George Russell took pole position for the Sprint Race at the Dutch Grand Prix weekend, with Lando Norris starting alongside him.
In the only practice session of the weekend, the order was tight, with Mercedes leading the pack, with Kimi Antonelli and McLaren and Ferrari close behind.
However, with the changing conditions around Zandvoort, Sprint Qualifying was an entirely different beast for the 22 drivers.
SQ1
The Mercedes duo were some of the first drivers to embark on push laps around Zandvoort, both looking to secure an important pole position in their Championship campaigns.
Russell kept his first lap clean, taking the line with a late 1:13s, while further back Kimi Antonelli was putting in two purple sectors.
However, Antonelli was in the final sector when he ran wide, struggling to regain control of the car but narrowly keeping himself out of the barriers. The Italian driver returned to the pits to check his Mercedes for damage, losing critical track time.
Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton both moved ahead of Russell as they completed their push laps while the Monegasque rocketed to the top of the order; Hamilton was one tenth behind.
Both McLarens looked strong on their way around the banked corners, Norris slotting in behind Leclerc and Piastri taking third. The margins were fine between the five, with just over two tenths separating them.
Liam Lawson was having a strong first outing in the Red Bull machinery, replacing Isack Hadjar for the weekend. The Kiwi crossed the line in the final minutes in sixth, ahead of Max Verstappen.
Yuki Tsunoda was also close behind his teammate for the weekend, Arvid Lindblad. As the chequered flag came out, he settled in 13th place, securing him a slot in SQ2.
Eliminated: Ollie Bearman, Carlos Sainz, Lance Stroll, Valtteri Bottas, Sergio Perez, Fernando Alonso
SQ2
Esteban Ocon led the field out on the first push laps of SQ2. The Haas driver’s future is under threat for 2027, and every good result is vital for his hopes of remaining in F1.
Ocon crossed the line with a time of 1:13.893s, which was significantly off the pace of the SQ1 laps, with times still due to be brought down.
Piastri was the first driver to break into the 1:12s, putting himself a healthy 0.164s ahead of Charles Leclerc. The Monegasque crossed the line second with Hamilton close behind.
However, the times continued to fall as Russell split the Ferrari duo and settled into third. Antonelli crossed the line behind Hamilton, a decent way behind the front runners, with 0.4s separating him from Piastri.
Norris shot up behind his teammate after putting together a strong lap, while elsewhere on the circuit Piastri put in a fastest middle sector.
Tsunoda was teetering on the edge of making it through to the final stage of Sprint Qualifying, but as Gabriel Bortoleto crossed the line, he was pushed into the elimination zone.
Lawson was facing a similar predicament, and as Lindblad crossed the line, he pushed his usual teammate out of the SQ3 contention, putting Lawson in 11th for the Sprint Race.
Eliminated: Liam Lawson, Yuki Tsunoda, Franco Colapinto, Nico Hulkenberg, Esteban Ocon, Alex Albon.
SQ3
In the final race for pole position, Norris led the ten remaining drivers around the track. He took the provisional pole position as the time quickly slipped away for the field. His time of 1:11.608s narrowly put him at the front of the field.
However, as the session had just a few seconds remaining, Russell completed a stunning lap with two purple sectors. The lap put him just under a tenth in the lead and into provisional pole. Leclerc slipped into third with Piastri behind, fourth.
Antonelli sat a bit further back, rounding out the top five.
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