Lando Norris was just one step away from pole position in the Sprint qualifying for the Dutch GP of Formula 1, finishing second in the session, while Oscar Piastri took fourth place. McLaren showed strong performance and arrives at the Sprint race on Saturday with confidence, after a session decided by minimal margins.
Read more F1: Check out the images from this Friday of the 2026 Dutch GP
Norris highlighted that the fight for first position was extremely close and regretted finishing behind, after feeling that pole was within reach: “Being so close to pole shows how competitive we are, but of course it is a bit disappointing to finish second when first position was clearly within our reach,” he said.
The Briton also emphasized that the car maintained the good performance shown in Budapest, which increased his confidence for the rest of the weekend. For the Sprint race, Norris expects to fight for the win, although he pointed out the fact of starting from the dirty side of the grid.
Piastri finished fourth and assessed the result as positive, despite believing he could have fought for pole with a cleaner lap: “It was a bittersweet result, because we progressed compared to the morning session and the pace was there during the Sprint qualifying. It was so close at the front, that with a cleaner lap, maybe I could have gotten pole,” he said.
Read more F1: Russell celebrates Sprint pole in the Netherlands: «Result came at the right time»
The Australian also pointed out that Ferrari and Mercedes should keep the pressure on and that small details can decide the fight. According to Piastri, the team needs to fix the last imperfections to stay close to the leaders.
Neil Houldey, technical director of applied engineering for the team, explained that the updates brought by McLaren, including the rear wing and other smaller components, worked as expected. He also highlighted that the team was the fastest in SQ2 and recalled that four cars were separated by just one tenth, evidencing the balance of the session.
Read more F1: Antonelli explains car damage after escaping the track in Sprint qualifying at Zandvoort
