Dutch GP qualifying: Piastri steals pole from Norris as McLaren locks out Zandvoort front row
McLaren came to Zandvoort looking sharp; Oscar Piastri made them look lethal. After Lando Norris swept practice and laid down a lap record of his own, Piastri found just a lick more when it mattered, taking pole by 0.012s with a 1:08.662 that trimmed the record again and hushed the orange tide.
It was a cool, clinical lap from the Australian at a place that punishes even the smallest hesitation. Norris looked untouchable through Friday and Saturday morning, but when the sun dropped and the track peaked, Piastri’s rhythm through the high-speed sweepers and that steep final banking set the difference. McLaren’s front-row lockout is a statement, and it lands at a circuit where the start matters more than most.
Max Verstappen gave the grandstands a scare on the last run, lighting up the middle sector purple and nudging the McLarens into a quick recalculation. But the Red Bull star couldn’t stitch the lap together in the final corner and had to settle for third. He’ll start behind a papaya wall, on the clean side, with 72 laps to rewrite the script at home. It won’t be the first time he’s tried.
Behind them, the story of the hour has a rookie glow. Isack Hadjar put the Racing Bulls fourth on the grid with a lap that looked entirely unflustered, the Frenchman outpacing seasoned company and underlining why Faenza’s talent factory still has sharp teeth. Team-mate Liam Lawson backed it up with P8, while Yuki Tsunoda—now in the senior Red Bull—could only manage P12. That contrast won’t go unnoticed in Milton Keynes.
Mercedes split their Saturday: George Russell in fifth after a tidy, no-drama session; Kimi Antonelli just outside the top ten in P11, leading the charge of those aiming to slice into the points at lights out. There’s pace in the W16 over a stint, but Russell will need to clear Hadjar early if he wants a shot at the podium fight.
Ferrari’s qualifying left a little on the table. Charles Leclerc starts sixth with Lewis Hamilton seventh, the red cars lacking that last bite on the soft tyre when the track flipped from “good” to “great.” They’ve been stronger on Sundays lately; expect elbows at Tarzan at the start, because both know the McLarens won’t be hanging around.
Carlos Sainz dragged the Williams into ninth—useful work ahead of Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin in tenth, the veteran Spaniard wringing the AMR for its customary Q3 cameo. At the other end of the garage, Lance Stroll hit the wall in Q1 and didn’t set a time. He’ll go from the back and hope Zandvoort serves up its usual safety-car chaos.
Sauber split their day: Gabriel Bortoleto a composed P13, Nico Hülkenberg P17. Alpine sit stacked in the middle—Pierre Gasly P14, Franco Colapinto P16—braced for an afternoon of undercuts and overcuts. Haas have ground to make up with Esteban Ocon 18th and Oliver Bearman 19th.
It’s a tight, twitchy lap here. Clean air is king, track position is queen, and the North Sea wind is the joker that tends to show up at the worst possible moment. McLaren own the front row, but Verstappen in third at Zandvoort is a live grenade. Sunday could hinge on who survives the first two laps and who manages the tyres through those long, loaded corners once the pack stretches.
Full 2025 Dutch Grand Prix starting grid
1. Oscar Piastri, McLaren
2. Lando Norris, McLaren
3. Max Verstappen, Red Bull
4. Isack Hadjar, Racing Bulls
5. George Russell, Mercedes
6. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
7. Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari
8. Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls
9. Carlos Sainz, Williams
10. Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin
11. Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes
12. Yuki Tsunoda, Red Bull
13. Gabriel Bortoleto, Sauber
14. Pierre Gasly, Alpine
15. Alex Albon, Williams
16. Franco Colapinto, Alpine
17. Nico Hülkenberg, Sauber
18. Esteban Ocon, Haas
19. Oliver Bearman, Haas
20. Lance Stroll, Aston Martin
Notes from the pitlane
– McLaren’s qualifying execution was spotless, and the car looks planted through the banked sections; the real test is tyre life in clean air versus Verstappen’s pressure from behind.
– Hadjar’s P4 is no fluke; the Racing Bulls are efficient here and both cars look handy in sector one. If they hang on in the opening stint, there are real points on the table.
– Ferrari’s launch mechanics will be under the microscope. If they clear Russell early, the podium fight gets complicated; if they don’t, they risk being trapped in the Hadjar/Russell train.
Lights out can’t come soon enough. Zandvoort’s a game of nerve, and Piastri just showed he’s got plenty. Now he has to lead the dance.
