Two crashes, Hamilton fails to qualify for Q3, Ferrari writes another tragedy! Who will start the Dutch GP from pole position?

Formula 1 has the Dutch Grand Prix on the agenda this weekend as the queen of motorsport returns after the mandatory summer break. On Saturday, in addition to the third free practice session, qualifying was also run. It started in the wet, but the track gradually dried out, so Saturday’s action offered plenty of drama. Fans saw Logan Sargeant and Charles Leclerc collide, with Max Verstappen taking pole position.

It should be noted at the outset that Daniel Ricciardo did not enter Saturday’s qualifying for Sunday’s Dutch Grand Prix. The AlphaTauri driver collided with the tech-barrier in the second practice session, specifically at Turn 3, and broke the metacarpal bone in his left hand.

As a result, he was replaced by Liam Lawson for the remainder of the race weekend. That is, the driver who is driving the Japanese Super Formula this year, in which he is second in the drivers’ championship. The New Zealander has, of course, also made it through the junior F2 and F3 categories.

He finished the last free practice session in 18th place. Anyway, Saturday morning was punctuated by heavy rain, so the FP3 results were not so representative. The first part of qualifying was also held in wet conditions.

First part of qualifying (Q1)

The rainy first qualifying segment was handled best of all by Alexander Albon. The Williams driver set a time of 1:20.939. Max Verstappen lost twenty-six thousandths of a second to him, with McLaren driver Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris taking third and fourth.

Carlos Sainz rounded out the top five. On the other hand, Zhou Guanyu, seventeenth-placed Esteban Ocon, eighteenth-placed Kevin Magnussen, nineteenth-placed Valtteri Bottas and the aforementioned Lawson will take the last place at the start of the Dutch Grand Prix.

Charles Leclerc came off the back at the last minute. The Ferrari driver only made it out of the top five that didn’t progress to Q2 thanks to his last-gasp attempt. His time, however, was good enough for 14th place, but he advanced due to worsening track conditions.

Second part of qualifying (Q2)

At the start of Q2 the rain stopped at Zadvoort and the track slowly dried out, with racing conditions continuing to improve. By the end of the second qualifying segment, a dry track was visible on the circuit, so drivers had to be careful not to overheat their tyres in the transitional conditions.

Verstappen recorded the best time in the second act (1:18.856), half a second behind the reigning world champion, Australian Piastri.

Both Williams drivers also advanced to Q3. Albon placed high in third position, while Logan Sargeant set a time in his last quick attempt that was good enough for tenth place.

Lance Stroll and twelfth-placed Pierre Gasly failed to qualify for the final session, while Lewis Hamilton also failed to make it out of Q2. Fourteenth position at the start of the Dutch Grand Prix will belong to Juki Cunod, with Nico Hülkenberg as fifteenth.

Third part of qualification (Q3)

After one minute 47 seconds, the last part of qualifying was suspended via red flags. This was because the American Sargeant skidded on the exit of Turn 2 and subsequently crashed into the barrier.

After the restart of qualifying, the drivers set some fast times, with Norris in first place, Piastri second and Verstappen third. The qualifying action didn’t last long though, with around four minutes left in Q3, Monaco’s Leclerc crashed his car.

The final minutes saw a battle for pole position, which Verstappen dominated with a time of 1:10.567. He will be joined on the front row at the start of the Dutch Grand Prix by Norris, who lost over half a second to the current championship leader.

A very solid position was taken by George Russell, whose time of 1:11.294 saw him take third place. However, Albon will also start from the second row and Williams will record a great result on Saturday. Fernando Alonso is fifth, Sainz sixth, Pérez seventh, Piastri eighth, Leclerc ninth and Sargeant rounds out the top ten.

Source: F1 TV, Twitter / X