Qualifying for round 12 of the 2026 F1 season has been completed at the Dutch GP in Zandvoort, view the full session report here.
In the Sprint earlier on Saturday, George Russell claimed victory from Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris. Championship leader Kimi Antonelli was P4, with Lewis Hamilton only 7th as he had a bad Sprint Qualifying.
Q1
On new softs, Yuki Tsunoda posted the first representative time on a 1:14.287. He was 0.3s quicker than teammate Lindblad.
The Ferraris and Red Bulls were immediately on it. Lewis Hamilton logged a 1:13.406 to go P1, 0.003s faster than Lawson. Verstappen and Leclerc were 0.181s and 0.218s away from the seven-time World Champion.
However, the McLaren and Mercedes drivers went even better. A 1:12.848 from Oscar Piastri was 0.091s faster than George Russell, with Norris and Antonelli behind them by a couple of tenths.
Leclerc and Verstappen improved, going 4th and 6th.
In the midfield battle, Hülkenberg in P7 was ahead of Lindblad and Tsunoda. Lewis Hamilton was 10th as he had a monster lock-up into turn 1 with the right front, sending him back to the pits.
Lawson, Alonso, Colapinto, Albon, Gasly and Sainz were also in the top 16 ahead of the last attempts.
Bortoleto, the Haas and Cadillac drivers, as well as Stroll, needed to improve. The Canadian had lost his best lap to track limits at turn 13.
As Lewis Hamilton vaulted up to 2nd, the Racing Bulls duo of Lindblad and Tsunoda put themselves into 7th and 8th, separated by 0.011s. Gasly, Bottoleto and Hülkenberg closely followed them. Colapinto, Ocon and Albon also made it through with the eight drivers from the big four teams progressing.
Carlos Sainz missed out on Q2 by 0.022s versus his teammate, with Alonso 0.09s away from progressing. Stroll, Bearman, Bottas and Pérez also got knocked out.
Q2
Audi driver Nico Hülkenberg logged a 1:12.879 to kick things off in Q2. George Russell soon destroyed that, posting a 1:11.959 to be 0.431s quicker than Kimi Antonelli.
The McLarens fired back. Oscar Piastri did a 1:11.834 to go fastest, 0.026s faster than Lando Norris. Leclerc, Russell and Hamilton were also super close, with the top 5 covered by 0.136s after the opening runs. Antonelli was half a second away in 6th.
Lindblad and Bortoleto did great laps to be P7 and P8, ahead of Verstappen and Lawson who were on used softs on the first attempt.
Gasly, Tsunoda, Colapinto, Hülkenberg, Ocon and Albon needed to improve to advance.
Up front, an improvement by the World Champion put Norris fastest as a 1:11.628 was 0.013s better than Piastri’s previous benchmark. Verstappen hustled his Red Bull into P3, ahead of the Ferrari and Mercedes drivers, with Leclerc the leader of that quartet.
Despite a tricky final sector, Liam Lawson advanced in P8, ahead of Bortoleto and Lindblad.
Despite improving, Pierre Gasly missed out on Q3 by 0.091s, with Tsunoda a further 0.011s back in an impressive return this weekend.
Hülkenberg, Colapinto, Ocon and Albon also dropped out.
Q3
Once more, McLaren were rapid. Lando Norris smashed in a 1:11.344, outpacing George Russell by 0.151s. The Mercedes driver was quickest in the final sector. Piastri, Leclerc and Antonelli were next, with the championship leader not delivering in Sector 3. Verstappen was 6th, as 0.010s covered the Monegasque to the Dutchman.
Lawson, Hamilton, Lindblad and Bortoleto completed the top 10 as the seven-time World Champion did a very poor lap.
On the second attempts, the World Champion stepped up, smashing in a 1:11.163 to take pole position. George Russell and Kimi Antonelli went 2nd and 3rd, 0.102s and 0.133s slower respectively. Oscar Piastri was 4th, missing out on the front row by only 0.040s.
Lewis Hamilton got it together at the end, going into 5th, 0.064s quicker than teammate Charles Leclerc as Ferrari locked out the third row. Verstappen paced Lawson by 0.015s as Red Bull had a disappointing day.
Gabriel Bortoleto ended up ahead of Arvid Lindblad as Audi and Racing Bulls continue their close midfield fight.
