Max Verstappen clinched a third consecutive pole for his home race as he claimed pole for 2023 Dutch Grand Prix.
Verstappen topped FP3 but was pushed throughout a wet-to-dry Qualifying by McLaren’s Lando Norris who he pipped to pole, whilst Mercedes’ George Russell edged out Williams’ Alex Albon for third.
Both sessions were also affected by rain alongside five red flags in total in a disruptive but entertaining day of drama.
Now, here is a roundup of all the action across FP3 and Qualifying.
FP3
Heavy overnight rain continued throughout the morning which left the circuit damp at the start of FP3 with Verstappen first out on track, and he proceeded to set a benchmark time of 1mm 27.514 in the fourth minute as further rain began to fall.
Haas’ Kevin Magnussen however brought out the red flags in the tenth minute after he lost control through Turn 3 on his outlap and spun into the barriers.
Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas was first back out onto the track once the session resumed eight minutes later, with Charles Leclerc becoming the first driver to better Verstappen’s time as he set a 1m 27.238 in the 22nd minute moments before he ran wide at Turn 1.
Norris further lowered that benchmark time by 0.486 seconds a minute later but Verstappen responded with 1m 25.197, as the pair set their quickest laps on the intermediates whilst many ran the wet tyres at that point of the session.
Guanyu Zhou however brought the red flags out again in the 25th minute after he got too much power upon entry to Turn 13 and spun into the gravel trap.
Once the session resumed a further ten minutes later with Williams’ Logan Sargeant first to venture back out, everyone steadily switched to the intermediate tyre as Norris went fastest with 1m 25.086 in the 41st minute.
Norris’ McLaren teammate, Oscar Piastri meanwhile responded two minutes later to go 0.193s quicker, only to be displaced by Norris who posted 1m 23.677 to go top again in a McLaren one-two as the red flag came out in the 48th minute after Liam Lawson spun at Turn 13.
Lawson – who is making his debut due to injury for Daniel Ricciardo – clipped the kerb through Turn 13 and spun around into Turn 14, which caused the session to be stopped but he was able to quickly regain power and crawl back to the pit lane under his own control.
Stewards resumed the session four minutes later but it was Verstappen who struck late, as he first posted 1m 22.758 to go fastest in the 55th minute, before he then set a session-topping 1m 21.631 with two minutes left on the clock.
As the checkered flag fell, George Russell finished second quickest ahead of Sergio Perez and Fernando Alonso, although Alonso was one of various drivers including Carlos Sainz and Esteban Ocon who ran wide at Turn 1 but avoided the barriers across this session.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1m 21.631 |
| 2 | George Russell | Mercedes | + 0.379 |
| 3 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | + 1.000 |
| 4 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | + 1.003 |
| 5 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | + 1.092 |
| 6 | Alex Albon | Williams | + 1.119 |
| 7 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | + 1.261 |
| 8 | Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo | + 1,334 |
| 9 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | + 1.462 |
| 10 | Lando Norris | McLaren | + 1.527 |
| 11 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | + 1.579 |
| 12 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | + 1.807 |
| 13 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | + 1.913 |
| 14 | Logan Sargeant | Williams | + 1.939 |
| 15 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas | + 2.009 |
| 16 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | + 2.175 |
| 17 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | + 2.427 |
| 18 | Liam Lawson | AlphaTauri | + 4.712 |
| 19 | Guanyu Zhou | Alfa Romeo | + 6.851 |
| 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | No Time |
Qualifying
Q1
Following further rainfall, Williams’ Albon and Sargeant were first out onto the track with Albon setting a benchmark time of 1m 31.315 but was swiftly displaced by several chances, with Hamilton, Bottas, Piastri and Sargeant all exchanging quickest laps.
At the half-way mark, Norris set the pace with 1m 22.392 whilst the elimination zone compromised of; Lawson, Bottas, Magnussen, Sargeant and Gasly.
Times however continued to fall as Norris, Piastri and Verstappen exchanged fastest laps until Albon posted 1m 20.939 to unexpectedly top the session, whilst as the checkered flag waved, Sargeant and Gasly both survived the drop at the expense of Zhou and Ocon during fresh rainfall.
Zhou qualified 16th ahead of Ocon whilst Magnussen found himself 18th fastest ahead of Bottas and Lawson, with the Kiwi set to start his first F1 race from last place on the grid.
Q2
Sargeant was first out on track but it was Verstappen who immediately set the pace with 1m 21.921 but was briefly displaced by Sargeant who went 0.141s quicker, only for Verstappen to immediately respond with 1m 20.690 to go quickest again.
Everyone else meanwhile tussled over a top-ten position throughout the session with the following five drivers sat in the drop zone at the halfway mark of the session; Perez, Tsunoda, Hulkenberg, Gasly and Sainz.
Track evolution meanwhile continued to ramp up as Verstappen became the first driver to dip below the 1m 20s barrier with 1n 19.652 in the 11th minute but Albon went even quicker with 1m 19.399 two minutes later as Russell slotted into second.
Piastri then went fastest from Albon by 0.007s with 1m 19.392 in the 14th minute.
Once the checkered flag fell, Perez and Sainz both escaped elimination as Hamilton became a shock casualty in 13th position, albeit ahead of Tsunoda and Hulkenberg but behind Stroll and Gasly as the bottom five were split by just 0.129s.
Verstappen topped Q2 at the death with 1m 18.856 ahead of Piastria and Albon, whilst Sargeant finished 10th to secure his first Q3 appearance in F1.
Q3
Russell led a pack of drivers out on the soft slick tyres whilst Piastri, Leclerc, Perez and Verstappen had opted for intermediate tyres.
The quartet on intermediate tyres subsequently pitted for softs whilst Russell set 1m 18.245 as the benchmark time but Albon, Sargeant and Sainz all bettered his lap time as the Thai driver headed the pack with 1m 15.743.
Sargeant however brought out the red flags with 8m 13s left on the clock after he lost the rear into Turn 2 and spun into the barriers, as he sat 1.005s behind Albon with only Sainz and Russell the other drivers to set a lap time before the stoppage.
The session resumed 19 minutes later with Sainz first out on track as everyone bar Sargeant restarted on the soft tyres, but it was Norris who went fastest with 1m 12.049 from his teammate – Piastri ahead of Verstappen, Russell, Leclerc, Perez, Albon, Sargeant, Alonso and Sainz.
Leclerc however slid into the barriers at Turn 9 on his second flier to cause a second red flag with 4m 05s remaining on the clock.
The session resumed seven minutes later with Perez and Albon first out on track.
Verstappen however had the pace to snatch pole from Norris with 1m 10.567 as the Brit settled for second ahead of Russell, Albon, Alonso, Sainz, Perez and Piastri, as Leclerc and Sargeant rounded out the top ten.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1m 10.567 |
| 2 | Lando Norris | McLaren | + 0.537 |
| 3 | George Russell | Mercedes | + 0.727 |
| 4 | Alex Albon | Williams | + 0.852 |
| 5 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | + 0.939 |
| 6 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | + 1.187 |
| 7 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | + 1.313 |
| 8 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | + 1.371 |
| 9 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | + 2.098 |
| 10 | Logan Sargeant | Williams | + 6.181 |
| 11 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 1m 20.121 |
| 12 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | + 0.007 |
| 13 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | + 0.030 |
| 14 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | + 0.109 |
| 15 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas | + 0.129 |
| 16 | Guanyu Zhou | Alfa Romeo | 1m 22.067 |
| 17 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | + 0.043 |
| 18 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | + 0.125 |
| 19 | Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo | + 0.193 |
| 20 | Liam Lawson | AlphaTauri | + 1.353 |
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