Verstappen edges out Hamilton to take pole at home Grand Prix

04/09/2021

Max Verstappen squeezed to pole position at the Dutch Grand Prix, beating title rival Lewis Hamilton by three one-hundredths of a second.

It was a storming lap by both, Verstappen improving on his final run despite having no DRS down the pit straight before Hamilton, who had looked off the pace after only completing 20 laps on Friday because of an engine failure, improved by three tenths to push the Dutchman all the way.

The second Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas will start third ahead of Pierre Gasly’s AlphaTauri, the Frenchman continuing his fine form with another excellent performance.

The two Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz will line up alongside each other on the third row of the grid, Sainz recovering from his crash in FP3 to be only one one-hundredth of a second behind his teammate.

Alfa Romeo driver Antonio Giovinazzi put in his best performance of the season to start seventh, a much-needed result as the Italian tries to keep his seat for next year.

The Alpines of Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso will start eighth and ninth ahead of Daniel Ricciardo, who rounds out the top 10 in his McLaren.

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Verstappen and Hamilton renew rivalry as Perez out in Q1

Without doubt the two best drivers on the grid, Verstappen and Hamilton will renew their rivalry on Sunday as they continue one of the most exciting championship battles in years.

Despite being behind three points behind the Hamilton, the Dutchman is arguably performing at a higher level, taking six of the last seven poles.

The last time they lined up on the grid alongside each other was at Silverstone where they collided for the first time this season, Verstappen having a huge crash and Hamilton going on to win the race.

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It makes Sunday’s race a tantalising prospect. A difficult track to overtake on, strategy could prove crucial as Hamilton has Bottas alongside him, whereas the second Red Bull of Sergio Perez will start down in 16th after traffic in the pitlane meant the Mexican failed to make it out of Q1.

Nonetheless, Verstappen will have the full support of his home crowd, who roared him on as he crossed the line to secure pole.

Elsewhere, both Williams drivers crashed in Q2, George Russell losing it on the penultimate corner when on a lap that would have put him into the top 10. Nicholas Latifi then had a bigger impact after the session was restarted following his teammate’s off.

Lando Norris will start in 13th after also failing to make it out of Q2, the McLaren driver being outqualified by his teammate for the second race in a row after struggling for pace in both qualifying sessions.

Alongside Perez, Sebastian Vettel was the other surprising casualty of Q1, the German being blocked by both Haas drivers when on his flying lap.

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