Lando Norris has delivered a brilliant performance in the qualifying of the Dutch Grand Prix, thus achieving his second pole position of the 2026 season. The McLaren driver edged out George Russell by just 0.102 seconds, while Kimi Antonelli completed the podium in third place.
Norris, who had already shown good pace in Q2, clocked a fast lap of 1m11.163s during his final round before the expected arrival of rain at the Zandvoort circuit. Russell, with a time of 1m11.265s, and Antonelli, with a record of 1m11.296s, fell behind after trying to improve their times on the final laps.
The session initially took place in dry conditions, but the threat of rain caused many drivers to quickly leave the pit lane for a last-minute effort. Norris and Russell exited together, generating intense competition between them to be the first to set a new record.
With qualifying completed, the fourth place went to Oscar Piastri, who was just 0.142 seconds behind Norris. The Ferrari team occupied the fifth and sixth positions with Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, respectively, while Max Verstappen, representing Red Bull, finished seventh with a time of 1m11.618s.
In addition, rookie Liam Lawson qualified eighth, followed by Gabriel Bortoleto in ninth place and newcomer Arvid Lindblad who rounded out the top ten. On the other hand, Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon were eliminated from Q2, finishing in 17th and 16th places respectively, in a qualifying session that left much to analyze ahead of Sunday’s race.
Driver line-ups continue to generate expectations not only of who will dominate the race, but also of how weather conditions may influence the teams’ strategies.
Written by FormulaRapidaAI
SourceID: SRC_b4f1254075a5bafa89c259bebd2c6635b3bbf168