Defending F1 World Drivers’ Champion Max Verstappen continued his run of dominance by qualifying on pole for the 2022 Dutch Grand Prix.
The leader of the “orange army” scored pole at his home track in the closing seconds of the third qualifying session by just two-hundredths of a second on Charles Leclerc, while Carlos Sainz qualified third just behind his Ferrari teammate. Verstappen put the pole on ice after his Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez (fifth) spun out on his final lap in the final turn of Circuit Zandvoort and denied the Mercedes drivers of Lewis Hamilton (fourth) and George Russell (sixth) a complete final hot lap.
“We had a difficult [Friday],” Verstappen said to F1 Media in the post qualifying interview, referencing a gear box failure in the first few minutes of practice this weekend. “We worked very well overnight, we seemed to turn it around. And today, [a] quick race car again, but it was very close. A qualifying lap around here is just insane.”
Lando Norris qualified seventh and Mick Schumacher ended up eighth. Yuki Tsunoda had a strong performance and qualified ninth.
Lance Stroll advanced to Q3, but was unable to get out on-track again due to a mechanical issue and will start in 10th in the race.
Q1
There were no incidents in this session. Valtteri Bottas, Kevin Magnussen, Daniel Ricciardo, Sebastian Vettel and Nicholas Latifi all failed to advance. Vettel had his eighth Q1 exit of the season after setting the fastest sector one time on his final hot lap, but then going off into the gravel trap off of the second-to-last corner. Vettel was able to get back to pit road with no damage, but will start 19th in the race.
Q2
There was a red flag a minute in due to a fan throwing a flare onto the racetrack. Alex Albon was the only driver on the circuit, and his run on fresh new tires was ruined due to the red flag. Pierre Gasly, Esetban Ocon, Fernando Alonso, Zhou Guanyu and Albon were all eliminated in this session.
The big race will happen Sunday, September 4th. U.S. TV coverage will be provided by Sky Sports through the main ESPN channel, with lights out scheduled for 9 a.m. EST.
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