Piastri perfectly placed to stretch F1 lead with Dutch pole

ZANDVOORT, Netherlands :Oscar Piastri seized pole position for the Dutch Grand Prix with a record lap on Saturday and gave himself a perfect opportunity to stretch his Formula One lead over McLaren teammate Lando Norris.

Norris had been top in all three practice sessions and led the way into the final shootout but Piastri struck just when it mattered most and unleashed the quickest lap ever around Zandvoort.

The Australian's time of one minute 08.662 seconds with his first effort out of the garages was 0.012 quicker than anything his British rival, last year's winner from pole, could put together.

Red Bull's four-times world champion Max Verstappen, winner from the top slot in 2021, 2022 and 2023, was third fastest but 0.263 off the pole pace.

"That was the definition of peaking at the right time," said Piastri, who declared himself "pretty stoked" with his afternoon.

"The whole weekend I felt pretty good but there have been a couple of corners that I’ve not been able to go any faster.

"I didn’t really go any faster in those corners but I found some more elsewhere so I’m super happy to come away with the result."

Norris, nine points behind Piastri after winning three of the last four races, said he was a "little disappointed" to be second and suggested the wind had played a part but added it was not the end of the world.

"With the wind like this, a lot of it’s down to luck as well; even with all the luck I’ve been having," said the Briton.

"It’s tough. I had a good lap in Q3, run one, but just a small headwind down the straight and I lost like 1/100th (of a second), so you could easily say it’s there."

Dominant McLaren could take a record-equalling fifth successive one-two in Sunday's race, emulating Ferrari and Mercedes.

French