Max Verstappen record in danger as Lando Norris stuns in final Dutch GP practice

Lando Norris delivered a stunning performance in final practice for the Dutch Grand Prix to leave him in spitting distance of beating the all-time lap record posted by Max Verstappen.

With 15 minutes remaining, the McLaren driver was first out on the Zandvoort circuit to conduct a qualifying simulation run, and purpled all three sectors in posting a lap of 1:08.972s, smashing his pole position time from last year by seven-tenths of a second.

The Pirelli tyre compounds for this year are a step softer compared to 12 months ago, but nevertheless, Norris' time underlined the growing confidence of a driver who has won three of the last four grands prix.

Norris' time was also just over a tenth slower than Verstappen's best from qualifying four years ago when he set a 1:08.885s.

The Briton, nine points behind team-mate Oscar Piastri in the drivers' standings going into this weekend's race, finished 0.242s ahead of the Australian, with Mercedes' George Russell best of the rest, but 0.886s down.

Russell is also under investigation for an incident late on with Fernando Alonso in his Aston Martin.

Can Norris be stopped?

Following heavy overnight and early morning rain, the track was declared wet a minute before the start, even though it was clearly dry for around 90 per cent of it.

There were a couple of exploratory laps on intermediates, but for the most part, the drivers bided their time.

One driver eager to make up for lost time was Aston Martin's Lance Stroll in the wake of his heavy crash 11 minutes into FP2. That resulted in almost a complete overnight rebuild of the AMR25.

Stroll set the first lap of note of 1:11.854s on soft tyres, almost 20 minutes into the session, although team-mate Alonso soon deposed the Canadian by eight-tenths of a second.

Once Norris was on track, his first lap was a superb 1:10.282s, followed by Piastri, who finished 0.071s adrift, and that after losing around three-tenths of a second in the middle sector.

Overall, a mix of compounds was deployed across the field once all were on track. Verstappen, for instance, using the medium to pop into third on the timesheet, but 0.760s adrift.

Isack Hadjar, with a new power unit in his Racing Bulls following an overnight change after a difficult Friday in which he stopped on track at the start of FP2, propelled himself into third, just under half a second off the pace.

As the session ramped up in terms of track action, on medium tyres, Lewis Hamilton finally showed pace in a Ferrari that underwent a few bodywork changes as the session started, slotting himself into third, around a third of a second back.

With track evolution, with rubber being laid down after the rain, and circuit temperature rising, Haas' Oliver Bearman moved into fourth on the hard tyres.

Piastri then took over from Norris at the top of the standings with a 1:10.120s, thanks primarily to a superb first sector as his middle was again slightly slower than Norris, whilst the final sector was not a personal best.

On mediums, Russell edged out Hamilton for third by 0.096s with 20 minutes remaining.

Five minutes later, Norris embarked on the first of the qualifying simulation runs and blitzed the track with his staggering lap of 1:08.972s, a time that could not be beaten.

Piastri had to content himself with second best, followed by Russell, with Williams' Carlos Sainz a strong fourth ahead of Verstappen, and then Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, with the trio the only other drivers inside a second of Norris.

Russell, though, faces a trip to the stewards after cutting across Alonso's line in his attempt to head into the pits.

Alonso found himself squeezed close to the wall before Russell finally caught sight of Alonso in his right wing mirror, forcing him to abort his pit stop and tour round on another lap.

Alex Albon was seventh fastest in his Williams, ahead of Stroll, Hadjar and Alonso, the latter 1.260s down.

As for Hamilton, it was ultimately another disappointing session as he finished 14th, 1.401s down.

Alpine's Franco Colapinto was slowest, two seconds back.