Max Verstappen will start Sunday's race on pole as he seeks a record-equalling ninth successive Grand Prix win; Lando Norris second ahead of fellow Brit George Russell; watch the Dutch Grand Prix live on Sky Sports F1 at 2pm on Sunday, with build-up from 12:30pm
Saturday 26 August 2023 19:30, UK
Max Verstappen boosted his chances of claiming a record-equalling ninth successive Formula 1 victory by beating Lando Norris to pole in a dramatic Dutch Grand Prix Qualifying session.
Verstappen came out on top in a one-lap shootout at the end of a Q3 that was delayed by two red flags, delivering a 1:10.567 to best McLaren's Norris' by just over half a second, with Mercedes' George Russell two tenths further back in third.
The session began on a wet track but the rain relented and the drying surface provided plenty of drama, including a surprise Q2 exit for Lewis Hamilton and multiple crashes.
In addition to extending his own historic run, on Sunday Verstappen will be looking to maintain Red Bull's streak of having won all 12 races of the 2023 season.
Alex Albon continued his excellent form to take fourth, representing his best qualifying effort for Williams.
Fernando Alonso was fifth for Aston Martin ahead of the Ferrari of fellow Spaniard Carlos Sainz, while Verstappen's Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez took seventh ahead of McLaren's Oscar Piastri.
Ferrari's Charles Leclerc was ninth after crashing out. Logan Sargeant suffered the same fate, somewhat ruining his achievement of reaching Q3 for the first time in his rookie campaign with Williams.
Liam Lawson, who is deputising for the injured Daniel Ricciardo at AlphaTauri following the Australian's crash on Friday, finished last on his debut in a competitive F1 session.
The only threat to Verstappen's hopes of equalling the record Sebastian Vettel set while driving for Red Bull in 2013 would appear to be the weather in his home nation.
More rain is forecast for Sunday, and while Verstappen has repeatedly shown this season that he is capable of handling all conditions, the potential for changeable conditions will at least offer the rest of the field hope.
Regardless, Verstappen's 125-point lead in the drivers' standings over his nearest challenger, Perez, will ensure he is able to maintain his growingly mature and relaxed approach to dominating the sport.
Dutch GP Qualifying result
1) Max Verstappen, Red Bull
2) Lando Norris, McLaren
3) George Russell, Mercedes
4) Alex Albon, Williams
5) Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin
6) Carlos Sainz, Ferrari
7) Sergio Perez, Red Bull
8) Oscar Piastri, McLaren
9) Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
10) Logan Sargeant, Williams
The session beginning on a sodden track ensured near-constant drama in Q1 and Q2, with Hamilton providing much of it.
Having looked in impressive form throughout practice, the seven-time world champion was suddenly unable to match his team-mate Russell's pace.
Hamilton required a last-gasp effort to avoid being knocked out in Q1, but could not repeat the feat a second time.
Mercedes and Hamilton were ultimately guilty of going too early with his final attempt at a flying lap, but he was also unfortunate to be impeded by AlphaTauri's Yuki Tsunoda, who would later receive a three-place grid penalty for the incident, demoting him to 17th.
The Brit finished his last flying lap with around a minute remaining of the session, allowing those behind him to benefit from the significant track improvement that was occurring at the time.
However, with Hamilton missing out on Q3 by less than a tenth of a second, Wolff argued that being slowed by the AlphaTauri of Yuki Tsunoda was the key factor in his exit.
"Tsunoda, he's a nice guy, but he impeded Lewis on his quick lap," Wolff said. "He didn't move from the dry line.
"He dived on the inside and it didn't look like it cost much, but going from a dry line into wet line and back to dry line costs.
"I think a tenth would have put him into Q3. So we need to be harsh on penalties, then people will again look in their mirrors."
The track had dried out enough that half of the 10 drivers that made it through to Q3 felt confident enough to begin on slicks, and the other half would immediately decide to switch over after realising intermediates were no longer needed.
However, before those switching over could set lap times, Sargeant, just moments after reaching Q3 for the first time, put his Williams in the wall after spinning at Turn 2.
The severe damage may ultimately mean that the American misses out on the opportunity to start from the top 10, with major work potentially required to get his car ready for the race.
If the RB19 has shown one weakness this season, it might be that its tyres do not always heat up as quickly as some of the other front-runners, and that was perhaps apparent as Norris and Piastri outpaced Verstappen on the flying laps that followed a lengthy delay to repair the barrier after Sargeant's incident.
Any concerns Red Bull may have had over the still-damp conditions were erased when Leclerc brought out the second red flag of the session as his luck ran out at Turn 9.
The Monegasque had gone off multiple times at the first corner and narrowly avoided contact with the barrier, but on this occasion could not prevent session-ending damage.
That left four minutes on the clock, and time for just one more flying lap from the eight remaining cars.
With the track having had more time to dry out and tyre warm-up less of a factor, Verstappen comfortably outpaced Norris to claim an eighth pole position of the season.
