Verstappen beats Leclerc to Zandvoort pole by 0.021s
Max Verstappen took pole position for his first home Dutch Grand Prix since winning the Driver’s Championship last season, with Charles Leclerc missing out by 0.021s in a thrilling Zandvoort qualifying.
Verstappen posted a lap time of 1m 10.342s in Q3 just before team mate Sergio Perez, fifth, spun at Turn 13 to bring out a yellow flag and prevent anyone else from beating the Dutchman’s time. Leclerc ended up 0.021s off the home favorite in P2, while Q2 leader Carlos Sainz qualified P3, under a tenth off pole.
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton qualified on the second row in P4, after he was unable to improve late in Q3, while team mate George Russell settled for sixth behind Perez.
What Do The Drivers Say?
“Unbelievable! We had a difficult day yesterday, 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 tires 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.”
Max Verstappen – P1 – Oracle Red Bull Racing
“I was pushing it to the limit on the final lap of Q3 and I just went over the limit a little, it’s a shame. I went a bit too hot into the final corner and in the end I was lucky not to damage the car. I touched the throttle too early; I just kissed the gravel and unfortunately, I lost the rear end. I was on a good lap and could have improved quite a bit but we lost out. We are still P5 though and we can race from there but it will be very important to have a strong race pace. We have made positive changes to the car since yesterday and we are on the right track, this morning the long run was positive so Im hopeful to carry that into tomorrow and make up some good positions on the leaders. We think it could be a very close race between us, the Mercedes and the Ferraris, it could be a battle and I am looking forward to it.”
Sergio Perez – P5 – Oracle Red Bull Racing
“This is a lot better than my Sunday last week and better than the Friday too. It’s been a decent start to the weekend, we’ve landed in a much sweeter sport with the car, just being a very different track. It’s still a work in progress, we aren’t that far behind which is great to see and the car doesn’t feel too bad so we’ve got to keep chipping away. This track is a lot more aggressive on the tires and we could feel some bouncing here and there but if we can make some progress overnight, which we normally do, then let’s see what’s possible tomorrow.”
Lewis Hamilton – Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team
The car’s working better than this time last week and it’s going to be close tomorrow, McLaren will be up there and Aston Martin too. We know qualifying is our weak point and the race will come towards us – our race pace is looking pretty strong – but you’ve got to be starting in the right position. It was tricky out there because the timing screens were down so we couldn’t see where our long run pace was definitively but we know it’s in a relatively good spot. The DRS on the banking is pretty cool, it’s incredible how much grip you get with this banking and on turn 3 here, you throw the car in and it just grips – it’s a great feeling.
George Russell – Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team
Charles LeClerc -Scuderia Ferrari
