Max Verstappen beat Formula 1 title rival Lewis Hamilton to claim pole position on home ground at the Dutch Grand Prix.
Verstappen clocked a time of 1:08.885s to eclipse his opponent by just 0.038s during a thrilling denouement to Q3 at Zandvoort.
Valtteri Bottas backed up Mercedes team-mate Hamilton to take third while AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly excelled to classify fourth.
Ferrari locked out the third row of the grid, with Charles Leclerc ahead of Carlos Sainz, who recovered from a crash during final practice.
Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi equalled his best career spot by taking an outstanding seventh place, with Alpine pair Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso, and McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo, rounding out the top 10.
Williams suffers nightmare Q2
Williams had both of its cars eliminated in Q2 and in dramatic fashion.
George Russell spun through Turn 13, lightly touching the barriers, though was able to recover the car to the pit lane during the stoppage caused by his off.
The session resumed but on his push lap Nicholas Latifi dripped a wheel on the grass entering Turn 8 and spun heavily into the barriers.
Latifi was able to walk away from the wreckage but the rear of the FW43 sustained substantial damage.
Latifi’s accident brought Q2 to an early end and that denied several drivers an opportunity to make gains.
The early end to Q2 nonetheless cemented 11th for Russell, with Lance Stroll 12th and Lando Norris 13th, as the McLaren driver’s difficult run continues.
AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda finished as the slowest of the 15 drivers in Q2.
Perez dumped out in Q1
The track evolved rapidly during the closing stages of Q1 and Sergio Perez missed out due to the queue of cars in the closing moments.
Perez was unable to start his final flying lap before the chequered flag came out and as rivals improved he was pushed down into 16th place – and he wasn’t the only big name to miss out.
Sebastian Vettel was left only 17th after encountering the slow Haas drivers at Turn 13, with Nikita Mazepin moving into his path as he tried to take the apex.
Alfa Romeo test and reserve driver Robert Kubica was a respectable 18th as he took part in his first Formula 1 qualifying session since 2019, in place of Kimi Räikkönen.
Räikkönen has been ruled out of the Zandvoort weekend after returning a positive Covid-19 test.
Räikkönen’s participation at Monza next weekend has yet to be determined.
Haas finished at the back, with Mick Schumacher 19th, and Mazepin slowest of the 20 competitors.
Sunday’s 72-lap Dutch Grand Prix is scheduled for 15:00 local time
[motorsport_result id='72189']
