Oscar Piastri beats Lando Norris to pole in the Netherlands

Phenomenal McLaren: Oscar Piastri, current Formula 1 world championship leader, will start from pole position for Sunday's Dutch Grand Prix, having set the fastest time in qualifying on Saturday ahead of his teammate Lando Norris, while young Frenchman Isack Hajdar will start 4th.

Under the Zandvoort sun, and after torrential rain earlier in the day, Piastri dominated Norris by just 12 thousandths of a second, securing his fifth career pole position. A rather unexpected performance for the Australian who, like the entire paddock, was expecting his British teammate to take the lead. "It's been a bit of a difficult weekend so far, but I'm really happy to have managed to pull through like this," said the poleman, who had consistently been ahead of Norris during free practice.

Dutchman Max Verstappen (Red Bull), 3rd, more than 0.025 seconds behind the McLarens, was not hoping to beat these two untouchable cars but was rather satisfied: "This weekend has been quite difficult for us so far, these qualifying sessions are ultimately the best moment we have had," declared the local hero.

In front of his "orange" army, the four-time reigning world champion dreams of returning to victory - or at least to the podium - for the sake of honour rather than for the title race, which seems destined for the powerful McLaren, who are well ahead in the championship.

The drought has lasted too long for "Mad Max," who has won only two GPs this year. The Red Bull driver's last victory was in May, in Emilia-Romagna (Italy).

On Sunday, Verstappen will start ahead of Frenchman Isack Hadjar (Racing Bull), 4th, who achieved his best qualifying result in the elite class at the Zandvoort circuit.

The two Ferraris of Monaco's Charles Leclerc and seven-time British world champion Lewis Hamilton will start 6th and 7th respectively.

These qualifying sessions were particularly important because the Zandvoort track is narrow. Given that it is difficult to overtake in the race, a good start will be essential when the lights go out at 3 p.m. on Sunday.

In the championship, Oscar Piastri holds a nine-point lead over his teammate Lando Norris. The Australian will be aiming for a ninth F1 victory on Sunday. This would be McLaren's 12th win in 15 races this year.

In the Constructors' Championship, McLaren leads the field, with Ferrari separated by nearly 300 points. Mercedes is third, trailing the Prancing Horse by just 24 points.