Piastri outpaces Norris by 0.012s for pole position

McLaren’s Oscar Piastri has defeated team-mate Lando Norris for a fifth pole of 2025 at Formula 1’s Dutch Grand Prix.

Although Norris had been the fastest of the two McLaren drivers over the balance of the weekend, Piastri narrowly edged ahead of his title rival on the first run of Q3.

Qualifying was held in sunny conditions after overnight rain had washed away some of the grip on offer at Zandvoort’s spectacular seaside circuit.

In the deciding top 10 shoot-out Piastri took the command on the first of two runs, besting Norris by a mere 0.012s with his 1m08.662s lap thanks to marginally quicker first and third sectors.

Neither driver was able to find any improvement on the second run, with Piastri keeping his top spot. In doing so the Australian also edged ahead of his team-mate with five poles for the 2025 season, compared to four for Norris, who trails him by nine points in the drivers’ championship.

Underlining McLaren’s eye-watering dominance, Max Verstappen pulled out all the stops only to fall four tenths behind in third after the first run, with Mercedes’ George Russell conceding six tenths to the papaya cars.

But Verstappen then delivered a blinding second sector on his final run to cut the deficit to Piastri to a quarter of a second. Isack Hadjar also starred by parking his Racing Bulls car alongside Verstappen on row two, the rookie bumping Russell down to fifth with his second lap.

Lewis Hamilton had made an encouraging start by being 0.010s faster than Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc on run one, but unlike Leclerc he couldn’t find any more lap time on his final attempt, with Leclerc claiming sixth ahead of the seven-time world champion.

Liam Lawson was eighth in the second Racing Bulls machine, with Williams’ Carlos Sainz and Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso rounding out the top 10.

Q2 – Antonelli and Tsunoda knocked out

Norris led the way in Q2 with a lap of 1m08.874s, less than a tenth clear of Piastri, with Verstappen a quarter of a second in arrears in third.

Having set his first lap on used soft tyres, Fernando Alonso was on the outside of the top 10 looking in, needing to find just 0.005s to muscle his way back into Q3.

On better tyres Alonso did so with aplomb, grabbing seventh as the last driver over the line. Lawson also joined Hadjar in the top 10 at the end, knocking out Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Yuki Tsunoda, who had been on the bubble.

Antonelli fell just 0.019s short of 10th-placed Carlos Sainz at the end of an extremely tight session, meaning Williams’ Spaniard booked a place in Q3 for the first time since Imola in May.

Sauber rookie Gabriel Bortoleto, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and a frustrated Alex Albon were also eliminated, with Albon ruing Williams’ tyre preparation.

Q1 – Stroll suffers second Zandvoort crash

Lance Stroll, Aston Martin Racing crash

Photo by: Simon Galloway / LAT Images via Getty Images

The McLarens were out in front in Q1 as well, but Piastri took top spot ahead of Norris for the first time over the Zandvoort weekend. Russell narrowly edged Verstappen for third, with the pair three tenths behind the Australian.

Tsunoda once again came under pressure, having been knocked out of Q1 four times this season, but the Japanese salvaged a Q2 spot, while Alpine’s Franco Colapinto missed the cut-off by less than a tenth compared to Bortoleto.

Bortoleto also beat experienced team-mate Nico Hulkenberg for the fifth time in a row in regular qualifying – the sixth time including sprint qualifying. The German veteran took 17th, ahead of Haas duo Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman.

Aston’s Lance Stroll failed to set a lap time after a crash in Turn 3. The Canadian, who had also shunted on Friday, dipped a wheel onto the grass at the entry to Turn 13 and spun into the barriers.

The penultimate F1 grand prix at Zandvoort, which is set to disappear from the calendar after 2026, starts at 15:00 local CEST time on Sunday.

F1 Dutch GP – Q3 results