How Norris’ first sector laid the foundations in a commanding Dutch GP pole

A quarter of a second advantage in the first sector of the Zandvoort circuit laid the foundations for Lando Norris’ decisive Dutch Grand Prix pole, built upon by a solid final split.

The final 0.356-second gap between Norris and Max Verstappen in qualifying was representative of a comparative gulf, given the closeness of the field. Norris unearthed the only sub-70 second lap of the weekend with his final flying effort, culminating in his third pole of 2024, superior traction out of the slower corners underpinning that effort.

In assessing GPS data between Norris and Verstappen’s laps, the Briton’s exits from Turn 1 and Turn 3 set up a significant cushion over Verstappen in the duel for pole, as the Dutch driver was perhaps chasing the time a little bit more. There are small nuances in Verstappen’s braking traces that hint towards this, particularly attempting to carry more speed into the first corner – Tarzanbocht – but ultimately falling short when on the power.

For a fleeting moment in the first corner, Verstappen’s delta is marginally up on Norris as he releases the throttle a little later; Norris, by comparison, lets his foot off the pedal sooner – but he’s also very slightly later on the brakes as he chooses to use the engine braking a little more to slow the car down. Norris also keeps the revs up by selecting a lower gear for the corner, gathering more acceleration out of the corner and building the momentum towards the banked third corner.

Norris is already 0.15s up through the second corner and, although Verstappen is marginally quicker through the corner itself, Norris has much more rear-end grip – and there were moments throughout qualifying where Verstappen cut a more ponderous figure on the exit of Turn 3.

Again, Norris is in a lower gear – third, rather than fourth; although the Honda-powered Red Bull and the Mercedes-powered McLaren will require different gear ratios to keep the power band at its widest, Norris seems to prefer keeping the engine speed up for more acceleration.

Throughout the undulating sweepers that lead up to Turn 7, Norris is hence building more speed – around 4-6kph in hand versus Verstappen at the same point – to flex that advantage; it’s 0.249s between them at the end of sector one, and growing as the two prepare for the long-radius right-hander at the top of the circuit.

Norris bleeds the throttle off more…