Verstappen storms twice red-flagged Q3 to take Dutch GP pole

Max Verstappen took pole position on home turf at the Dutch Grand Prix after triumphing in an incident-packed Q3 shootout that featured two red flags.

Charles Leclerc took too much speed into Turn 9 and went off the road into the barriers with four minutes of Q3 remaining, bringing out the second red flag of Q3 and grounding himself to ninth in qualifying.

Leclerc skidded off onto the grass and took a fairly hefty hit to the barriers 💥

Pride bruised, otherwise okay 👍#DutchGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/L7avBtLK9V

— Formula 1 (@F1) August 26, 2023

After Q1 and Q2 took place in inters conditions, the track dried out enough for slicks to be the tyre of choice in Q3. It meant when Q3 resumed after Leclerc’s crash, each driver had one shot at taking pole.

Verstappen emerged on top with a 1m10.567s, half a second faster than McLaren’s Lando Norris, who was the fastest driver through the first sector but lost too much time to Verstappen over the rest of the lap.

“The driver peaked too early,” Norris joked after the session.

George Russell will start third for Mercedes – his best qualifying since his front row in Melbourne – and will share the second row with Williams driver and Q1 pacesetter Alexander Albon, who was a season’s best fourth.

His team-mate Logan Sargeant was 1.1s slower than him in Q1 and almost seven tenths adrift in Q2 but Sargeant still sneaked through to Q3 by just 0.054s, the first time he’s done so in his short F1 career so far.

🔴 RED FLAG 🔴

Oh no, Logan!

Sargeant's first Q3 didn't last long as he hits the barriers at Turn 2#DutchGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/sEqrfoH1KB

— Formula 1 (@F1) August 26, 2023

However, it all went wrong for Sargeant in Q3 into the Turn 2 right-hander as he lost control of his car, leading to it skating through the gravel before whacking the outside wall.

His crash warranted a red flag and barrier repairs that stopped Q3 for around 20 minutes.

Carlos Sainz was sixth fastest for Ferrari ahead of the second Red Bull of Sergio Perez, who was 1.3s slower than team-mate Verstappen.

McLaren’s Oscar Piastri was slowest of the drivers who didn’t crash in Q3 and took eighth ahead of Leclerc and Sargeant.

Sargeant’s Q3 advancement ensured Lance Stroll failed to reach Q3 for the fourth time in six races. He was 11th fastest ahead of Alpine’s Pierre Gasly.

Lewis Hamilton was the big-name Q2 elimination as he went out in 13th, less than a tenth away from Q3. He was followed by AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda and Nico Hulkenberg who was slowest of all in Q2 as he was eliminated in 15th place, albeit still only just under two tenths adrift of Q3.

Alpine’s Esteban Ocon was dumped out of Q1 in a grand prix qualifying session for the first time this season in 17th place ahead of Haas’s Kevin Magnussen – without the new front wing he broke during a crash in FP3 – and the Alfa Romeo of Valtteri Bottas.

AlphaTauri F1 debutant Liam Lawson qualified 20th and last in his first F1 qualifying session, 1.4s away from a place in Q2.

Qualifying Results