George Russell will line up on pole position for Saturday's Sprint Race at the Dutch Grand Prix ahead of Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc. The British driver looked off the pace in the first two parts of qualifying with McLaren looking like the strongest contenders for pole position. But the Mercedes driver put in the best lap on soft tyres to take pole position.
Oscar Piastri qualified fourth for McLaren, while championship contenders
Kimi Antonelli and
Lewis Hamilton were fifth and seventh, sandwiching the Red Bull of
Max Verstappen.
In the first part of qualifying it was Leclerc who led the way from the two McLarens and his teammate Hamilton. Kimi Antonelli suffered a huge off but managed to stay out of the barriers after running through the gravel at high speed after passing another car.
Oliver Bearman, Carlos Sainz and the two Aston Martins and Cadillacs were eliminated, with Fernando Alonso last after suffering a huge lockup on his quick lap.
In Q2, Liam Lawson, who has jumped into the Red Bull to replace the injured Isack Hadjar, was knocked out in 11th, just 0.009 ahead of Yuki Tsunoda who has taken his seat at Racing Bulls. Franco Colapinto, Nico Hulkenberg, Esteban Ocon and Alex Albon also were knocked out in a session led by the two McLarens of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris.
A number of drivers including George Russell, Kimi Antonelli and Max Verstappen are under investigation by the stewards for failing to follow race directors instructions which could have an impact on the qualifying results.
| 1. George Russell | 1:11.567 |
| 2. Lando Norris | +0.041 seconds |
| 3. Charles Leclerc | +0.055 |
| 4. Oscar Piastri | +0.099 |
| 5. Kimi Antonelli | +0.227 |
| 6. Max Verstappen | +0.527 |
| 7. Lewis Hamilton | +0.624 |
| 8. Pierre Gasly | +1.011 |
| 9. Gabriel Bortoleto | +1.016 |
| 10. Arvid Lindblad | +1.170 |
| 11. Liam Lawson | 1:13.136 |
| 12. Yuki Tsunoda | 1:13.145 |
| 13. Franco Colapinto | 1:13.429 |
| 14. Nico Hulkenberg | 1:13.616 |
| 15. Esteban Ocon | 1:13.893 |
| 16. Alex Albon | 1:14.294 |
| 17. Oliver Bearman | 1:14.728 |
| 18. Carlos Sainz | 1:14.738 |
| 19. Lance Stroll | 1:15.391 |
| 20. Valtteri Bottaas | 1:15.472 |
| 21. Sergio Perez | 1:15.545 |
| 22. Fernando Alonso | |