© Getty ImagesDutch delight with Max in P3, Yuki starts P12 Max Verstappen will start his home Grand Prix from third place on the grid after the Dutch lion dug deep and roared to within three tenths of the McLaren pair, Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris.
AfteradifficultFridayonhomesoilleftMaxsayingthatitwouldbe“difficulttofightatthetop”inqualifying,theteamworkedhardtofindawayforward,andasqualifyingunfoldedandMaxgotcloserandclosertotheMcLarens,itlookedlikeabattlemightgenuinelybepossible.
But even though Max put in the best middle sector of anyone on his final flyer, it only took him to 0.26s behind Pole winner, Oscar, but the Dutchman was pleased to deliver a top three finish in front of his home crowd.
“Qualifying was basically the best I’ve felt all weekend. So that’s exactly what you want,” he said. “To be honest, P3 here, I’m very happy with that. I mean, the energy of the crowd… The whole weekend already has been amazing, and to see so much orange on the grandstand. It’s always very special.”
View of the Dunes© Getty Images
Max&Yuki'sReactiontoQualifyingatZandvoort
After day one, which ended with Max admitting that the Zandvoort layout wasn’t playing to the RB21’s strengths, the home hero fought his way through to P5 at the end of the final practice session. Yuki, meanwhile, ended the session in P12.
Both Bulls held station for the opening third of the session, waiting for the track to ramp up following overnight rain. When they did head out, both Max and Yuki opened with a longer stint on medium tyres that left Max in P5 ahead of the quali sims and Yuki in P15.
As the final third began, both headed out on soft tyres, and Max initially took P3 with a time of 1:09.925. That was beaten by Mercedes’ George Russell and by surprise top five runner, Carlos Sainz of Williams, leaving Max with fifth at the end of the session as Lando and Oscar took the top two positions.
Yuki, meanwhile, improved to P12 at the end of the session, giving the Japanese driver hope of a Q3 challenge in qualifying.
Yuki was first out on track at the start of qualifying, and our Japanese driver opened his account with a lap of 1:10.661. The end of Yuki’s lap was the cue for Max to leave the garage, and as he did so, 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 keep going, however, and the yellow flags were only briefly shown.
That allowed Max to get in a clean push lap and after three purple sectors, the three-time Dutch Grand Prix winner vaulted to the top of the order with a lap of 1:09.754. His stay was brief, however. As he returned to the pit lane, Lando crossed the line in 1:09.469 to take P1, 0.158s ahead of Oscar, who bumped Max to P3 by a little over a tenth of a second.
Yuki Sharp Focussed© Getty Images
With eight minutes remaining, Yuki found himself in P19 and he headed out for a second run. His time of 1:10.449 was an improvement, but it was only good enough to lift him to 17th, and he headed back to the garage ahead of his final effort.
In the final runs, Oscar found more time on a used set of softs, and thanks to a lap of 1:09.338, he stole P1 from Lando, who didn’t improve on his final run.
Max’s final run yielded a small improvement to 1:09.696 and in the end that helped him to an eventual fourth place as George snuck ahead by two hundredths of a second.
Yuki also found an improvement on his final lap and his 1:09.954 was enough to propel him to P12 and into Q2.
Alpine’s Franco Colapinto was edged out by Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto when he 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 Lance, 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.
Max was next out setting a blistering pace through the first sector to set up a fully purple run of 1:09.122 that took the top spot. Yuki wasn’t far behind his teammate, and his first run yielded a lap of 1:09.622 that put him third. The McLaren drivers were on track, however, and Lando posted a lap of 1:08.874 to take P1, nine hundredths ahead of Oscar, who pushed Max back to third.
Lewis's second run put him fourth, ahead of Charles, Isack Hadjar and Kimi Antonelli. However, as the first runs came to an end, Yuki drifted out to eighth place, just ahead of George, who was on used tyres, and Williams’ Alex Albon.
Dust from the Dunes© Getty Images
In the final runs of Q2, the McLaren pair and Max opted to go out on used tyres, and they held position at the top of the timesheet. Yuki had a scrappy middle sector, and as the times flowed in, he slid back to 10th. It looked like he might have done just enough to scrape through, but the final two drivers across the line, Liam Lawson and Fernando Alonso, both jumped into the top 10, and Yuki exited the session in P12. Also ruled out at the end of Q2 were 11th-placed Kimi, Gabriel in P13, followed by Alex, and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly.
The McLarens led the field out at the start of the top 10 shootout and Oscar took provisional Pole with a lap of 1:08.662, just 0.012s ahead of Lando, while George slotted into third, almost six tenths adrift of the papaya cars.
Max, meanwhile, left it late, heading out of the pit lane just as Oscar took top spot. And once again the Dutchman delivered, posting a lap of 1:09.048 to take P3, two tenths clear of Russell.
With fine margins making all the difference, and with Max edging closer and closer to the McLarens, the final battle for Pole was always going to be tight. And when neither McLaren driver improved, Max was handed a slim opportunity to barge past the dominant pair.
The Dutchman went for it, but though he posted the best middle sector of the weekend, he could only get to 0.263s off of Oscar, and he will start his home Grand Prix from P3 on the grid.
Behind Max, Isack delivered an excellent final flyer of 1:09.208 to take fourth place, his best qualifying performance so far.
His strong final lap pushed George back to the front of row three alongside Charles. Lewis will start seventh ahead of Liam Lawson, and row five will feature Carlos and 10th-placed qualifier Fernando Alonso.
Max Seals 3rd Place© Getty Images
