Verstappen soaks up pressure to claim pole at home Dutch Grand Prix
ZANDVOORT, Netherlands: Max Verstappen claimed pole position for his home Dutch Grand Prix on Saturday to the delight of his orange army of fans packing the stands at Zandvoort. McLaren’s Lando Norris will start alongside the Red Bull double world champion on the front row of Sunday’s race. A runaway leader by 125 points in the championship Verstappen has a perfect record since his home event returned to the F1 calendar in 2021, starting from the front of the grid and winning both races. In tricky changeable conditions at the unforgiving seaside circuit two red flags led to a frantic closing couple of minutes — just time to nail one final flying lap. And not for the first time Verstappen produced the goods. “It was a very tricky qualifying, all about staying out of trouble,” said Verstappen who is on a quest for a ninth successive win on Sunday to draw him level with Sebastian Vettel’s record set in 2013. He added: “I had to risk it a bit but that last lap was very enjoyable. “The pressure is always there to perform (at his home race) but when you can pull it off it’s incredible.” Norris described ‘P2’ as “a good result in these conditions. “Every now and then you hope Max will make a mistake but he doesn’t,” the Briton added. Mercedes’ George Russell took third to start on the second row of Sunday’s race with Alex Albon’s Williams alongside him. Qualifying began with a mix of sun and threatening clouds over the tight and twisty circuit carved into the dunes following earlier storms that caused chaos in third practice. On a slippery track with spray flying Verstappen was in good company when sliding onto the safety gravel at turn one as qualifying started. “What’s going on with the car, I have no grip, I’m spinning
