Max Verstappen took F1 Dutch GP pole in wet to dry qualifying with Lando Norris slotting in second from George Russell.
Q1:
It was damp conditions still in first part of F1 Dutch GP qualifying at Zandvoort with intermediate compounds the choice of all. It was not so easy with moments for Max Verstappen, Nico Hulkenberg, Alexander Albon and Charles Leclerc.
A possible impeding from Lance Stroll against Lewis Hamilton was noted, while replays showed a moment between Oscar Piastri and Carlos Sainz when the Spaniard exited from the pits and didn’t see the Australian coming through who stepped on the grass.
It was Williams’ Albon on top after taking a second set of intermediate tyre with a 1m20.939s lap as he headed Red Bull’s Verstappen and McLaren’s Piastri in the Top 3. Ferrari’s Leclerc made it through after a late lap in 14th.
He finished behind Red Bull’s Sergio Perez, as Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu was knocked out in 16th with a 1m22.067s lap from Alpine’s Esteban Ocon (1m22.110s), Haas’ Kevin Magnussen (1m22.192s), Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas (1m22.280s) and AlphaTauri’s Liam Lawson (1m23.420s).
Q2:
The sun was shining on a damp circuit in second part of F1 Dutch GP with the intermediate compound still the choice of the grid. It was Verstappen on top with a 1m18.856s lap from Piastri and Albon in the Top 3 in drying conditions at Zandvoort.
It was late push laps which changed the order where Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll was knocked out in 11th from Alpine’s Pierre Gasly with the big fish of Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton getting knocked out in 13th by 0.084s.
Both Stroll and Gasly were close behind Williams’ Logan Sargeant where the American made it in Q3 for the first time. AlphaTauri’s Tsunoda was 14th after his 1m20.230s lap as Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg was 15th (1m20.250s).
Q3:
The third part in F1 Dutch GP qualifying saw few trying the intermediate compound but they quickly changed to soft. It was Williams’ Albon setting the pace early on from Sargeant, Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and Mercedes’ George Russell.
But the session was red-flagged after a huge off for Sargeant at Turn 2 where he lost control and hit the barrier hard. After a brief stop to repair the barrier, the session re-started with McLaren 1-2 where Norris headed Piastri and Verstappen.
The session was again red-flagged after going off at Turn 9 and hitting the barrier sideways. He was fifth at that moment behind Russell. It was a short stop before the session resumed while Leclerc sat on the deckchair to watch the proceedings.
Verstappen stormed through with a 1m10.567s lap to secure F1 pole in Dutch GP from Norris (1m11.104s) by a good chunk as Russell (1m11.294s) put the Mercedes in third after a late push. Albon (1m11.419s) was third for a brief moment but ended up fourth.
Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso (1m11.506s) did well in fifth from Sainz (1m11.754s) as Perez (1m11.880s) dropped to seventh from Piastri (1m11.938s), Leclerc (1m12.665s) and Sargeant (1m16.748s) in the Top 10.
https://twitter.com/F1/status/1695443984200405214?s=20
UPDATE: The FIA has cleared Stroll of impeding against Hamilton, but have handed a 3-place grid drop to Tsunoda for impeding the Brit. As for Sainz, the stewards have handed him a reprimand for ‘potentially dangerous’ move on Piastri and fined Ferrari of €5000 for not warning the Spaniard of the Australian ahead of time.
Sainz and Ferrari: https://www.fia.com/sites/default/files/decision-document/2023%20Dutch%20Grand%20Prix%20-%20Infringement%20-%20Car%2055%20-%20Potentially%20Dangerous%20Manoeuvre.pdf
