Oscar Piastri took pole for the Dutch Grand Prix just 0.012s ahead of McLaren team-mate and chief title rival Lando Norris at the end of a closely fought qualifying session at Zandvoort. Home hero Max Verstappen will start third just ahead of impressive rookie Isack Hadjar. 

Piastri had trailed team-mate Norris through the practice sessions, but in the opening runs of Q3 the Australian managed to edge marginally ahead of his championship rival and when both McLaren drivers failed to improve on their final runs, Piastri took his fifth pole of the season at a track where in every edition since its 2021 return to the calendar the race has been won from the front of the grid. 

At the start of Q1, Red Bulls’s Yuki Tsunoda was first out on track he set the pace with a lap of 1:10.661. Soon after Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll got on the grass on the approach to Turn 13 and he spun off into the barriers. The Canadian was able to return to the pit lane but he would play no further part in the session. 

Verstappen took top spot with a lap of 1:09.754. but almost immediately he was bounced out of P1 by Norris who crossed the line in 1:09.469. Piastri then took P2. 

In the final runs Piastri found more time on a used set of Softs and thanks to a lap of 1:09.338 he stole P1 from Norris who didn’t improve on his final run. Third place went to Mercedes’ George Russell ahead of Verstappen. 

At the other end of the timesheet there was no place in the second session for Alpine’s Franco Colapinto, with the Argentinian driver being edged out by Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto when went just six hundredths of a second faster. Also ruled out at the end of Q1 were Nico Hülkenberg in the other Sauber, Haas pair Esteban Ocon and Ollie Bearman and last-place Stroll who failed to set a time. 

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton went out early at the start of Q2 and with the track to themselves, Leclerc took P1 with a conservative 1:10.034. Verstappen then posted a lap of 1:09.122 to take P1. The McLaren drivers were on track, however, and Norris posted a lap of 1:08.874 to take P1, nine hundredths ahead of Piastri who again pushed Verstappen back to third. 

In the final runs of Q2, the McLaren pair and Verstappen opted to go out on used tyres and they held position at the top of the timesheet. On the fringes of the top 10, Yuki Tsunoda looked to have done just enough to make it through to Q3 but in the dying moments both Liam Lawson and Fernando Alonso, the last two cars to cross the line, both jumped into the top 10 and Tsunoda exited in P12, behind Mercedes’ Klimi Antonelli and ahead of Kick Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and Williams’ Alex Albon. 

The McLarens led the field out at the start of the top-10 shootout and Piastri took provisional pole with a lap of 1:08.662, just 0.012s ahead of Norris, while Russell slotted into third, almost six tenths adrift of the papaya cars. Verstappen left it late, heading out of pit lane just as Piastri took top spot and the Dutchman put in a lap of 1:09.048 to take P3, two tenths clear of Russell. 

There were no improvements for the top two in the final runs, leaving McLaren with a front-row lockout and Piastri with his fifth pole of the campaign. The lack of improvement left a small window of opportunity for Verstappen but though he did manage to post the quickest middle sector of the session, he couldn’t overhaul the McLarens and took P3 ahead of Hadjar who delivered an excellent final flyer of 1:09.208 to take fourth place, his best qualifying performance so far.  

Russell qualified fourth ahead of Leclerc, while Ferrari’s Hamilton will start seventh ahead of the second Racing Bull of Liam Lawson. Row five will feature Sainz and 10th-placed qualified Fernando Alonso. 

2025 FIA Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix – Qualifying 
1 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1:08.662 - -
2 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:08.674 0.012 
3 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:08.925 0.263 
4 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 1:09.208 0.546 
5 George Russell Mercedes 1:09.255 0.593 
6 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:09.340 0.678 
7 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:09.390 0.728 
8 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 1:09.500 0.838 
9 Carlos Sainz Williams/Mercedes 1:09.505 0.843 
10 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:09.630 0.968 
11 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:09.493 0.831 
12 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:09.622 0.960 
13 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber/Ferrari 1:09.622 0.960 
14 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1:09.637 0.975 
15 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1:09.652 0.990 
16 Franco Colapinto Alpine/Renault 1:10.104 1.442 
17 Nico Hülkenberg Sauber/Ferrari 1:10.195 1.533 
18 Esteban Ocon Haas/Ferrari 1:10.197 1.535 
19 Oliver Bearman Haas/Ferrari 1:10.262 1.600 
20 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes