Qualifying Highlights | 2021 Dutch Grand Prix

Perez is in trouble here, as Esteban Ocon, next to cross the line, goes sixth fastest. Nicolas Latifi goes fifth fastest. Now, Lando Norris needs to get out of that bottom five, and he does. But only just for Lando Norris, and Sergio Perez is out of qualifying. Sebastian Vettel was trying to weave his way through, and that is two Hasses that have got in his way. That was close. That was terrible. That's a penalty coming Mazepin's way, of no consolation to Sebastian Vettel, who's down there in the bottom five, out of qualifying, on a fast lap, whilst others were trying to build a gap. We're out, Jaco. Can't ***ing believe it. They were so slow with these guys on the pit lane. A disappointing start to the weekend for him after a pretty, pretty tough weekend in Spa. Nikita Mazepin is out of qualifying. That incident involving him and Sebastian Vettel is going to be investigated after the session. Schumacher's out as well. Head down. Oh, I was going to say, he's very aggressive on the way in, and he was. Too aggressive on the way in and all the anticipation that was building in that Williams garage. George Russell is out of qualifying. If you're not pushing, you're not trying. And he was definitely trying, and he was definitely pushing. He's on the limit. It's going to happen at some point. Do you know what I mean? You can't have a perfect qualifying session every race. Oh, that's another Williams, and that is a bigger impact. And that's Nicholas Latifi very much out of qualifying. And that is another red flag. Are you OK? Are you OK? Are you OK? Yeah, I'm fine. He's out of qualifying, as is Yuki Tsunoda, Lando Norris, Lance Stroll and George Russell, because the session will not be resumed. We've seen with Max, when the car's a little bit twitchy, he is super fast. And I think we're going to see that right now. No Dutch driver has ever started higher than 14th for a Dutch Grand Prix. Max Verstappen in the one minute, eight seconds. And that has delighted the Dutch crowd here. He was a couple of tenths up on both Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton through the first sector. He was two tenths up on Valtteri Bottas through the middle sector. He was a tenth up on this man, Lewis Hamilton, through the middle sector, pushing Max Verstappen and maybe pushing Mercedes to places they just can't go here. Because Valtteri Bottas finishes three tenths behind Verstappen. As we watch Hamilton coming off the banking at the final corner. Is he the man that can deny Verstappen pole? Not on this evidence. He's three and a bit tenths off Verstappen. And he's behind his teammate, Valtteri Bottas. Verstappen starts his final flying lap. Valtteri Bottas, Lewis Hamilton, Daniel Ricciardo are the three that haven't started their flying lap as yet. Hamilton might get caught by Leclerc going through the final corner as Verstappen continues on his way and takes that high line around the banking at Turn 3. A slingshot on the exit and out towards Turn 4. The nice fast flowing S's section as we can watch Lewis Hamilton going around the banking. Leclerc finishes his lap, goes fourth fastest. Hamilton gets to the line with about eight seconds to spare. So it's going to be right down to the last gasps for Verstappen to see if he's got pole here. And he's going to have to be waiting a long time for the Mercedes to cross the line. Checker flag is out as Pierre Gasly goes fourth fastest, retakes that position on the second row. That is a super performance from him. Ferrari, fifth and sixth, Esteban Ocon goes seventh fastest. Verstappen's going quicker through that middle sector. Roar of approval from the fans as they see that one. And they rise to acclaim Max Verstappen here as Giovinazzi goes seventh fastest. And that's a super qualified performance from him. Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton seem to be the only two that can deny Max Verstappen, who might yet go quicker than his provisional pole time. Guess what? He does! Verstappen's on pole here in Zandvoort. There's the Mercedes of Bottas and Hamilton, who can try and deny him his first pole position in his home Grand Prix. Now on the banking we go with Valtteri Bottas, who knows what it's like in the junior formula to have success here. But at the moment, Bottas can only make second place on the grid. Can Hamilton deny Max Verstappen? The two championship protagonists battling it in qualifying. Hamilton is alongside Max Verstappen on the front row for what will be the sixth time in 2021. But the celebrations here in Zandvoort for the home favourite Max Verstappen, no one could deny him pole. And by three one hundredths of a second, he takes it over Hamilton. That is pole position, mate. Pole position, home Grand Prix. Really proud of you, nice job. Yes, guys, unbelievable. What a great car today. It was unbelievable. We're just flying. Thank you so much. Sixth pole in the last seven races for Max Verstappen, sharing the front row with Hamilton for the sixth time in 2021. Wow. We've seen the battling in lap one. We've seen them coming together in lap one. We don't know how this race is going to pan out. The teams don't know because we haven't been to Zandvoort for 36 years. What we do know is the two fastest drivers on the grid and the two best drivers on the grid are going to be starting alongside each other.