Max Verstappen thrills Orange Army by grabbing pole

Max Verstappen delighted his home crowd by taking pole position for Sunday's Dutch Grand Prix.

In an incident-packed wet-dry session, the unstoppable double world champion delivered a crushing lap to finish half-a-second clear of Lando Norris, who qualified second for McLaren.

George Russell will start from third place for Mercedes with the impressive Alex Albon fourth. Lewis Hamilton was eliminated in Q2 and will line up from only 13th spot in Zandvoort.

Q3 was red-flagged twice. First when Logan Sargeant crashed out in his Williams. The American rookie lost control of his machine on the entry to Turn 2, sending him into the gravel and then the tyre wall.

Sargeant, 22, emerged unscathed from the accident but the force of the impact contributed to significant damage on the front of his machine.

The running was suspended for 20 minutes as Sargeant’s stricken Williams was removed and the barriers were repaired.

A dry line had emerged and it was Norris who put his McLaren at the top of the order before Charles Leclerc put his Ferrari into the wall.

Leclerc carried too much speed into the ninth bend and ran onto the grass and then into the Armco.

A six-minute stoppage followed with just four minutes and five seconds left on the clock, with Norris hoping to hold on to claim only his second career pole.

But Verstappen delivered an emphatic answer by racing to top spot with his final lap to huge roars from the Orange Army. On Sunday, he will bid to match Sebastian Vettel’s record of nine consecutive wins.

Hamilton revealed in the build-up to Sunday's race that his goal for the second half of the season was to take runner-up spot in the championship.

But on Formula One’s return from its summer slumber, the seven-time world champion – who