Piastri powers to Dutch GP pole with record lap

With Norris looking strong after topping all three sessions so far this weekend, Piastri pulled out a blinder to claim his fifth pole of the season with a new lap record at Zandvoort of 1m08.662s.

It’s his first pole since Spain and McLaren’s ninth of the season, their highest haul since 1999, coming on what would have been team founder Bruce McLaren’s 88th birthday.

Adding to Piastri’s optimism ahead of the race, every winner of the Dutch Grand Prix since it returned to the calendar in 2021 has started from pole.

Piastri finished 0.012s ahead of Norris and said he was “stoked” with his lap.

“That was the definition of peaking at the right time,” he said.

“The whole weekend I’ve felt pretty good but there’s been some corners I haven’t been able to go any faster.

“Super happy to come out with that result…to come out with that I’m pretty stoked.”

He added that he had been working on catching Norris in each session so far.

“You just keep chipping away, that’s one of the nice things of having that practice, is to work on it,” he said.

“I improved the parts where I’m not bad and made the time up that way.”

Norris said he was disappointed not to take pole, adding that the gusty conditions had played a part in qualifying.

“I’m a little disappointed I’m not on pole…but it’s not the end of the world either,” he said.

“With the wind like this, a lot of it is down to luck. It’s tough, I had a good lap…I’m in a good position…we’ll have some fun tomorrow.”

The front row lockout by McLaren is their 69^th in total, moving them into second overall behind Mercedes for most front row lockouts in F1 history.

Max Verstappen qualified third, 0.263s behind Piastri, having set the fastest middle sector in Q3.

He said the car felt the best it had all weekend during qualifying.

“This weekend so far was quite tricky for us, qualifying is the best the car felt all weekend,” he said. “I’m very happy with that.”

The reigning world champion added that the energy of the crowd helped him through the session.

“The energy of the crowd, the whole weekend has been amazing…it’s always very special.”

Isack Hadjar put in an incredible performance to start fourth on the grid, his highest qualifying of his career.

He finished ahead of George Russell in fifth and the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, who improved on their sluggish pace so far this weekend in Zandvoort.

Liam Lawson will start eighth, his third consecutive top-ten start and his fifth of 2025. Every time he has started in the top ten this season, he has scored points.

Rounding out the top ten are Carlos Sainz for Williams in ninth, while Fernando Alonso will start tenth for Aston Martin.

Both Kimi Antonelli and Yuki Tsunoda continued their recent struggles, failing to reach Q3 for the second consecutive race.

Antonelli was pushed into the elimination zone at the death by Alonso, while Tsunoda couldn’t find the pace to progress into the final part of qualifying.

Also eliminated in Q2 were Gabriel Bortoleto, Pierre Gasly, and Alex Albon.

Q1 saw more drama for Lance Stroll, with the Aston Martin driver hitting the barrier for the second time this weekend.

The Canadian touched the grass entering Turn 13, sending his car into a spin and into the barriers. He managed to recover and limp back to the pits with a damaged front wing but did not return to the track and was eliminated from the session, and will start the race from last place.

Also eliminated in the opening phase of qualifying were Franco Colapinto, Nico Hulkenberg, and the Haas pair of Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman.

All eyes now turn to the Dutch Grand Prix, with lights out at 3pm local time (11pm AEST).