“Stoked” Piastri steals Dutch GP pole from Norris

Oscar Piastri snatched pole position for the Dutch Grand Prix by just 0.012s, overturning teammate Lando Norris’ weekend-long edge to lead a McLaren front row lockout in yet another statement result for the papaya team.

Qualifying 1:

Coming into Qualifying at the Dutch Grand Prix equal on pole positions with Lando Norris in 2025 only added fuel to Oscar Piastri’s fire as he set off for the first stage of the hour after a delayed start.

Out of the pitlane, the Australian charged through the lap to set the second fastest time in Q1, following Norris by 0.158s as he crossed the line. 

On his final attempt, Piastri successfully reversed the intra-team order for the first time this weekend, catapulting into P1 with a flying middle sector that allowed the McLaren driver to end the opening session as the fastest driver on track.  

Liam Lawson was equally patient to start the 18-minute session, remaining in the RB garage for the first ten minutes of Q1 before boosting himself into the top ten. 

It wasn’t a smooth opening trip for the Kiwi, however, with Lawson informing the team of the need to “check the floor” after running across the abrasive kerbs at the exit of Turn 3. 

Any concerns were brushed aside when the #30 lit up the timesheets on his way to a P5 finish in Q1, crossing the line with a standout effort of 1:09.779s, which placed him four-tenths shy of Piastri’s benchmark.

As for the rest of the field, it was a timid start to the first stage of Qualifying in Zandvoort before the track burst to life with heated competition.

Over before it had even started, Lance Stroll was forced to drag his wounded Aston Martin back to the pitlane after dipping a wheel onto dirt, spinning across the gravel, and hurling towards the barriers at the penultimate corner. 

The Aston Martin crew instantly got to work on the #18’s car for the second time this weekend, however, the damage was too extensive to fix within the tight confines of Q1, resulting in Stroll’s retirement from the session. 

Max Verstappen came close to replicating the Canadian’s costly error, however, the four-time world champion saved his Red Bull from a dusty ending and instead jumped to the top of the order in the minutes that followed.

Verstappen’s time as the pace-setter was short-lived as the McLaren duo put their feet to the floor, with Lando Norris picking up where he left off in FP3 by setting a new benchmark of 1:09.469s.

Things were not looking up for the Ferrari drivers who found themselves in P11 and P14 as the build-up to the final round of flying laps began, with Lewis Hamilton earlier aborting his attempt which left him almost nine-tenths off the pace as the lead Prancing Horse. 

However, for the likes of Gabriel Bortoleto, Yuki Tsunoda, Franco Colapinto and Esteban Ocon, nerves were through the roof as they occupied the four active places in the elimination zone.

For just two of those at-risk drivers, a place in Q2 was successfully achieved come the chequered flag on Q1 with Bortoleto and Tsunoda both advancing to the second stage, while Ollie Bearman and Nico Hulkenberg were added to the unlucky losers list. 

Qualifying 2:

The start of Q2 had an aura of heightened importance about it for Ferrari, with the Italian outfit sending both drivers out at the green light in a bid to maximise the 15-minute session.

Charles Leclerc was instantly matching the pace of his direct rivals, with Hamilton stepping it up through the middle sector as well, however, for now, the Monegasque was the quicker of the two Ferraris with a reference time of 1:10.034s.

With eleven minutes on the clock, the rest of the field joined the Prancing Horses on the Circuit Zandvoort, with Piastri at the very back of the queue. 

Last in track position but second on the timesheets, Piastri’s first lap placed him as the second fastest driver in Q2, just 90 milliseconds shy of the man to beat to start the session.

Although he returned to the track for a second attempt, his initial time of 1:08.964s remained his fastest through to the chequered flag, with Verstappen hot on McLaren’s heels.

Lawson’s first attempt wasn’t as certain as the Australian’s leaving the Kiwi in the bottom five as a lull fell over the circuit, however, leaving the pitlane from P12, Lawson put his visor down on his next 4.3km dash.

Two personal best sectors were all it took to boost Lawson into the top ten, allowing the Kiwi to leapfrog his teammate as he settled into P8 with a fastest time of 1:09.383s.

Verstappen flew through the first, second, and third sectors to record a lap half a second quicker than his time in Q1, an effort which placed him at the head of the field before the usual papaya suspects had their say. 

Beating the home hero by over two-tenths and setting an all-time lap record in the process, Norris set a standout time of 1:08.874s before angering the Dutchman further by blocking Verstappen’s next attempt. 

Putting some space between the two drivers, Piastri rounded out a top three who were tailed by the Ferrari duo’s second attempts.

With four minutes on the clock, the rest of the field attempted to catch up with the Italian count, filing out of the pitlane for one final run with Fernando Alonso, Liam Lawson, Carlos Sainz, Bortoleto and Pierre Gasly all currently facing a Q2 elimination. 

It was a scrappy run for Tsunoda, who failed to improve from a risky P9, a result that was only compounded by improvements from Sainz, Lawson and Alonso which ultimately demoted the Red Bull driver to P12. 

He wasn’t the only driver to have a bad outing in Zandvoort, with Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli the final driver to be relegated to the bottom five alongside Bortoleto, Gasly and a furious Alex Albon, who faulted his tyres for the disappointing P15 result. 

Qualifying 3:

The moment the Dutch Orange Army had been waiting for finally arrived when the light went green to kickstart the top ten shootout for pole position at the Dutch Grand Prix, however, it was a different shade of orange that led the initial timesheets in Q3.

Rocketing his papaya MCL39 around the Circuit Zandvoort, it was Piastri who secured provisional pole position ahead of his teammate by just 12 milliseconds, with the #81’s time of 1:08.662s made up of two fastest sectors.

Giving his home crowd something to cheer for, Verstappen completed the provisional top three on the grid, however, it was a feat soured by the almost four-tenths margin to the Woking-based outfit’s representatives. 

It was a scrappy first dash for Lawson in Q3, with the Kiwi remaining the slowest driver on the board after a snap of oversteer at Turn 3 left him almost 1.7 seconds off the benchmark and almost four-tenths back on the closest driver in P9. 

When the second and final round of push laps ignited, it was Norris who led the charge, however, he failed to improve in the first sector while Piastri broke his own fastest sector. 

Despite going purple through Sector 2, Norris failed to improve on his previous time, all but cementing Piastri’s first pole position since June. 

The Australian’s pace fell off through the lap, however, it didn’t seem to matter when he crossed the line, having unknowingly secured P1 minutes earlier with a time of 1:08.662s.

Taking his first pole since Spain, Piastri edged teammate Norris by just 0.012s to secure the best possible platform to extend his championship lead on Sunday, while Verstappen had to settle for third despite the roar of his home crowd.

The surprise addition to the front runners came in the form of Isack Hadjar, with the Racing Bulls driver stunning his way to the second row with a time of 1:09.208s — less than five hundredths of a second ahead of George Russell in P5.

The struggling Ferrari pair rounded out the damage control-focused Qualifying hour in P6 and P7, with Leclerc getting the late jump on his teammate by 0.050s.

Not finding the late spike in pace that his teammate did, Lawson will start the Dutch Grand Prix from P8 on the grid after setting a fastest time of 1:09.500s to out-qualify the Spanish duo of Carlos Sainz and Fernando Alonso, who round out the top ten for Sunday’s race.

With 25 crucial points on the line in a championship battle that sees Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris separated by just nine points, the Dutch Grand Prix will be comprised of 72 critical laps of racing, and with the risk of rain on the rise in Zandvoort, all is still to play for. 

Lights out for the Dutch Grand Prix will take place at 23:00 AEST.

Image: McLaren

Dutch GP Qualifying Results:

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