By Robert Haile
Max Verstappen has taken another step towards defending his World Title as he takes Pole Position at his home Grand Prix.
A resurgent Charles Leclerc took second 0.021 seconds behind with teammate Carlos Sainz in third with Lewis Hamilton fourth as Zandvoort provided plenty of entertainment.
There was also news on the Alpine/McLaren tussle over Oscar Piastri as the Australian has been confirmed as Daniel Ricciardo replacement for 2023.
Verstappen said: “Unbelievable. We had a difficult day yesterday, but the whole team worked really hard over night to turn it around and we recovered well.
“Again, today we had a quick car and it was enjoyable to drive; a qualifying lap around here feels insane.
“I know it’s going to be close during the race, but I think if we make the right calls on tyres and execute it well, we should stand a good chance tomorrow.
“The atmosphere is amazing here, I hope the fans are having a great time.
“I really can feel the support and I can hear them all around the track.”
Heading into the first qualifying session a huge roar greeted Verstappen as he set the fastest time for the session.
At the other end Williams’ Nicholas Latifi will be joined on the back row by Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel with McLaren’s Ricciardo and Haas’ Kevin Magnussen on the next row.
One Alfa Romeo made it through while the other missed out as Valtteri Bottas went out for the second time in a row in the first session as Zhou Guanyu progressed.
The second session was stopped almost as soon as it started as a flare was thrown onto the track.
Verstappen came out and set the fastest lap as the others came out after.
With the chequered flag waved the times came in with Ferrari’s Sainz and Mercedes’ George Russell going faster than Verstappen.
Williams’ Alex Albon with just one lap tumbled down the time board to fifteenth with Guanyu ahead of him.
Both Alpine drivers went out with Esteban Ocon in front of Fernando Alonso while AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly improved but only to eleventh as his teammate Yuki Tsunoda made the third session.
With seven different teams through to the top ten shoot out Verstappen and the Ferrari duo took the top three places with Hamilton taking fourth.
Red Bull’s Sergio Perez finished fifth after spinning which brought out the yellow flag which stopped Russell from improving on sixth.
Lando Norris put his McLaren seventh with Mick Schumacher’s Haas behind in eighth with Tsunoda in ninth.
Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin not coming out in the the session left him in tenth.
Dutch Grand Prix Qualifying
- Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
- Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
- Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)
- Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
- Sergio Perez (Red Bull)
- George Russell (Mercedes)
- Lando Norris (McLaren)
- Mick Schumacher (Haas)
- Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri)
- Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
- Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri)
- Esteban Ocon (Alpine)
- Fernando Alonso (Alpine)
- Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo)
- Alex Albon (Williams)
- Vallteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo)
- Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren)
- Kevin Magnussen (Haas)
- Sebastian Vettel (Aston Marin)
- Nicholas Latifi (Williams)
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