McLaren pace all weekend, then split the difference in qualifying
McLaren owned the build-up to qualifying at Zandvoort, then flipped the script right at the end. Lando Norris swept all three practice sessions with a clear trend of speed and confidence — 1:10.278 in FP1, 1:09.890 in FP2, and a sharp 1:08.972 in FP3 — only for teammate Oscar Piastri to steal pole by 0.012s when it mattered. It sets up a front-row lockout and a fierce intra-team fight for Sunday at the Dutch GP.
The gap was tiny, but the message was big: McLaren has the most planted car around Zandvoort’s high-downforce, high-commitment layout. Piastri found the last scraps of time in the banked sections, while Norris’ strongest sectors across practice didn’t quite knit together on his final lap. There was no drama between them, just raw pace. That 0.012s margin will sting for Norris after three near-perfect sessions.
Max Verstappen will start third for Red Bull, 0.248s off pole, not the front-row spot his home crowd wanted. The car looked edgy over the bumps and gusts, especially early in the lap, and the final sector didn’t rescue it. That said, Verstappen starts directly behind the McLarens with a short, heavy-braking run to Turn 1 (Tarzan). Expect him to eye the tow more than the launch — the slipstream there can be powerful.
The story of qualifying, beyond the front row, was rookie Isack Hadjar. He delivered a composed, mistake-free lap for P4 in the Racing Bulls, ahead of George Russell’s Mercedes in P5. That is a huge result for Racing Bulls, who also got Liam Lawson into P8. Between them sit the heavy hitters: Charles Leclerc in P6 for Ferrari and Lewis Hamilton in P7 for Mercedes. The gaps through the midfield were razor thin; a few hundredths either way could have shuffled half the top ten.
There were casualties. Lance Stroll crashed on his first Q1 flyer and failed to set a time. Subject to medical checks and stewards’ approval, he’ll start at the back after Aston Martin rebuilds the car. Oliver Bearman will start from the pitlane after Ferrari fitted new engine components beyond the season allocation without prior FIA approval. It means Ferrari’s Sunday is split: Leclerc hunting points in the pack, Bearman aiming for damage limitation and any strategic curveball that comes his way.
Why is McLaren so strong here? Zandvoort rewards high downforce, stability on the banks, and confidence in traffic. The MCL’s front end looks precise on turn-in, and both drivers can carry speed across the camber changes without the rear snapping. Track evolution is huge at this circuit — it rubbered in across every session — but the McLarens were fast from the first laps on Friday and kept finding time as grip rose. The result is a front row that felt inevitable all day, until Piastri flipped the order on the final push.
Mercedes looks tidy on longer runs and might be closer in race trim than the one-lap gap suggests. Russell’s P5 lines him up to attack Hadjar early, while Hamilton’s P7 puts him on the wrong end of traffic unless he nails the start or the pit windows. Ferrari, meanwhile, brought decent low-speed rotation but looked inconsistent in the wind at the end of the lap. If they want a podium shot, they’ll need clean air or a perfectly timed stop.
Strategy, weather, and the fights to watch on Sunday
Track position is king at Zandvoort. The circuit is narrow, the walls are close, and overtaking is tough unless you nail the run onto the main straight and commit under braking into Turn 1. The second DRS zone into the Turn 11 chicane can help, but it’s less decisive. Expect drivers to try different lines in the banked Turn 3 early on to set up exits — the high line can work if the tyres bite.
Pirelli has brought the harder end of its range (C1-C3), which tells you tyre management will matter. With a long pit lane and a stop loss around the 20–22 second mark, teams won’t bail on track position unless they trust the undercut. A one-stop is possible if degradation stays moderate and Safety Cars don’t split the race. Two stops become attractive if graining kicks in or if cooler temps make it hard to keep heat in the fronts.
Safety Cars are a real factor here. Zandvoort punishes small mistakes — gravel traps, banked corners, and crosswinds from the North Sea can all catch drivers out. That pushes teams toward flexibility: start on the medium to hold position, then pivot to an early hard if a neutralization arrives. The undercut is decent when tyres are fresh, but traffic can kill it. Overcuts also come into play if tyre warm-up on the hard is slow.
Verstappen from third is not a bad hand. He’ll have the tow off the line and clean air in the slipstream behind the McLarens. If Red Bull can keep him within range through the first stint, they may try the early stop to jump one orange car in the pits. McLaren, in turn, could split strategies to defend — for example, one driver covering the undercut, the other stretching for a Safety Car window.
Racing Bulls’ Sunday is suddenly high-stakes. Hadjar on the second row will be managing mirrors as much as tyres, but the car showed honest balance over one lap. If he survives the opening laps, a top-six finish is on. Lawson from P8 is well placed to capitalize on any chaos ahead. For Mercedes, the target is the podium fight once the McLarens and Verstappen sort themselves out. For Ferrari, Leclerc needs clean air early; if he gets stuck in DRS trains, their pace advantage over the midfield won’t show.
Weather is the wild card. Coastal breeze can move the car mid-corner, especially in the banked turns, and cooler track temps would bring the hard tyre into play earlier than expected. Warmer conditions would favor the medium for longer, but would also push teams toward two stops if the fronts start to grain.
Here’s what to watch when the lights go out:
- The launch: Piastri vs Norris into Turn 1, and how hard McLaren lets them race into the braking zone.
- Verstappen’s tow: from P3 he can attack either McLaren if he times the slipstream and brakes late.
- First stint tyre life: whoever keeps the left-front alive through Turns 7–9 will control the pit windows.
- Undercut vs overcut: does fresh rubber jump the queue, or do warm-up issues hand the edge to the car staying out?
- Hadjar’s composure: a clean first 10 laps keeps him in the fight for a career-best result.
- Ferrari’s split day: Leclerc hunting the top five while Bearman plays the long game from the pitlane.
- Safety Car timing: Zandvoort tends to stir one up — expect at least one team to get lucky.
One more wrinkle: traffic management. Because the lap is short and the pace spread is tight, leaders can catch the backmarkers quickly after the first pit stops. If McLaren and Red Bull end up in early traffic, whoever escapes cleanly will control the second stint.
After three practices that belonged to Norris and a qualifying lap that belonged to Piastri, Sunday becomes a test of nerve and timing. The two McLarens have the track position, Verstappen has the home crowd and the tow, and the midfield is close enough to punish any mistake. That’s Zandvoort — small margins, big consequences.
