{"id":16333,"date":"2026-08-22T16:23:24","date_gmt":"2026-08-22T16:23:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.f1vault.co.uk\/index\/?p=16333"},"modified":"2026-08-22T16:23:24","modified_gmt":"2026-08-22T16:23:24","slug":"dutch-gp-lando-norris-beats-both-mercedes-by-a-tenth-to-secure-pole-in-subdue-end-to-qualifying","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.f1vault.co.uk\/index\/dutch-gp-lando-norris-beats-both-mercedes-by-a-tenth-to-secure-pole-in-subdue-end-to-qualifying\/","title":{"rendered":"DUTCH GP \u2013 Lando Norris beats both Mercedes by a tenth to secure pole in subdue end to qualifying"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lando Norris has beaten George Russell by a tenth to secure pole for the Dutch Grand Prix. The world champion set an 11.167 and was surprised to beat the Mercedes after losing out in sprint qualifying on Friday. The session came to a subdued ending as rain forced teams to complete their final attempts well before the flag, with Norris securing pole.<\/p>\n

Norris had already claimed provisional pole on his first run, then further extended his advantage by going even faster by over a tenth before drivers opted not to do a last attempt as the rain started to move in. Russell momentarily stole pole before the world champion completed his lap, going a tenth faster.<\/p>\n

Russell put himself three hundredths faster than his Mercedes teammate and championship rival Kimi Antonelli, as they looked to struggle to show the dominance they managed at the start of the season. While Norris looks to launch an unlikely comeback to defend his championship crown, as he knows the pole sitter has won the last six races here.<\/p>\n

Both Mercedes drivers left to rue errors, after qualifying Russell admitted an error at Masterbocht (Turn Eight) caused him to overheat the tyres, while Antonelli\u2019s came at the start of his last lap at Tarzan (One), putting him immediately on the back foot.<\/p>\n

The Mercedes duo split the two McLarens as Antonelli put himself three hundredths faster than Oscar Piastri. The Italian left to rue a mistake at Tarzan at the start of his final run which cost him two tenths, with him only able to recover eight hundredths over the rest of the lap.<\/p>\n

Norris said that, if anything, the rain might have helped lap times by cooling the tyres a little.<\/p>\n

The world champion said, \u201cIt wasn’t a lap that felt mega. It was one where I committed a lot more because I knew how close it would be, and I almost made more mistakes. But I seemed to gain more than I seemed to lose at times. It was a lap where I just felt I had nothing to lose and it just paid off.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ferrari have appeared to struggle all weekend to make themselves look like a serious threat for pole, with Lewis Hamilton going nearly two tenths behind the McLaren as he put himself over half a tenth faster than teammate Charles Leclerc.<\/p>\n

Ferrari were caught out by the changing conditions as well, but Hamilton did beat Leclerc for the first time in a meaningful session this weekend. The team’s new floor has not brought them any closer to the front, but they could still be a threat in Sunday’s race as Leclerc had impressive tyre degradation in the Sprint.<\/p>\n

Hamilton told Sky Sports, \u201cI feel optimistic. Fifth is not the greatest, but it could be far worse, so I’m grateful to be there, but of course I wish I was up further ahead. However, our race pace was good in the Sprint. Charles had good race pace, and the car is in a better place. Hopefully with the right strategy and right execution, I think hopefully we can challenge the cars ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n

But, overtaking is set to be difficult, so Ferrari will likely need to try something different strategically to get in among the McLaren and Mercedes battle.<\/p>\n

Also struggling to be in the mix were Red Bull, Max Verstappen six hundredths behind Leclerc and over a tenth faster than substitute teammate Liam Lawson. But Lawson was closer than he managed during his brief time with the team at the start of 2025.<\/p>\n

Gabriel Bortoleto split Lawson from his regular teammate Arvid Lindblad, the Brazilian over a quarter of a second behind the Kiwi as he went a tenth faster than the Englishman as they completed the top ten. Pierre Gasly put his Alpine eleventh as he missed out on progressing to Q3 by a tenth.<\/p>\n

Gasly was a hundredth faster than former teammate Yuki Tsunoda, who has stepped into Lawson\u2019s Racing Bull. The Japanese reserve driver put in a decent performance, having not driven this generation of cars before yesterday, but ended Q2 a tenth behind Lindblad at that point in qualifying.<\/p>\n

Nico Hulkenberg put himself thirteenth as the Audi driver went three thousandths faster than the Alpine of Franco Colapinto, with Esteban Ocon four and a half hundredths faster than Alex Albon. Ocon out-qualified teammate Ollie Bearman for consecutive races since Imola-Monaco last season.<\/p>\n

Albon\u2019s Williams teammate Carlos Sainz missed out on progressing after going two hundredths behind at the end of Q1. But he was eight hundredths faster than fellow Spaniard Fernando Alonso, who was a tenth and three quarters faster than Aston Martin teammate Lance Stroll.<\/p>\n

The team was not yet understanding how to extract the most out of the upgraded power unit, but was eight thousandths faster than the faster than Bearman. The Cadillacs completed the field, with Valtteri Bottas a quarter of a second faster than teammate Sergio Perez.<\/p>\n

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