Dutch GP Qualifying: Piastri pips Norris to pole by 12 thousandths of a second

Oscar Piastri, the Formula 1 championship leader edged out his teammate Lando Norris by a mere 0.012 seconds on their first flying laps in Q3, a time that proved sufficient for pole.

Neither driver managed to improve on their second attempts.

Max Verstappen secured third place, closing the gap to Piastri to under 0.3 seconds on his final run.

In his push to catch the McLarens, Verstappen set a record-breaking second sector but still finished just over a quarter of a second behind the leader.

While Lando Norris had been the fastest in all three free practice sessions throughout the weekend, Oscar Piastri dominated today's qualifying by topping the timesheets in every single segment – Q1, Q2, and Q3.

Oscar was 0.131 seconds ahead of Norris in the first part, 0.090 seconds in the second, and a razor-thin 12 thousandths in the final shootout.

The biggest surprise of Q3 was Racing Bulls driver Isack Hadjar, who on his final flying lap managed to displace George Russell from fourth, securing a spot alongside Verstappen on the second row.

Russell was relegated to the third row, where he will be joined by Ferrari's Charles Leclerc.

Lewis Hamilton and Liam Lawson will line up on the fourth row.

The top 10 was rounded out by the Spanish duo of Carlos Sainz and Fernando Alonso.

The biggest disappointment of the qualifying session was Lance Stroll, who crashed heavily in Q1.

This came after his Aston Martin mechanics had worked through the night to repair his car following a separate incident in yesterday's free practice.

The provisional Dutch GP grid is as follows:

1, Oscar Piastri (McLaren)

2, Lando Norris (McLaren)

3, Max Verstappen (Red Bull)

4, Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls)

5, George Russell (Mercedes)

6, Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)

7, Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari)

8, Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls)

9, Carlos Sainz (Williams)

10, Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)

11, Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)

12, Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull)

13, Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber)

14, Pierre Gasly (Alpine)

15, Alex Albon (Williams)

16, Franco Colapinto (Alpine)

17, Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber)

18, Esteban Ocon (Haas)

19, Ollie Bearman (Haas)

20, Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)