significant for the team to fix it in time for him to rejoin the session. Stroll's mechanics had already worked beyond F1's curfew late into Friday night to change the first survival cell on his AMR25 after the first crash - and now face another period of repairs.
Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli and Red Bull's Yuki Tsunoda dropped out in Q2, the former missing out to Sainz by 0.021s.
Piastri 'peaks at the right time' to make the difference
Much of the basis of Piastri's step forward to provide a more consistent and formidable challenge to Norris this year has come from a big improvement in his qualifying record against the Briton, with the Australian turning what was 20-4 drubbing in 2024 into what now stands as a 9-6 lead.
This has been despite Norris often being the McLaren driver to take the early initiative in a weekend, as had been the case at Zandvoort up until qualifying. He had outpaced Piastri in all three practice sessions, twice by a quarter of a second.
But come the first stage of qualifying in Q1, Piastri was suddenly ahead by 0.131s and, although Norris then nudged back clear by 0.090s to top Q2, the Australian seized the early initiative on the first runs of Q3 to put himself on provisional pole.
The first laps proved decisive as neither McLaren driver was able to improve on their second attempt, confirming Piastri's fifth pole of the season but first since the Spanish Grand Prix, six races ago.
"That was the definition of peaking at the right time!" said Piastri. "The whole weekend I felt good, there had just been a couple of corners I had not been able to go any faster.
"I didn't really go faster in those corners but found some more elsewhere. Super happy to come away with this result.
"It was looking like a tricky weekend so to come out with that, I'm pretty stoked."
Norris said the close nature of their battle means such duels can "easily go one way or the other".
But the Englishman, who claimed pole last year and then ultimately won at a canter after losing and then regaining the race lead from Verstappen, believes it remains all to play for on Sunday.
"I guess a little bit disappointed that I'm not on pole, but it was close, was still some decent laps, so not the end of the world either," said Norris.
"With the wind like this, a lot of it's down to luck as well. Even with all the luck I've been having.
"It's tough. I had a good lap, Q3, run one, but just a small headwind down the straight and I lost like one hundredth, so you could easily say it's there.
"But I'm in a good position. We're in a good fight. Oscar's been driving well all weekend, we've been driving well all season, so we'll have some fun tomorrow."
While Verstappen qualified off the front row at his home race for the first time since it rejoined the calendar in 2021, Hadjar's fourth place represented the best of the 20-year-old's short but impressive F1 career so far.
Hadjar, who appears in the frame to join Verstappen at the senior Red Bull outfit next season, was jubilant over team radio once crossing the line, shouting "this feels too good!"
Sky Sports F1's Dutch GP schedule
Sunday August 31
9.35am: F1 Academy Race 2
10.50am: Porsche Supercup Race
12.30pm: Grand Prix Sunday: Dutch GP build-up
2pm: The DUTCH GRAND PRIX
4pm: Chequered Flag: Dutch GP reaction
Formula 1 returns after the summer break with the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort this weekend, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports with NOW - no contract, cancel anytime
