Piastri edges out teammate Norris to take pole in Zandvoort
- Charlotte Mui
- Aug 30, 2025
- 3 min read
Written by Charlotte Mui
Oscar Piastri beat his teammate and championship rival to pole position at the Dutch Grand Prix after an extremely close qualifying battle. Max Verstappen will start his home race from third, while Isack Hadjar produced a career-best qualifying to close out the second row.
Qualifying 1:
Yuki Tsunoda led the cars out at 9:00 ET (14:00 BST) for the first competitive session since the summer break.
A few minutes into the session, Lance Stroll spun off into the gravel at the final corner on his opening flying lap, having put two wheels on the grass.
Three-time Dutch Grand Prix winner Verstappen momentarily went fastest with a 1:09.754 but the McLarens quickly displaced him.
Norris, having topped all three practice sessions, went quickest yet again, setting an early benchmark of 1:09.469. As the winner here last year, the British driver was very much looking like the one to beat.
Coming off poor practice sessions, Ferrari’s struggles continued, with neither drivers able to break the top 10 after their first laps.
With a minute left in the session, Alex Albon put together an impressive lap, elevating him up to fifth position, only around a tenth behind Verstappen.
Both Haas drivers made mistakes on their final lap and failed to advance.
In the closing moments, Piastri improved to end Q1 on top, while his teammate was unable to go quicker.
Q1 eliminations:
16. Franco Colapinto
17. Nico Hülkenberg
18. Esteban Ocon
19. Ollie Bearman
20. Lance Stroll
Qualifying 2:
In Q2, Ferrari was the first to send their drivers out with Charles Leclerc setting the initial pace.
A few minutes later, Norris topped the timesheets with a 1:08.854, two and a half tenths clear of Verstappen.
Further back, the Mercedes also set their laps, with Kimi Antonelli going quicker than George Russell.
On their second runs, the Ferraris looked much more encouraging, with Lewis Hamilton and Leclerc going up to fourth and fifth respectively.
As the minutes of the session ticked away, the pressure laps began for the teams and drivers hovering near the drop zone.
Tsunoda was unable to improve on his second run, putting himself in big risk for elimination.
Meanwhile, late laps from Liam Lawson and Fernando Alonso allowed them to improve up into the top 10.
Q2 eliminations:
11. Kimi Antonelli
12. Yuki Tsunoda
13. Gabriel Bortoleto
14. Pierre Gasly
15. Alex Albon
Qualifying 3
Piastri led the way in Q3, posting a 1:08.662 to set a benchmark time. His teammate followed quickly behind with a 1:08.674, leaving just 12 hundredths between them. It was clear that the fight for pole was going to be between the two papaya drivers, with the Australian having the upper hand after the first laps.
Verstappen put himself in third, consistently finding himself in the gap between the McLarens and the rest of the field throughout qualifying.
Russell and the two Ferraris rounded out the top five after the first runs.
In the final laps of qualifying neither McLarens were able to improve, sealing pole for Piastri.
Behind them, Verstappen looked set to lock in third ahead of Russell, until rookie Hadjar stunned with a superb lap to split the pair and clinch fourth, his best-ever qualifying result.
Verstappen nonetheless was able to keep his third place with the best middle sector of any.
Sunday’s starting grid:
Oscar Piastri
Lando Norris
Max Verstappen
Isack Hadjar
George Russell
Charles Leclerc
Lewis Hamilton
Liam Lawson
Carlos Sainz
Fernando Alonso
Kimi Antonelli
Yuki Tsunoda
Gabriel Bortoleto
Pierre Gasly
Alex Albon
Franco Colapinto
Nico Hulkenberg
Esteban Ocon
Ollie Bearman
Lance Stroll
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