Piastri Snatches Pole for 2025 Dutch GP

Oscar Piastri snatched pole position ahead of Lando Norris in a tense Qualifying session for 2025 Dutch Grand Prix. 

Piastri had been second-best to Norris for much of the weekend aside from topping Q1 ahead of their first Q3 fliers where he crucially set the eventual pole time by just 0.112s in a new all-time track record, as both McLaren drivers failed to improve on their final flying laps around Zandvoort.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen will start his home race from third on the grid ahead of underrated breakout star, Isack Hadjar who put his Racing Bulls car fourth on the grid ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell.

 

FP3

Overnight rain had left the circuit damp at the start of the session as Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar ventured out on intermediate tyres, whilst Mercedes’ Andrea Kimi Antonelli opted for the medium tyre and set 1m 33.360 as the initial benchmark time.

Times immediately tumbled closer towards Friday Practice’s times as Antonelli, Nico Hulkenberg, Franco Colapinto and Gabriel Bortoleto soon traded fastest lap times in the opening 14 minutes across medium and hard tyres, which Bortoleto won out with 1m 12 on hard tyres.

Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll went fastest in the 19th minute with 1m 11.854 on softs but Antonelli found a further 0.667 seconds on his medium tyre.

McLaren however sat top at the halfway mark with only 0.071s between Norris and Piastri after the Brit posted 1m 10.262 to go fastest on the soft tyres in the 22nd minute.

Piastri however responded in the 32nd minute with 1m 10.120 towards the end of his first stint.

Nobody however could deny Norris a clean sweep of fastest laps across all three practice sessions as he responded in the soft-tyre qualifying simulation with 1m 08.972 to finish quickest, ahead of Piastri by 0.242s.

Position	Driver	Team	Time
1	Lando Norris	McLaren	1m 08.972
2	Oscar Piastri	McLaren	+ 0.242
3	George Russell	Mercedes	+ 0.886
4	Carlos Sainz	Williams	+ 0.941
5	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	+ 0.953
6	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	+ 0.966
7	Alex Albon	Williams	+ 1.127
8	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	+ 1.131
9	Isack Hadjar	Racing Bulls	+ 1.194
10	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	+ 1.260
11	Liam Lawson	Racing Bulls	+ 1.328
12	Yuki Tsunoda	Red Bull	+ 1.377
13	Gabriel Bortoleto	Sauber	+ 1.389
14	Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari	+ 1.401
15	Oliver Bearman	Haas	+ 1.623
16	Nico Hulkenberg	Sauber	+ 1.627
17	Andrea Kimi Antonelli	Mercedes	+ 1.725
18	Esteban Ocon	Haas	+ 1.829
19	Pierre Gasly	Alpine	+ 1.991
20	Franco Colapinto	Alpine	+ 2.082

 

Qualifying

Q1

Tsunoda was first out on track and set 1m 10.661 as the benchmark but Bearman went 0.399s quicker, before Hamilton and Verstappen displaced him, until Norris unleashed 1m 09.469 to put himself quickest at the halfway mark of the segment with a 0.158s advantage over Piastri.

Leclerc, Ocon, Tsunoda and Colapinto found themselves found themselves at risk of elimination once everyone set a lap time aside from Stroll, after the Canadian spun at Kumhobocht on entry although he recovered to the pits albeit unable to continue due to floor damage.

Leclerc however got himself up to 14th on his second flier at the expense of Bortoleto who dropped to 16th position ahead of the final fliers.

At the checkered flag, Bortoleto and Tsunoda survived at the expense of Bearman who failed to improve on his first flier and qualified 19th ahead of Stroll, whilst Ocon managed 18th on the grid behind Hulkenberg and Colapinto who qualified 17th and 16th respectively.

Piastri meanwhile snatched the fastest Q1 lap from Norris with 1m 09.338 to end the Brit’s dominance of every session this weekend.

 

Q2

Only Leclerc and Hamilton ventured out in the opening minutes with the Monegasque on 1m 10.034 heading his teammate by 0.106s, before Russell displaced him but Verstappen produced 1m 09.122 to displace the Mercedes.

The eighth minute of the segment saw Zandvoort history made as Norris broke the all-time lap record by 0.011s with 1m 08.874 to go top, whilst Piastri was 0.090s slower in second.

Leclerc and Hamilton had dropped into the elimination zone but improved to fifth and fourth on their second fliers mid-session, which left Alonso, Lawson, Sainz, Bortoleto and Gasly at risk of elimination.

Alonso, Lawson and Sanz eventually escaped the drop at the checkered flag to leave Antonelli qualified in 11th ahead of Tsunoda – although the Red Bull only starts 12th of virtue of having set his lap time before Bortoleto who achieved the same lap time in 13th,

Gasly will start 14th ahead of Albon who failed to improve on his final flier.

 

Q3

Piastri was first out of the pits and set 1m 08.662 as the benchmark provisional pole time despite a scruffy lap, but Norris fell just 0.012s shy on his first flier in response to the Aussie.

Verstappen provisionally put his Red Bull third on the grid after the first set of flying laps ahead of; Russell, Hamilton, Leclerc, Hadjar, Alonso, Sainz and Lawson.

McLaren for the final runs sent Norris out first but once the checkered flag fell, neither McLaren driver improved and Piastri claimed his first pole since Spain.

Position	Driver	Team	Time
1	Oscar Piastri	McLaren	1m 08.662
2	Lando Norris	McLaren	+ 0.012
3	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	+ 0.263
4	Isack Hadjar	Racing Bulls	+ 0.546
5	George Russell	Mercedes	+ 0.593
6	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	+ 0.678
7	Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari	+ 0.728
8	Liam Lawson	Racing Bulls	+ 0.838
9	Carlos Sainz	Williams	+ 0.843
10	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	+ 0.968
11	Andrea Kimi Antonelli	Mercedes	1m 09.493
12	Yuki Tsunoda	Red Bull	+ 0.129
13	Gabriel Bortoleto	Sauber	+ 0.129
14	Pierre Gasly	Alpine	+ 0.144
15	Alex Albon	Williams	+ 0.159
16	Franco Colapinto	Alpine	1m 10.104
17	Nico Hulkenberg	Sauber	+ 0.091
18	Esteban Ocon	Haas	+ 0.093
19	Oliver Bearman	Haas	+ 0.158
20	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	No Time