Verstappen wins pole duel with Leclerc in 2022 Dutch GP qualifying

Max Verstappen will start on pole position in front of his home crowd, after qualifying for the Dutch Grand Prix just two-hundredths of a second faster than Charles Leclerc.

The world champion was in supreme form, which seemed unlikely yesterday when his car broke down in the first practice session and looked slow in the second.

Carlos Sainz will start third after qualifying within a tenth of a second of Verstappen, underlining Ferrari’s much-improved pace compared with the last race at Spa.

Both cars set their times before Sergio Perez spun off on his final run, hampering both Mercedes drivers in their bid to qualify on pole.

The Silver Arrows had looked strong throughout qualifying and Lewis Hamilton will start fourth, ahead of Perez and his team-mate George Russell.

Impressive pace from Lance Stroll went unrewarded after he was unable to run in Q3, due to a technical failure, but he still had better fortune than his team-mate: Sebastian Vettel was knocked out in Q1 after running off track on his flying lap.

2022 Dutch Grand Prix, qualifying Q1

Verstappen quickly hit the top of the timesheet with a 1min 11.317sec lap.

McLaren appeared overenthusiastic to hit the track and released Lando Norris into the path of Yuki Tsunoda, who slowed to a stop to avoid a collision. The incident was marked for the stewards’ attention after the session.

After the initial runs the Ferraris, led by Sainz, were 0.45sec and 0.8sec slower, behind both Mercedes. Leclerc went for another flying lap and closed to within 0.126sec of the world champion.

Both of the top two rightly thought that they had done enough for the session and stayed in their pitboxes for the final runs where there was plenty to play for: Sainz looked vulnerable after Albon’s Williams pushed him down to eighth in an early final flying lap.

On the weekend his replacement was announced, Daniel Ricciardo continued to struggle, sitting 19th as the clock ticked down. Around him in the drop zone were Norris, Bottas, Vettel and Latifi.

Ricciardo could only go fast enough for 17th on his final run but team-mate Norris moved up to third.

Vettel looked set to sail into Q2 after setting the fastest first sector, but he went off-track at Turn 13 and pitted, with no hope of escaping from his 19th position.

He was joined by Valtteri Bottas, Kevin Magnussen, and Ricciardo in exiting qualifying at the first hurdle. All could count themselves unlucky after a tight session where the top 18 were all within one second of one another.

At the top, Hamilton finished second-fastest, just 0.014sec behind Verstappen, and he was followed by Tsunoda, Leclerc, Norris and Russell, all within 0.25sec of each other.

2022 Dutch Grand Prix qualifying Q2

Q2 ended as quickly as it began when a fan threw an orange flare onto the track. It prompted a warning that spectators would be ejected if they set off flares.

Verstappen set an early marker when the pitlane reopened with a 1min 10.927sec lap on used soft tyres and immediately pitted to watch as his rivals tried to match the time.

Once again it was Hamilton immediately behind the Red Bull, 0.15sec back, followed by Perez and then Lance Stroll fourth, just under half a second back from the fastest time.

Sainz was the fastest Ferrari, 0.65sec off the pace.

Further down, Pierre Gasly, Esteban Ocon, Zhou Guanyu, Tsunoda and Schumacher were in the bottom five and at risk of elimination.

Albon once again made another run before the rest of the grid and ended his lap in tenth, on the precipice of the drop zone.

Also in a repeat of Q1, Verstappen sat out the second runs, but this time he time wasn’t so invincible.

Sainz was first to overtake the Dutchman’s time by just over a tenth, and Russell then slotted in between, just a hundredth of a second slower than the Ferrari driver.

Leclerc followed the Red Bull in fourth, 0.17sec slower than Sainz and over a tenth faster than Hamilton in fifth.

Schumacher and Tsunoda had escaped the drop zone at the expense of Albon and Alonso, who joined Gasly, Zhou and Ocon in being eliminated: both Alpines out in Q2.

2022 Dutch Grand Prix qualifying Q3

Verstappen had completed only six laps in qualifying by the start of Q3; half the number of his main rivals.

But his limited running didn’t stop him from going out first and once again setting an impressive 1min 10.515sec benchmark.

It didn’t last long this time, however, as Leclerc blasted over the finish line 0.059sec ahead.

Hamilton was third, 0.2sec off Leclerc, with Sainz a further 0.1sec behind.

With five minutes remaining, only Stroll had not set a time, and Aston Martin reported a technical problem, which put him out of the session after strong performances up to then.

Another flare by the side of the track failed to disrupt the final runs — if it had done, Leclerc, would have been on pole.

As it was, the Ferrari driver went even faster. Cue a dramatic pause and then a roar from the Dutch crowd as Verstappen went quickest of all.

Despite being slower than the Ferrari driver in the first and final sectors, he had made the time back — and a fraction more — in the middle part of the lap.

Only the Mercedes could put his pole at risk, but Perez prevented that threat as he span on the banking, bringing out the yellow flags and slowing the Silver Arrows.

2022 Dutch Grand Prix qualifying results