Max Verstappen can indeed be challenged at his home Dutch Grand Prix.
Lando Norris put in an impressive lap to qualify in pole position, ahead of the three-time world champion, on Saturday. Norris will now aim to end Verstappen’s winning streak on home soil in Sunday’s race and further reduce the Dutch driver’s lead in the championship standings.
With gusty winds from the North Sea making conditions tricky for drivers, Norris’ final lap was significantly faster than anyone else’s, beating second-place Verstappen by .356 of a second. Norris said his McLaren felt “amazing” but expected Verstappen to “put up a good fight” in front of his home fans.
Verstappen, who will be racing in his 200th Grand Prix on Sunday, had secured pole position and won all three of the Dutch Grand Prix races held at Zandvoort since it returned to the F1 calendar in 2021.
“I think the whole qualifying we just lacked a bit of pace,” Verstappen said and mentioned that catching Norris on Sunday might be tough. “We’ll give it a good go, but of course, when you are more than three-tenths behind in qualifying, I think we have to be realistic.”
Norris has started from pole position three times before but has not yet won a race from that spot. To earn his second career win and close the gap to Verstappen’s 78-point lead, Norris will need to change that.
“I’ve started toward the front a lot of times. I know my stats are not the best for that and, more often than not, I’ve gone backwards rather than holding positions,” Norris said.
“But that’s just what I’ve done so far and I’ve worked hard, I’m working hard, to try and change that. But it’s not something that affects me. I’m not going to go out tomorrow to try and suddenly prove people wrong.”