Coming into Qualifying, it looked like three teams could potentially find themselves on pole so let's find out who came out on top in this exciting session at Circuit Zandvoort.
Q1
In Qualifying 1, Valtteri Bottas, Daniel Ricciardo, Kevin Magnussen, Sebastian Vettel and Nicholas Latifi all failed to make it any further in Qualifying. Valtteri Bottas, who went on a near 150 race run of never being knocked out in Q1, has been eliminated in Q1 back-to-back weekends. Daniel Ricciardo had another very disappointing session, and he is struggling to prove himself to other teams. Kevin Magnussen got his last lap time deleted but to be honest, he wasn’t quick enough anyway. Seb Vettel will be very frustrated with himself as Aston Martin have looked quick for once, but a mistake has most likely cost the 4-time world champion a chance at points. Finally, Nicholas Latifi was absolutely nowhere near the pace which is not going to help his chancing of retaining his drive for next season. Verstappen topped the session, only 17 thousandths ahead of Lewis Hamilton.
Q2
In Qualifying 2, Pierre Gasly, Esteban Ocon. Fernando Alonso, Zhou Guanyu and Alex Albon all failed to make it into the top 10 shootout. Pierre can be happy with P11 given the struggles with the car recently but, being outqualified by his teammate is going to be frustrating. Esteban Ocon outqualified Fernando Alonso in a very disappointing display for Alpine. They will hope that their race pace is better. Zhou Guanyu did a decent job considering he outqualified his much more experienced teammate. As for Alex Albon, he should be happy with his result as he once again proves how good he really is. Carlos Sainz topped Q2 by 1 hundredth of a second over George Russell.
Q3
In Qualifying 3, Max Verstappen took home pole position to the delight of the Orange Army. Max beat Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc to pole by only 21 thousandths of a second. Leclerc’s teammate Sainz qualified third and he was also only 92 thousandths of pole meaning that the top 3 were separated by under a tenth. Lewis Hamilton will be happy with P4, but he will also be frustrated given the fact that his final flying lap was ruined by Sergio Perez who spun round on the final corner. Perez starts 5th and was over 7 tenths slower than his teammate which is a very poor display. Mr Consistency George Russell qualified sixth, but he never got a lap in on a fresh set of tyres which was a shame. Lando Norris put his McLaren in P7, the highest that the car could get. Mick Schumacher pulled out a brilliant lap to place his car in P8 whilst Yuki Tsunoda will also be happy with a Q3 appearance. It was super bad luck for Lance Stroll though as he did brilliantly to get the car into Q3, but a technical issue cost the Canadian a chance at a lap.
Starting Grid for tomorrow’s race and my Qualifying Grades
Max Verstappen: 10
Charles Leclerc: 9
Carlos Sainz: 8
Lewis Hamilton: 9
Sergio Perez: 5
George Russell: 8
Lando Norris: 10
Mick Schumacher: 10
Yuki Tsunoda: 9
Lance Stroll: 10
Pierre Gasly: 7
Esteban Ocon: 4
Fernando Alonso: 3
Zhou Guanyu: 6
Alex Albon: 6
Valtteri Bottas: 3
Daniel Ricciardo: 1
Kevin Magnussen: 2
Sebastian Vettel: 1
Nicholas Latifi: 1
My Predictions for the Dutch Grand Prix
Max Verstappen
Charles Leclerc
Lewis Hamilton
Carlos Sainz
George Russell