 The top three from Saturday's qualifying session (pictured) after Lando Norris took pole. Credit: Mark Thompson via Getty Images After a qualifying session that threw up shocks and surprises on Saturday afternoon, saw Lando Norris of McLaren take pole position at Zandvoort for the 2024 Dutch Grand Prix. Norris set a fantastic lap in a session that he looked strong in throughout by over three tenths of a second with a 1:09.673. The British driver finished ahead of Max Verstappen, who missed out on a fourth successive pole position at Zandvoort, but did qualify in second. Verstappen, at his home event will start second and go from the front row. Oscar Piastri completed the top three and qualified third for McLaren. George Russell in fourth and Sergio Perez in fifth completed the top five. 19 out of the 20 drivers would end up participating in the qualifying session, after a shunt for Logan Sargeant of Williams in free practice 3, ruling him out of participation as the repairs to his car were too lengthy. There were some big shocks in Q2 in qualifying on Saturday afternoon. Ferrari's Carlos Sainz would be eliminated while Lewis Hamilton, one of the favourites for a top three start was also eliminated. Hamilton's woes in qualifying didn't end there as after the session, he was called to the Stewards for he was alleged to have impeded Sergio Perez in Q1, in the middle sector of the lap. Hamilton was found guilty of impeding and for the Grand Prix on Sunday he would take a three-place grid penalty. Initially this would have him drop to 15th on the grid but would be promoted to 14th after Alex Albon would also be in hot water for a technical issue. After qualifying, Albon was disqualified by the Stewards after his car was referred by having an illegal floor. Albon's floor was found to lie outside the regulatory volume mentioned in Article 35.1 a) of the FIA Technical Regulations. It would be disappointment for Albon after qualifying an impressive eighth place and getting into Q3 but would have all the work to do come Sunday. How Saturday unfolded before qualifyingIt had already been a Saturday with Formula 1 action before the qualifying session to take place at Zandvoort for the 2024 Dutch Grand Prix, as the third and final practice session was to take place in the morning. It would be an unusual top three to what many might have expected as Pierre Gasly was fastest for Alpine, ahead of Kevin Magnussen of Haas in second. Valtteri Bottas was third for Kick Sauber. The session was under red flag conditions for the most part as Logan Sargeant had a massive shunt in between turn 3 and turn 4 severely damaging his car shattering debris and breaking parts all over the track, after he hit the barriers with some force. Thankfully Sargeant was okay and was able to climb out but this would leave a significant repair task for the mechanics to do in time for qualifying later on that afternoon. Although they tried, the Williams mechanics were to no prevail and Logan would take no further part in the session
Unlike Free Practice 3 it would be a dry session for qualifying, so was on the weather forecast and the drivers would be hoping to make the top 15 and progress through into the second part of qualifying - Q2. The green light would come on at the end of the pit lane and the session would begin with the Zandvoort crowd making it a good atmosphere. Could Max Verstappen be on pole by the end of qualifying for the Dutch Grand Prix? That would have to be determined over the first 60 minutes. With 10 minutes remaining, it would be extremely tight between the top four, which had been led by Lewis Hamilton with a 1:11.375 and had Lando Norris in second just two one thousandths of a second off his time, and Max Verstappen would sit in third, just 18 thousandths off Hamilton's time (0.018). Hamilton would be forced to make a trip to the Stewards office after the session had concluded for having allegedly impeded Sergio Perez in sector 2. Perez was less than impressed while Lewis pleaded his innocence on the team radio. Carlos Sainz would be in the drop zone provisionally heading on to the final runs, and would need to find a time in order to progress through to Q2. Sergio Perez of Red Bull and Fernando Alonso were also at risk. Sainz would get himself up into top spot, with a great time as his teammate Charles Leclerc would improve to go second fastest. The track was ramping up significantly towards the end of the session and Sainz would not stay at the top. Behind him on the track, crossing the line on his final flying lap, George Russell would beat the lap by a comfortable margin and go fastest but he would not be the man to finish fastest. That honour would go to Sergio Perez, who would make use of the improved track and would end the session quickest and breezed through to Q2. Logan Sargeant, who didn't take part, would be joined by the Visa RB of Daniel Ricciardo, the Alpine of Esteban Ocon and the two Kick Sauber cars of Zhou Guanyu and Valtteri Bottas. The remaining 15 would progress to the second part of qualifying.
After the first five had been eliminated from qualifying, it was time for the second round where the 15, who had progressed, would become 10, as the slowest five drivers would once again be eliminated. With a potential threat of rain, the drivers could not wait too make it out onto the circuit, in case the maximum grip would disappear. The drivers would head out onto the track as the green light came on at the end of the pit lane. The two Ferrari drivers would be the first drivers to lay down the benchmark lap times for the others to aim to beat. It was a difficult lap from Carlos Sainz and he would be beaten by teammate Charles Leclerc. It would be used tyres though for both of the Ferrari cars. However the Mercedes, Red Bull and McLaren cars had yet to stamp their authority on Q2, and Oscar Piastri would take to the top of the time sheets with Max Verstappen managing to beat the Ferrari drivers would unable to beat Piastri. Norris who had looked tremendous in the first qualifying session would go top and only just ahead of his McLaren teammate Piastri. He was fastest by nine thousandths of a second (0.009). As for the two Mercedes drivers, Russell would go third ahead of Verstappen but behind Norris by 0.056s. Lewis Hamiton would go fifth with seven minutes remaining. Three minutes to go and there would be queue at the end of the pit lane as everyone would be trying to create a gap on circuit as there would be congestion easily made due to the short nature of the circuit. Nico Hulkenberg would have been looking to try and make it through after a difficult weekend up until qualifying, after having an off-road excursion in each of the practice session. However, he would not make it through and would join his teammate. The top four (Norris, Piastri, Russell and Verstappen) had decided to stay in the pits as they believed they would be safe from elimination in Q2, but Hamilton who started the final runs in fifth would need to go again. Sainz would find himself in trouble and would be eliminated after he struggled to get to grips with the car, as it was lacking grip but perhaps the bigger shock was Lewis Hamilton, who would join him in being knocked out of Q2 after a scruffy lap. A nightmare of a qualifying for Lewis Hamilton who had a potential to start further back than 12th as he was off to see the Stewards. Norris, Piastri, Russell, Sergio Perez, Max Verstappen, Lance Stroll, Fernando Alonso, Alex Albon, Pierre Gasly and Charles Leclerc would all progress through to Q3 and the top 10 shootout.
It would be time for the final part of qualifying and the top 10 shootout. Whoever ended this session fastest would take pole position for the 2024 Dutch Grand Prix. Could Max Verstappen make it four pole positions in a row at Zandvoort or would it be one of the McLaren cars. The green light would soon be on at the end of the pit lane and the hunt for pole position is underway. Lando Norris would be fastest on the first runs and it would be provisional pole for the McLaren man and a provisional front row lockout as Oscar Piastri was in a provisional second place just over a tenth back. Max Verstappen was in a provisional third place with him being 0.148s behind Norris' time of 1:10.074. Verstappen would need to find a mind-blowing lap to take pole at his home event. Things were looking very good for Lando Norris, who had looked extremely strong throughout the entire session. Lance Stroll, Sergio Perez, Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon would leave it until the last laps to set their flying laps in the session. After some time in the pit lane, swapping for fresh soft tyres and reviewing data, the drivers fighting for pole position would head out onto the circuit in preparation for their final qualifying laps at Zandvoort to set the grid for the 2024 Dutch Grand Prix. Verstappen would need to pull out an almighty lap to have any chance of taking pole position for his home Grand Prix. He would go to provisional pole by a narrow margin and with Lando Norris behind him on the road, going quick, his provisional pole would be short lived. A stunner of a lap from Norris would see him go to pole position with a 1:09.673, over three tenths of a second faster than Verstappen and would all but seal pole position as third place Oscar Piastri would stay third with his final run of the session and that would complete it Therefore, for the fourth time in his Formula 1 career, Lando Norris would take pole position for the the Dutch Grand Prix and would become the first driver in the modern era of Formula 1 Grand Prix at Zandvoort, to take pole position other than Max Verstappen. Max Verstappen would still have a chance to win the race on Sunday as he would start on the front row in second. Oscar Piastri may also fancy his chances from third and it could be a real chance for a double McLaren podium. George Russell would have a much better day than his teammate in fourth with Verstappen's Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez completing the top five. Charles Leclerc would take sixth for Ferrari, with Fernando Alonso finishing seventh for Aston Martin. Alex Albon would split the two Aston Martin cars in eighth, as Lance Stroll was ninth. Pierre Gasly for Alpine completed the top 10. With a fantastic qualifying session on Saturday, the Dutch Grand Prix is one that should not be missed if possible on Sunday afternoon, with a potential for a mixture of weather and strategy also potentially playing a part. That is when the action continues. Post-race Qualifying drama! Hamilton penalised and Albon disqualifiedAfter qualifying the Stewards had a matter of a few issues to deal with following on from the Saturday afternoon session ahead of Sunday's Dutch Grand Prix. Firstly, Lewis Hamilton was under investigation by the Stewards after the session, for having allegedly impeded Sergio Perez in Q1 at turn 9. After the investigation, Hamilton was determined to have been at fault and because of this was handed a three-place grid penalty for Sunday's race. This would demote Hamilton from 12th to 15th. However, he would be promoted to 14 for Sunday's Dutch Grand Prix as over at Williams, bad news for Alex Albon was to add to a terrible day for Williams. After qualifying had concluded, Alex Albon would be disqualified from qualifying after a technical infringement, After qualifying eighth, Albon was disqualified for having a floor that breached the technical regulations and therefore has his eighth place taken away. A disappointing day for Albon after what looked to be such a great result, after he was showing great pace.for Williams but he will have the work to during the Grand Prix which will take place on Sunday afternoon, in the Netherlands at Zandvoort. 2024 FIA Formula One World Championship: Round 15 - Dutch Grand Prix qualifying full classification
 Brandon Whiteside
Writer - F1 Journal
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