After the three free practice sessions of the Dutch Grand Prix, it was difficult to see clearly on the forces present. The moment to reveal his game however arrived with the qualifications in Zandvoort, putting three teams in contention. Indeed, Mercedes F1 dominated Free Practice 1 and showed a form closer to that of Hungary than that of Belgium. Ferrari set the fastest time in FP2 and FP3 with Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc, while Red Bull came close in the final session on Saturday morning. It’s hard to say which team among these three is favorite for the pole. Behind, it is not clearer since we found in EL3 four teams between seventh and tenth place. Alpine F1 looked fast throughout the weekend, as did McLaren and, to a lesser extent, Aston Martin. The key to these qualifications will obviously be not to make mistakes on the fast laps, because the walls are very close in Zandvoort. In addition, it is imperative to get the timings right, because red flags could disrupt the session. Q1 – 18 minutes The Haas F1 drivers were the first to take to the track in this Q1, and Kevin Magnussen posted a 1’12.680, and Mick Schumacher fell 0.145 behind his teammate. Alex Albon set the third time and Nicholas Latifi the fourth. Guanyu Zhou took the best lap in 1’12″641, and Valtteri Bottas only took fourth position. Yuki Tsunoda, not very lively this weekend, came between the Williams, just ahead of Pierre Gasly. But the Japanese’s time was canceled for not respecting the track limits. Sebastian Vettel beat the best reference in 1’12″563, immediately beaten by his teammate Lance Stroll in 1’12″505. the moment Max Verstappen took to the track, along with Sergio Pérez, to set his first lap. Daniel Ricciardo then improved the fastest time to 1’12″490, but Verstappen took the lead in 1’11″317. fell short to 1.003 from his team-mate, while Charles Leclerc made second fastest at 0.808 from the Dutchman. Carlos Sainz came within 0.450 of Verstappen, as the Mercedes F1s were on their fast lap. George Russell took second, two tenths off Verstappen, and Lewis Hamilton was 0.019 behind his team-mate, ahead of the Ferraris. Magnussen improved and took sixth place, a thousandth of a second ahead of the Ferraris. Pérez. Note that Lando Norris was dropped just ahead of Tsunoda in the pits, and that race management will investigate the incident after the session. The McLaren F1 driver took fifth fastest time. Bottas moved up to seventh place , and Zhou in fifth place. Fernando Alonso took fourth place and Esteban Ocon seventh, for the first fast lap of the Alpine drivers. Tsunoda moved up to sixth, Gasly to eighth, beaten by Stroll. Vettel did not sign only time 16. Fifteenth after just one lap, Pérez improved to take fourth position 0.324 behind his teammate. Leclerc grabbed second time 0″126 from Verstappen. The first 13 then stood in 0″799, and they were 15 in 1″002. Albon moved up to seventh place, while the drivers between ninth and last place were all on track. Russell and Hamilton, as well as Pérez, also took to the track, as did Sainz, who was only eighth, and Alonso, sixth. In the end, only Verstappen and Leclerc did not resume the track. Magnussen took 12th, Schumacher eighth. Zhou moved up a place to tenth, Bottas to 12th. Stroll took fourth, Ricciardo only moved up to 17th at the checkered flag. , and Vettel had an exit on his fast lap! Norris took third position, and Tsunoda second! Gasly moved up to 11th position. The eliminated are Bottas, Magnussen, Ricciardo, Vettel and Latifi. Q2 – 15 minutes Slow motion showed that Vettel made a mistake in the penultimate corner, which is It wasn’t unfortunate since it was vastly improving. The gaps are tough for him, but also for Ricciardo and Latifi, who saw their teammates complete Q1 in the top 10. The red flag was raised while Albon was alone on the track, a smoke bomb having fallen on the track. These are however prohibited, but some have brought them onto the circuit and have obviously found it amusing to send them on the asphalt… The Red Bull drivers came out immediately on the restart. Verstappen set a time of 1’10″927, 0″387 ahead of Pérez, and one second ahead of Albon. All the other drivers except Alonso were on their exit lap. Russell grabbed third fastest time, and Hamilton set second, 0.148 behind Verstappen. Norris grabbed the absolute best first sector and eventually took fifth fastest time. failed to shine. Leclerc was sixth after that first attempt eight tenths behind Verstappen, and Sainz beat him. Ocon got behind Albon but ahead of Zhou, Tsunoda and Schumacher. Stroll then moved up to fourth Alonso came off the track to get a clean track and took eighth place, between the Ferraris After that first attempt, it was worrying to see the Ferraris in the second half of the top 10, with Leclerc two places away from elimination Decidedly in high spirits, Albon improved his time but failed to gain position, falling 0.075 behind Leclerc’s time. There were then three minutes left and the drivers all returned to the track except Verstappen. Note that the person who threw the smoke on the track at the start of Q2 was identified and evacuated from the circuit by security. The FIA warns that this sanction will be irrevocable in similar cases. On the track, Leclerc improved his time and came within 0.061 of Verstappen. Norris took fourth, Schumacher eighth, and Sainz the fastest lap of 1’10.814. Ocon took the tenth time, and Russell the second. Tsunoda moved up to tenth, knocking out Ocon. Gasly improved but fell short 0.084 from Q2. Alonso failed to do better and failed eight thousandths from Ocon. The eliminated were Gasly, Ocon, Alonso, Zhou and Albon. Q3 – 12 mins Verstappen was immediately on the attack on the clock, with an exit from turn 3 at the limit. The Dutch driver set a 1’10″515 as his first reference, and Pérez failed at 0″562. Schumacher set a time at more than two seconds behind the reigning world champion Norris was fourth to set a time, and the McLaren F1 driver fell 1.635 behind Verstappen. The Mercedes drivers then took their first lap, and Russel grabbed third position just behind Pérez. Hamilton, on the other hand, posted a 1’10″648 one tenth behind Verstappen! But Leclerc improved the first two sectors and posted a 1’10″456 which gave him provisional pole! Sainz was a bit behind in fourth position. Again a Ferrari / Red Bull / Mercedes trio preceded another similar trio. Behind, Tsunoda came between Norris and Schumacher, while Stroll encountered a mechanical problem which prevented Aston Martin F1 from returning him to the track for this Q3, sealing his tenth position. A smoke bomb again landed on the track, but this rolled under the barrier into the first corner, and Leclerc attacked his second stint improving the all-time best time in the first sector. Verstappen was 0.030 behind in this first part of the circuit. Leclerc was behind in the second sector, pointing to a tenth of his time, while Verstappen improved. Leclerc posted a 1’10.363, still improving! Verstappen took pole position by 21 thousandths of a second! Sainz improved to third and Pérez crashed out on the final corner! He therefore ruined the last sector of the Mercedes drivers, who were in the process of improving their best lap. Verstappen is therefore on pole ahead of Leclerc, then Sainz and Hamilton. Pérez and Russell will share the third row at the start ahead of Norris, Schumacher, Tsunoda and Stroll. Pos.CarTime Q1Time Q2Time Q3 01 Max Verstappen Red Bull RBPT RB18 1:11.317 1:10.927 1:10.342 02 Charles Leclerc Ferrari F1-75 1:11.443 1:10.988 1:10.363 03 Carlos Sainz Ferrari F1-75 1:11.767 1:11.767 03 10.814 1:10.434 04 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes W13 1:11.331 1:11.075 1:10.648 05 Sergio Perez Red Bull RBPT RB18 1:11.641 1:11.314 1:11.077 Norris McLaren Mercedes MCL36 1:11.556 1:11.116 1:11.174 08 Mick Schumacher Haas Ferrari VF-22 1:11.741 1:11.420 1:11.442 09 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri RBPT AT03 1:11.427 1:11.428 1:12.556 Lance Stroll Aston Martin Mercedes AMR22 1:11.568 1:11.416 – :—.— — —————- ————— — ——- ———- ———- 11 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri RBPT AT03 1:11.705 1:11.512 12 Esteban Ocon Alpine Renault A522 1:11.748 1: 11.605 13 Fernando Alonso Alpine Renault A522 1:11.667 1:11.613 14 Guanyu Zhou Alfa Romeo Ferrari C42 1:11.826 1:11.704 15 Alex Albon Williams Mercedes FW44 1:11.6 95 1:11.802 — —————- ————— ———- —- —— ———- 16 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo Ferrari C42 1:11.961 17 Kevin Magnussen Haas Ferrari VF-22 1:12.041 18 Daniel Ricciardo McLaren Mercedes MCL36 1:12.081 19 Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin Mercedes AMR22 1:12.391 20 Nicholas Latifi Williams Mercedes FW44 1:13.353