Formula 1 resumed activity after the first break of the year to race in Zandvoort. Ahead, a qualifying session that promised emotion thanks to the weather conditions that had already made an appearance in FP3, where an incident by Logan Sargeant (who drove two tires on the wet grass and destroyed the Williams) left the American with no chance of competing in Qualifying.
Q1
1:13.062 was the first time in the session when Nico Hülkenberg took to the track.
When all the drivers except Max Verstappen had set a time on the clock, Lewis Hamilton led the way in Q1 with a lap of 1:11.375s, a time that none of the McLarens could beat, placing Norris and Piastri behind Hamilton. The McLarens were then split by the home driver who placed third, after having achieved purple in the first sector but losing 0.018 thousandths to first place.
After the first set of laps, the race stewards noted an impeding incident by Hamilton on Sergio Pérez. The Brit simply exclaimed, “I was well out of his way.”
Unlike the first attempt, Verstappen was the first driver on the track to close Q1 in a Zaandvort that slowly became more and more cloudy. Ricciardo, Ocon, Bottas and Zhou were the drivers eliminated in the first session on Saturday afternoon. At the same time, Sergio Pérez led the pack, followed by George Russell, and the Ferrari drivers, Hamilton, Norris, and Verstappen in seventh place. (with 17 drivers in less than one second of difference in timing).
The Mexican seemed upset despite being the fastest in the first 20 minutes of the session, commenting to the team “Yeah [first place], but we *** our set so, please. And for worse than that, I’ve been penalised,” referencing the incident with Lewis Hamilton that is still pending from the stewards’ investigation.
Q2
The Ferrari drivers were the first to set time at the beginning of Q2, with Leclerc being the fastest, but not by much, as Piastri, Hulkenberg, Magnussen, and Verstappen took the standings table all ahead of the men in red, with Norris being the owner of P1 after the Mercedes placed 3rd and 5th.
Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz were surprisingly eliminated in Q2 (both due to small driving errors). At the same time, their teammates were third and sixth respectively, with a difference of 0.380s between Russell and the seven-time world champion. Tsunoda, Hulkenberg, and Magnussen completed the eliminated pack, while Norris, Piastri, Russell, Stroll, Pérez, Leclerc, Albon Verstappen, Gasly and Alonso prepared to face Q3.
Q3
Oscar Piastri was the first on the track for Saturday’s defining session, who, after his first attempt, took over second position, 0.119s behind his teammate, achieving a 1-2 for McLaren. Next, 0.029s slower was Max Verstappen, and in fifth place were George Russell’s Mercedes and Leclerc’s Ferrari.
With 5 minutes to go, the Aston Martins, Sergio Pérez and Alex Albon had not set lap time on the table, betting on the best moment to take the track and then drive only one lap in Q3. Pérez was finally the fastest of the mentioned, taking fifth position ahead of Leclerc and Fernando Alonso.
Lando Norris set the final record in the first sector while Verstappen stole the second sector in purple, however, it was not enough for the World Champion who took second place behind the Briton, who was 0.356s faster than the driver that races at home this weekend. Piastri, Russell, Perez, Leclerc, Alonso, Albon, Stroll and Gasly completed the order for the Dutch Grand Prix, which will be held on Sunday at 3 pm local time.
