Lando Norris beat Red Bull driver Max Verstappen to pole position for Formula 1’s 2024 Dutch Grand Prix, stating afterwards that McLaren “got him today”.
Oscar Piastri completed the top three, while George Russell finished just behind for Friday practice pacesetter Mercedes, which had Lewis Hamilton fail to progress from Q2.
It was a session where all the drivers were struggling to build tyre temperature on the cool track surface that was very green after further rain hit the event earlier on Saturday, which provided a big track evolution factor for the session.
Wind picking up and then increasing throughout the session also made things tricky for the drivers, with a strong tailwind into Turn 1, then crosswind snaps through Turns 9 to 12.
Norris led Q3 throughout – his initial 1m10.074s on the first runs putting him ahead of Piastri and Verstappen at this stage.
Verstappen led the pack around for the final go and improved significantly to rise to provisional pole with a 1m10.029s, gaining particularly from a very strong middle sector, but Norris’s final sector was very strong and allied with a small slip from Verstappen at Turn 11.
Lando Norris, McLaren MCL38
Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
Norris roared to a 1m09.673s – the only driver to crack that barrier – as Verstappen was pushed to 0.356s adrift.
“Qualifying was always pretty smooth and I put in some good laps – especially the one at the end, which is always the most important,” Norris said afterwards. “So, great job by the team and happy with today.
“I’m excited for tomorrow. I’m sure it’s going to be tough. Max has been quick all weekend and I know we got him today, but he’s still second. And he’s going to be putting up a good fight. Especially at his home race. So, looking forward to it.”
Piastri could not knock the home hero off the front row as he paid the price for not going quicker than before in the middle sector and finished 0.499s down on his team-mate despite putting in a personal best time.
Russell did enough to beat Sergio Perez to fourth, with Charles Leclerc the lead Ferrari in sixth.
Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll ran offset to the rest in the middle of Q3 as they only had one set of new tyres left for the final segment – as did everyone except the McLarens, Verstappen and Russell.
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB20
Photo by: Andrew Ferraro / Motorsport Images
Alonso took seventh and…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Autosport.com – Formula 1 – Stories…