McLaren driver set 1:11.163 and beat George Russell by 0.102 seconds in a battle that also saw Kimi Antonelli very close. Gabriel Bortoleto advanced to Q3 and secured ninth position on the grid.
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Lando Norris claimed pole position for the Dutch GP, the 12th round of the 2026 Formula 1 season. In a balanced qualifying session this Saturday (22), the McLaren driver set 1:11.163 and beat George Russell by 0.102 seconds. Kimi Antonelli was third, just 0.133 seconds behind the pole, followed by Oscar Piastri.
Lewis Hamilton placed Ferrari in fifth position, ahead of Charles Leclerc, Max Verstappen, and Liam Lawson. Gabriel Bortoleto advanced to Q3 after escaping elimination in Q1 and secured ninth position on the grid with Audi. Arvid Lindblad completed the top 10.
The Dutch GP will be held this Sunday (23), starting at 10 a.m. Brasília time.
Qualifying
Formula 1 returned to the track in Zandvoort just hours after a Sprint that had placed Mercedes as the team to beat. George Russell won the short race from start to finish and reduced some points from Kimi Antonelli’s lead in the championship, while Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris completed the top 3.
Antonelli finished the Sprint in fourth after starting fifth. The Italian had struggled in Friday’s Sprint qualifying after a gravel run damaged the floor of his Mercedes and caused loss of downforce, which kept him out of the pole fight on that occasion.
Therefore, the expectation before qualifying for the main race was that Mercedes could put both their drivers directly in contention for first position.
Gabriel Bortoleto also came into the session after an interesting Saturday. The Brazilian had started and finished the Sprint in ninth, just one position outside the points zone. For qualifying, however, there was also concern within Audi: Nico Hülkenberg suffered a power issue during the short race and spent much of the race in the garage.
The conditions also brought some uncertainty. A heavy rain shower fell in Zandvoort literally right after the Sprint’s checkered flag. At qualifying time, however, it was not raining. The asphalt reached 35ºC, while strong wind added another challenge for the drivers.
Q1 started with a long queue at the pit exit. After the information gathered during the Sprint, almost everyone seemed in a hurry to get on track. McLaren and Mercedes were the exceptions and initially stayed in the garages.
Another characteristic observed since Friday reappeared: several drivers from the front teams used two warm-up laps before actually attacking the timer.
Hamilton was one of the first to appear at the front, setting 1:13.406. Lawson surprised by being just three thousandths behind, while Verstappen appeared close to the two.
When the Mercedes drivers started setting their times, Russell appeared with 1:12.939. Leclerc also moved up the table, while Verstappen improved to 1:13.290.
For Bortoleto, however, the start of qualifying was complicated.
The Brazilian took time to find a good lap and set 1:13.979, enough only to place him 17th. At that moment, he was effectively eliminated in Q1, along with Stroll, Ocon, Albon, Bottas, and Pérez.
The situation forced Bortoleto to nail his last attempt. With about five minutes remaining, practically the entire grid returned to the pits to prepare the final attack. When the cars returned to the track, there was time for only one flying lap.
That was when the table started to change quickly. Gasly, Colapinto, Lindblad, Ocon, Tsunoda, and other drivers improved their times. Piastri set 1:12.610 and took the lead, while Norris appeared with 1:12.695.
Hamilton also responded, setting 1:12.673 and taking second position.
Bortoleto needed to deliver right then — and he did.
The Brazilian set 1:13.142 and jumped from 20th to tenth, escaping elimination and securing his place in Q2. Hülkenberg also advanced, with 1:13.188, about half a tenth behind his teammate.
Piastri ended Q1 in the lead, followed by Hamilton and Norris. The two Mercedes appeared next, while Verstappen finished only 12th after making a single attempt.
The eliminated were Carlos Sainz, Fernando Alonso, Lance Stroll, Oliver Bearman, Valtteri Bottas, and Sergio Pérez.
Bortoleto finished tenth and advanced, but the struggle in the first phase indicated that repeating the SQ3 reached on Friday would not be an easy task.
Bortoleto grows in Q2
The second phase started with drivers again working hard on tire warm-up. Verstappen, at that moment, had still only used used tires considering his attempts in Q1 and early Q2.
Antonelli even appeared in front with 1:12.390, before Russell lowered it to 1:11.959. Soon after, Leclerc, Norris, and Piastri began swapping first position.
Bortoleto again waited longer than most rivals to leave the pits.
When he finally completed his first flying lap, however, the scenario was completely different from what was seen in Q1.
The Brazilian set 1:12.562 and appeared eighth.
It was a nice lap, especially compared to the other Audi car. At that moment, Bortoleto put almost three tenths over Hülkenberg and began turning qualifying to Q3 into a real possibility.
Up front, McLaren continued showing strength that began to contradict the expectation of Mercedes dominance. Norris set 1:11.860, but Piastri responded with 1:11.834.
Before the last attempts, the eliminated would be Gasly, Tsunoda, Colapinto, Hülkenberg, Ocon, and Albon.
Bortoleto was in. With new tires, the drivers returned to the track for the final attack. Piastri lowered to 1:11.641, Antonelli appeared with 1:11.915, and Verstappen jumped to third with 1:11.874.
Norris, however, was even faster.
The Brit set 1:11.628 and finished Q2 in first position.
Bortoleto also managed to improve when needed. The Brazilian did 1:12.433 and took ninth place, securing his classification to Q3.
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Hülkenberg did not have the same performance. The German set 1:12.797 and was 13th, eliminated.
Gasly, Tsunoda, Hülkenberg, Colapinto, Ocon, and Albon were the six who fell by the wayside.
Norris and Piastri ended Q2 in the top two positions, followed by Verstappen and Leclerc. Curiously, the two Mercedes were only fifth and sixth with Antonelli and Russell.
Bortoleto was ninth and, at that moment, was the best placed after the cars of the four main teams — McLaren, Red Bull, Ferrari, and Mercedes.
For the second consecutive day in Zandvoort, the Brazilian was in the decisive phase of qualifying.
Norris vs Mercedes for pole
The scenario for Q3 was set.
McLaren had led Q1 with Piastri and placed both their cars in the first positions of Q2. Mercedes had arrived at the weekend as favorites and Russell had won the Sprint hours earlier, but the team had not shown the same superiority in qualifying.
Verstappen also appeared as a kind of intruder in the fight, after spending much of the weekend unable to keep up with the fastest cars.
There was also the threat of weather. Mercedes warned Russell that some rain could appear in the last five minutes.
On the first run, everyone used new tires, with two exceptions: Bortoleto and Lindblad were on used softs.
The Brazilian even momentarily took first position with 1:13.030, before the arrival of the favorites’ laps.
Norris then put the reference on another level.
The McLaren driver set 1:11.344 and took provisional pole. Piastri initially appeared second, but Russell came soon after and set 1:11.495, just over a tenth behind his compatriot.
Leclerc appeared fourth.
Antonelli, on the other hand, started the decision below expectations. The championship leader set 1:11.675 and was only fifth in the first round of laps.
Bortoleto finished his first attempt in tenth, with a time that still did not represent his potential as it was done on used tires. His grid position decision would come with the new set.
Then raindrops began to appear on Russell’s onboard camera.
The drivers quickly returned to the track. There was a possibility that conditions would worsen, making track position particularly important.
Russell and Norris even fought for space as if they were in a race. The Mercedes driver wanted to stay ahead to make his attempt before a possible intensification of the rain, but Norris managed to stay in front.
On the decisive lap, Russell started very strong. His first sector indicated a real threat to pole. Norris, however, responded with an excellent second sector.
Bortoleto also nailed his lap. With new tires, the Brazilian set 1:12.079 and jumped to eighth. Hamilton had made a mistake in the first sector, which at that moment guaranteed at least one rival behind the Audi car.
Up front, Norris completed the lap in 1:11.163. Russell responded with 1:11.265. The difference was only 0.102 seconds.
Antonelli also definitely entered the fight. The Italian even surpassed Norris’s previous time and temporarily took first position during the sequence of laps, but the Brit’s 1:11.163 ended up being too fast. Antonelli finished with 1:11.296, only 0.031 seconds behind Russell and 0.133 from pole.
Piastri was also close, setting 1:11.305.
There were still cars on flying laps. Hamilton recovered and set 1:11.494, taking fifth position. Leclerc came right behind, with 1:11.558.
The last attempts pushed Bortoleto to ninth, but did not take away an excellent result from the Brazilian. With 1:12.079, he secured a spot on the fifth row and once again beat Hülkenberg, who had been eliminated in Q2.
Verstappen finished only seventh, with Lawson putting the other Red Bull immediately behind, in eighth. Lindblad completed the top 10.
When it became clear that no one else would have time to set a lap, the pole was decided.
Lando Norris was the pole-sitter for the Dutch GP.
The Brit described over the radio the 1:11.163 lap as the “best lap of his life.” After McLaren won the last race before the break, in Hungary, and showed speed from the start of this weekend in Zandvoort, Norris put the team back in first position.
Russell will start alongside him, while Antonelli and Piastri form a second row separated by only nine thousandths.
Hamilton and Leclerc occupy the third row, followed by Verstappen and Lawson. Bortoleto starts ninth, with Lindblad closing the top 10.
The battle now moves to the Dutch GP, which will be held this Sunday (23), starting at 10 a.m. Brasília time.
Starting grid for the 2026 Dutch GP:
1) Lando Norris (McLaren/Mercedes), 1’11.163
2) George Russell (Mercedes), 1’11.265
3) Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes), 1’11.296
4) Oscar Piastri (McLaren/Mercedes), 1’11.305
5) Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari), 1’11.494
6) Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), 1’11.558
7) Max Verstappen (Red Bull/Red Bull Ford), 1’11.618
8) Liam Lawson (Red Bull/Red Bull Ford), 1’11.733
9) Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi), 1’12.079
10) Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls/Red Bull Ford), 1’12.185
11) Pierre Gasly (Alpine/Mercedes), 1’12.616
12) Yuki Tsunoda (Racing Bulls/Red Bull Ford), 1’12.627
13) Nico Hülkenberg (Audi), 1’12.797
14) Franco Colapinto (Alpine/Mercedes), 1’12.800
15) Esteban Ocon (Haas/Ferrari), 1’13.137
16) Alexander Albon (Williams/Mercedes), 1’13.182
17) Carlos Sainz (Williams/Mercedes), 1’13.574
18) Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin/Honda), 1’13.650
19) Lance Stroll (Aston Martin/Honda), 1’13.818
20) Oliver Bearman (Haas/Ferrari), 1’13.826
21) Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac/Ferrari), 1’14.371
22) Sergio Pérez (Cadillac/Ferrari), 1’14.600
Read more F1: Bortoleto advances to Q3 and starts ninth in the Dutch GP
