What the teams said – Qualifying in the Netherlands

McLaren

After Norris dominated the three practice sessions in the build-up to Qualifying, McLaren were again the team to beat during Saturday’s session. While Piastri had the upper hand in Q1, Norris returned to the top in Q2 – before Piastri ultimately set the quickest time of all in Q3, securing pole position ahead of his team mate. Norris had to settle for second, meaning that the reigning Teams’ Champion locked out the front row in Zandvoort.

Lando Norris, 2nd, 1:08.674

“I’m pleased to be starting on the front row, but I’m a little disappointed to not be on Pole. It was close – it’s been close the whole weekend and I had decent laps, so it’s not the end of the world. We’re in a good position to fight, it’s a long race with a lot of laps, and we’ll see what the weather holds. We’ll have some fun tomorrow.”

Oscar Piastri, 1st, 1:08.662

"I'm really pleased with that. The car has felt good all weekend, so I am super happy to come away with it. I’ve been chipping away steadily all weekend and managed to put it all together for my final lap, so I’m stoked to be on Pole. There are a few variables in play for the race, so let’s see what happens. I'm looking forward to it."

Andrea Stella, Team Principal

“A strong and successful Qualifying in Zandvoort as we lockout the front row for tomorrow’s Grand Prix. With just a few milliseconds deciding Pole position, both Oscar and Lando displayed solid performances in tricky conditions, driving on the limit in an extremely close session to set the two quickest-ever laps around this circuit.

“As with today’s wind in Q3, there are many variables that will contribute to tomorrow's race, including a persistent risk of rain, making it an interesting afternoon. However, we will work to put ourselves in the best position possible to capitalise on our grid positions and start the second half of the season with a pleasing result.”

Red Bull

Verstappen did not appear optimistic about Red Bull’s prospects after a tricky Friday at Zandvoort, having predicted that it could be a struggle to reach the top five in Qualifying. However, after placing fifth in FP3, the Dutchman proved to be McLaren’s closest challenger come Qualifying and ended the session in third, a result he was “very happy” with. Tsunoda was again unable to match his team mate and found himself being eliminated in P12, leaving the Japanese driver with the target to move into the points on Sunday.

Max Verstappen, 3rd, 1:08.925

"I am happy with our performance today and things all came together for Qualifying. This weekend we have been struggling a bit with the balance but today felt a lot more normal after making some final adjustments just ahead of Qualifying. This really brought the balance together for us, which was a big positive and this made it more fun to push the car to the limit around this track. The wind also made things a bit trickier but this was the same for everyone. Our fight will be to keep the others behind and hopefully we have enough pace for P3. We will need a bit of luck to win here but I want to target a podium tomorrow."

Yuki Tsunoda, 12th, 1:09.622

"I believed that I did my best today to be honest. I was happy with the lap, it felt clean and there weren't any mistakes from my end so it was strange that we didn't extract the peak performance to get into Q3. The car was good and the pace was there, the result didn't match the way I felt during the session. I'm disappointed and frustrated in the result today, but I shall keep digging to find performance tomorrow. I qualified close to the points, so there is potential to score and that's what we'll aim to do as I felt confident in the car, so we'll see what tomorrow brings where anything can happen."

Laurent Mekies, Team Principal

"I think P3 was the absolute best Max could have done today, there were a lot of teams competing for P3, Mercedes, Ferrari and probably Fernando in the Aston as well. Max did an incredible job to have such a strong Qualifying and so did the Team. It has been no secret we have struggled with car balance all weekend and the Team kept trying things out on both sides of the garage, which ultimately put the car in a better window, so credit to them. We unlocked some performance in the car and are extracting just about everything we can from it. Generally, the car has improved from where it was for most of the weekend and with that, we should be able to see performance in the race. It will be similar to Quali and a big fight behind the McLarens with four or five cars on very similar pace. Yuki has had a weekend where he has again shown progress, he has been at a reasonable gap to Max on a difficult track. He didn’t improve on his second set in Q2 and missed out by just one tenth, so it is still close and he is still building up. The pack is going to be very tight tomorrow, and we will see if we have the pace in the race to move through the field. We are looking forward to the race, the level of support the Team get here from the fans is just amazing. It’s not something you get in many other places in the world."

Racing Bulls

It was another impressive performance for Racing Bulls on Saturday. Hadjar impressively claimed a career-best P4 in Qualifying, a result that the Frenchman labelled as “really unexpected” after some struggles on Friday. He was pushed by team mate Lawson, who also reached the top-10 shootout and ultimately took P8, though was left disappointed by not dramatically improving between Q2 and Q3.

Isack Hadjar, 4th, 1:09.208

"I am super happy, this is an outstanding result for the Team. We didn’t expect to reach Q3, as our performance yesterday wasn’t amazing, but we managed to deliver a really strong lap when it mattered. Liam was pushing me hard, the car felt great, and we kept making the right improvements with each run. I feel confident for tomorrow, the car is working well, so there’s no reason why our race pace shouldn’t be strong. The race should be straightforward, I’ve got a good view into Turn 1, and the goal is to maintain position and score good points.”

Liam Lawson, 8th, 1:09.500

“It's good to be in Q3 but, of course, the ambition is always to be starting further up. Our speed was very promising throughout Qualifying and unfortunately we went slower in Q3, so there will be some things to look into. The tyres are very sensitive here in Zandvoort and getting the balance right with the wind is tough. The track is very physical and it will be important to have a strong start tomorrow given how tricky it is to overtake. The car has great potential and overall it's a positive Qualifying for the team."

Guillaume Dezoteux, Head of Vehicle Performance

“For the third time in a row, our two cars make it to Q3! Isack got the perfect lap together in his last attempt which puts him on the second row for the starting grid tomorrow. It's a fantastic result for us after a difficult start of the weekend on his car. Liam was solid all way through the qualifying session, beating our direct competitors and securing the 8th place. Tonight, we will study the various race strategies, and our target is to bring home a good number of points.”

Mercedes

Russell was the best of the rest behind McLaren in final practice but could not quite match that in Qualifying, ending the session in fifth – an outcome that the Mercedes driver felt was deserved due to not “getting things right”. Antonelli only just missed out on Q3 and blamed a “little mistake” for costing him the lap time, leaving him in P11.

George Russell, 5th, 1:09.255

"I am a bit disappointed with P5 today. That said, the field has been really tight since the beginning of the weekend, and we couldn’t take anything for granted. We didn’t put the lap together at the end of Q3 and, whilst we could have fought for the second row, it is where we deserved to be. Isack (Hadjar) did an amazing job to get ahead of us so congratulations to him.

"We will see what we can do tomorrow. Our long run pace felt good in FP3, and I am therefore hopeful that we can be in the fight for the podium, irrespective of our starting position. We know that our battle remains with the Ferraris and the Red Bull of Max (Verstappen) given the Constructors’ standings. Hopefully we can have a good Sunday and add some solid points."

Kimi Antonelli, 11th, 1:09.493

"I am disappointed after today's Qualifying. I missed out on Q3 by a small margin; on my final lap in Q2 I made a small mistake into the chicane and that proved the difference between getting through and being eliminated. We knew that we would have to execute well given how tight the field was; little mistakes would make a huge difference and so it proved. Losing track time in FP1 did not help with that as it cost me some learning that I could not use in Qualifying. I need to make sure I cut out these errors.

"On the positive side, I was feeling good in the car in both FP2 and FP3. That bodes well for tomorrow’s race. We did some long run work in FP3 and that was competitive, so I am looking forward to the Grand Prix. It is a difficult circuit to overtake at and starting from P11 will not make it easy. However, I will reset tonight and be ready to give it my all tomorrow."

Toto Wolff, Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport

"We have struggled to consistently unlock the pace of the car so far this weekend here in Zandvoort. The windy conditions have made it a handful for both George and Kimi and, whilst there have been flashes of performance, we knew Qualifying would be tricky. That proved to be the case with Kimi unfortunate to be eliminated in Q2. George was able to progress to Q3 but some snaps of oversteer cost him a place on the second row.

"Starting P5 and P11 at a circuit that is notoriously difficult to overtake means we will have our work cut out tomorrow. Our long run pace in FP2 with George and FP3 with Kimi did look solid though. Hopefully that can provide some opportunities for both to make up positions. The weather can also be unpredictable here in Zandvoort too and, with rain forecast for the morning, that may also add another layer of jeopardy."

Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director

"We lacked a bit of pace today and ultimately that cost both drivers places on the grid for tomorrow. We had two clean sessions in both FP3 and Qualifying so there isn't really anything we can point to that we should have done differently. With that said, the grip hasn't been amazing and in the windy conditions the car has been a bit of a handful. George's final lap went towards oversteer after a snap at Turn 9. Once that happens it's difficult to improve but realistically a second-row grid slot was the best we could have achieved.

"Kimi had four decent runs, improving each time but he missed out on Q3 by a couple of hundredths. It was therefore not a great day, but both have opportunity to move forward in the race tomorrow. Our long run pace from practice looked solid so hopefully we will finish tomorrow in a better position."

Ferrari

Ferrari displayed progress between FP1 and FP2 on Friday, and Hamilton felt that this had continued into Saturday. After ending final practice in P14 on the timesheets, the seven-time champ reached Q3 in Qualifying for the first time since Silverstone and claimed seventh, leaving him to hail a “more enjoyable” weekend so far. Leclerc placed one spot ahead in sixth but was more critical of his own performance, having been struggling with the car in Zandvoort.

Charles Leclerc, 6th, 1:09.340

"It’s been a difficult weekend overall, which makes it tough to build up to the race in the way we want to. The balance of the car makes it tricky to drive and I didn’t put it all together in qualifying. It’s just that kind of weekend for us, but we may be able to play with strategy tomorrow. We’ll do everything we can to fight our way forward and bring home a good result for the team."

Lewis Hamilton, 7th, 1:09.390

"Today was a challenging one in terms of getting the car fully into the right performance window. We showed promising pace on the medium tyre in FP3, but weren’t able to fully translate that into qualifying, and there’s still work to do compared to the teams ahead. That said, after the summer break our priority was to keep building, and today was an encouraging step forward. This circuit is always difficult when it comes to overtaking, so if the weather does bring some mixed conditions tomorrow, hopefully it will create opportunities and make the race exciting for the fans."

Fred Vasseur, Team Principal

"Today we made a good recovery after yesterday when we were losing 6 to 7 tenths in two corners and struggling. But it meant we were having to come from too far back. We need to do a better job on Friday because looking to make a one second step up is too much in terms of set-up and too much for the drivers.

"At this track, it’s difficult to find the right balance and the correct approach for the tyres. The layout of the track with the corners from 7 to 10 puts a lot of load on the tyres and if you are over the limit you can lose a lot in the final part. It’s a bit frustrating as I feel P4 could have been possible, but Charles admitted he made a mistake at turn 10. Lewis has had a very good weekend so far but it’s the same story as Charles, in that we started from too far back from yesterday when we were not in the right set-up window.

"I think we have a good opportunity to do well tomorrow as our race pace seems okay. McLaren are far ahead but then it’s close between ourselves, Verstappen and Russell, so it will come down to strategy and tyre management."

Williams

Both Williams drivers had featured inside the top-10 positions during Saturday's earlier practice session, but Albon exited Qualifying in P15, the Thai driver voicing his unhappiness about his tyre issues. Sainz had a better outing and progressed to Q3, maximising the session to reach P9.

Alex Albon, 15th, 1:09.652

"It’s been a frustrating afternoon. We’ve been quick all weekend and strong in Qualifying, but on our second lap in Q2 we just didn’t have the tyres. The operating window is so small, and after queuing for several minutes in the pitlane our out lap was compromised. Obviously, it wasn’t intentional, but for us every detail has to be perfect, and the out lap is crucial.

"I was confident we could comfortably make the top ten, but we were out of the window. The margins between Q2 and Q3 are so tight now that you can’t afford mistakes or a poor out lap.

"Tomorrow will be tough as this track can be a bit of a train, but let’s see what the weather brings and what we can do."

Carlos Sainz, 9th, 1:09.505

"Once the track temperatures went up, we lost performance from FP3 to Qualifying and I felt it straight away. We needed very solid laps to progress through the session and, whilst it’s slightly disappointing to not be higher up the order, we maximised what we could and P9 is a decent position to fight tomorrow. We’ll keep an eye on the weather and give our best during the race."

James Vowles, Team Principal

"Well done to Carlos – really great execution and well done to the team in what I suspect is the closest grid we've seen in Formula 1. With Alex, the pace was clearly there today, and I’m confident he had the pace to reach Q3. But we’re right on a knife edge with getting the tyres to work, and a slightly slower out lap behind another car tipped us the wrong way. That’s something we’ll review and make sure we refine operationally going forward.

"More importantly, though, we need to give ourselves more flexibility to cope with a wider range of situations. Irrespective of today, we know the race car is strong. Overtaking is never easy here, but there will be potential opportunities tomorrow – especially if the weather comes into play."

Aston Martin

After showing impressive pace on Friday, Aston Martin still looked in good form on Saturday but could not quite replicate Alonso’s P2 result from second practice. The Spaniard was involved in an unusual incident with Russell during FP3 – which resulted in the former having to take evading action at the pit entry – before going on to reach Q3 in Qualifying, where he had to settle for P10. Stroll was back in action following repair work on his car after his crash on Friday, but a solid showing in FP3 was followed by a spin off track during the opening stages of Q1. The damage proved too great for him to continue, leaving the Canadian with his work cut out on Sunday.

Fernando Alonso, 10th, 1:09.630

"We aim to be in Q3 every weekend and so we're pleased we've achieved that today, but we seemed to be lacking some pace compared to yesterday. There were some tricky wind conditions out there and it was easy to be caught out.

"It's difficult to overtake here, so we'll see what we can do from P10 and hopefully fight for some points."

Lance Stroll, 20th, no time set

"Unfortunately, there was no chance to bring the car back out and run again because there was too much damage.

"It's a shame after the hard work the team has put in overnight to get the car back running ahead of FP3. And the car has felt comfortable so far this weekend with the package looking pretty strong. We will see what we can do from the back of the grid tomorrow."

Mike Krack, Chief Trackside Officer

"We have looked competitive across the practice sessions, but Qualifying is when it really counts and we did not maximise our potential today.

"Fernando made Q3 and will line up in P10, which gives us a good chance to bring home some points tomorrow. Lance's session ended early when he picked up damage after contact with the barriers.

"We should have some decent race pace, but it’s not easy to overtake here. Let's see what we can do tomorrow to allow both cars to move up the field."

Kick Sauber

Hulkenberg’s run of difficult Qualifyings continued in Zandvoort as the German exited Q1 down in P17, just one position higher than where he finished earlier in the day during Free Practice 3. As for Bortoleto, the rookie did not manage to extend his own pattern of recent Q3 appearances. The Kick Sauber driver will line up in P13 for the Dutch Grand Prix.

Nico Hulkenberg, 17th, 1:10.195

“It was incredibly close out there – just eight tenths covering the top 18 – so missing out by a tenth is frustrating, but that’s how brutal qualifying can be. It came ultimately down to a couple of corners where we didn’t quite make it. There’s always something you want to improve, but you work with what you’ve got and focus on making the most of it.

“Looking ahead, overtaking around here is going to be tough – probably even harder than it was in Hungary. Track position will be key, and we may not be looking quite as strong on pure pace. We’ll look at all our options now strategy-wise and see how we can recover.”

Gabriel Bortoleto, 13th, 1:09.622

"Qualifying has been a bit though today. I bottomed out a couple of times in Q1, which cost me some time, and the conditions were rather unstable overall. After Q1, I asked the team to check the floor and make some adjustments within the parameters, but even with that, the lap in Q2 just wasn’t enough to get me into Q3. On top of it, I caught some dirty air from Yuki [Tsunoda] in the middle sector on my last attempt, which didn’t help, and I lost a bit of time compared to my earlier push. I think Q3 could have been possible if everything had gone perfectly, but that wasn’t the case. Still, tomorrow is a new day, and we’ll focus on making the most of the opportunities we'll get in the race. Our race pace was decent yesterday, so if we stick to our plan and execute well, we might gain some positions and climb through the field."

Jonathan Wheatley, Team Principal

"Although rain stayed away for qualifying, the changing wind direction provided an additional challenge for the drivers, making it difficult to string a lap together. In Q1, Gabi managed P15 – he was not entirely happy with the car, but it was a good enough time to put him through to Q2. Nico, on the other hand, ended up just 0.15s short of progressing in what was, again, a very close midfield battle. Gabi ultimately progressed to P13, with a small moment in turn nine affecting an otherwise strong lap. He set an identical time to Tsunoda and missed out on Q3 by only 0.05 seconds. Looking ahead to Sunday, the field remains very close. Zandvoort is not an easy track for overtakes, but as we have shown in previous rounds, we are increasingly capable of making up ground in a race."

Alpine

After a decent showing on Friday, Alpine had reasons to remain positive from their Saturday performance. While the team placed at the bottom of the timesheets in final practice, a solid improvement saw Gasly reach P14 in Qualifying, leaving the Frenchman to happy with the steps forward. Colapinto, meanwhile, only just missed the cut for Q1, an outcome that the Argentine driver blamed on traffic.

Pierre Gasly, 14th, 1:09.637

“Overall, I am happy with the outcome of today's Qualifying and I am pleased with how we turned things around as a team from Free Practice 3. We seemed to lack pace earlier today so to be in the fight for Q3 was good. Even though we are in fourteenth place, only a tenth and half was the difference to reaching Q3 and a hundredth between another two positions such are the small margins. Of course, we need more, but considering where we are with the car at the moment, we can be pleased with our effort. These close margins makes it exciting and puts even more on both the team and driver not to make any mistakes and maximise everything. We know this is not an easy track to overtake but we will see what we can do tomorrow. I would not mind some rain! It is a race and anything can happen.”

Franco Colapinto, 16th, 1:10.104

“It was a very tight Qualifying today. In Free Practice 3, we really struggled but in Qualifying the car was much stronger and in a much better place. We had the potential to go through to Q2, but we were very unfortunate with some traffic in Sector 3 on my final push lap. I had two cars in front of me, which was not useful, and lost some downforce as a result of the dirty air in Turns 11, 12 and 13. It's disappointing to miss out by such a small amount, especially from things outside our control. We were having a good session and on a good lap at the end so it's very disappointing. We want to perform as a team, we want to do better and all of us are pushing. We looked decent on high fuel on Friday so we hope to be strong tomorrow, whatever the weather.”

Flavio Briatore, Executive Advisor

“Naturally it's disappointing not to reach Q3, that's always the aim. But as is the recurring theme in 2025, the field is incredibly close and separated by the finest of margins. I can't remember a time like this in all my time in Formula One and it's great for us and the fans to see it being so competitive. We went backwards a bit on set-up in practice and tested out some things, but we reverted back to what we knew worked and the drivers felt a bit more comfortable. Both Pierre and Franco have been working extremely hard with the engineers and have been applying themselves well. It's been bright sunshine one minute and rain the next in Zandvoort, so let's see what tomorrow brings for the race.”

Haas

It proved to be a tough day for Haas in Zandvoort. Both drivers were some way off the top 10 in FP3 and neither Ocon nor Bearman were able to progress beyond Q1 in Qualifying, meaning that the American outfit could be facing a difficult Sunday as they look to improve on their P9 position in the Teams' Championship.

Esteban Ocon, 18th, 1:10.197

“It was a difficult session but things had started to get better, especially on the last set of tires. We had the pace to get into Q2 – it was only one tenth that separated us from it, but unfortunately I went a little wide in Turn 11 and that cost me a little bit. Both Ollie and I had the pace to get into Q2, but we just didn’t make it unfortunately. We need to reflect on why that is and if we can do a better job in the race tomorrow. Historically, we’ve had better race pace, so let’s see if we can do something different, we knew it was going to be tough.”

Oliver Bearman, 19th, 1:10.262

“The first run went really well and I had a good feeling in the car, it seemed like we were in a good window. On the second run we were on used tires and we still looked to be pretty decent, but then going onto new tires everyone else improved and I didn’t manage to make that improvement. I had a very different feeling underneath me compared to the previous set of tires, and there is a small change we made between the two runs, so we need to see if that was the cause of our issues or not. Our race pace has been okay, I’m not super hopeful, but we’ll see what we can do.”

Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal

“It’s a tough result to take. You can see when we get things right, for example – the potential of the car from the first run in FP3 and Q1 with Ollie. The car is very good, but for one reason or another, we haven’t been able to get the best out of it consistently. We have to put it together, if we work together and really pay attention to the detail and deliver – if we do that, I have no doubt we can get there. But we need to get there as we’re going to run out of races to perform this year.”

Pirelli

Mario Isola, Motorsport Director

“On a track where overtaking is definitely difficult, qualifying takes on even more importance than usual in deciding the race result. While the McLarens seem to have the edge over the rest of the field, their two drivers are separated by almost nothing, just 12 thousandths of a second in fact. It’s very close behind this pair, with the remaining 18 drivers all within the same second. Therefore, all the ingredients are in place to produce a closely contested, unpredictable race, with the changeable weather adding another unknown factor to the mix, as well as the possibility of Safety Cars always present on a track where mistakes are always punished.

“Although simulation shows that the two-stop strategy has a slight advantage in terms of overall time, we are well aware that the teams will try and make only a single pit stop, because track position established on the opening lap is all important. Therefore we believe that a strategy based on a first stint on the Medium and a second with the Hard is the most likely, as it allows teams to cover for the possibility of rain or a Safety Car. For those opting for a two-stop the most likely choice is to use all three compounds, also because only McLaren and Aston Martin have two sets of Hards available and Hadjar has two Mediums.

“The increase in the pit lane speed limit from 60 to 80 km/h will have a significant impact on the time lost during a pit stop, dropping from around 22 seconds to 19 or 20. But that’s not enough to make the two-stop really attractive. As for the undercut, we saw here in Zandvoort last year that it is very effective which is one more factor to take into consideration in preparing for the race.”