Norris takes pole position in Zandvoort
Photo:
APA/AFP
Lando Norris took his first pole position in the second half of the Formula 1 World Championship season. The McLaren driver dropped local hero and world champion Max Verstappen to second place in qualifying for Saturday’s Dutch Grand Prix. The Red Bull star was a comfortable 0.356 seconds behind his British rival. In third place in a storm-killed affair was Oscar Piastri (+0.499s) in the McLaren ahead of Mercedes man George Russell (+0.571s).
Mercedes recently returned with three wins in four races before the summer break. First the Silver Arrows had to struggle in Zandvoort. Surprisingly, the winner of the spa, Lewis Hamilton, failed in the second qualifying category (12th). The reigning world champion was also penalized after interfering with Perez. The Ferraris also showed themselves weakly. Charles Leclerc had to settle for sixth place (+0.909) behind Sergio Perez (Red Bull), Carlos Sainz was eliminated in 11th place in Q2.
Verstappen is set to start his 200th Grand Prix on Sunday (3 pm/live ServusTV, RTL, Sky). In the World Championship standings, by the 15th of 24 races this season, he still has a comfortable lead of 78 points over Norris, who is on pole for the fourth time. Verstappen has won the last three editions in his home country, but the triple champion has been waiting for a Grand Prix victory for four races.
