Verstappen blows rivals away for pole, Leclerc crashes as Hamilton falters

Max Verstappen set a scintillating final lap to secure pole position for the Dutch Grand Prix.

The Dutchman set a benchmark of a 1:10.567 to beat McLaren's Lando Norris by 0.537secs in front of his adoring home crowd.

George Russell secured third on the grid for Mercedes as Ferrari's Charles Leclerc again found himself ending qualifying in the barriers.

Q3 was twice red-flagged for incidents with Logan Sargeant's day in the sun quickly turning sour.

The Williams rookie had made it through to the top 10 in qualifying for the first time in his F1 career and having slotted into second early in the final segment, Sargeant got away from the dry line and crashed heavily at Turn 2.

After a lengthy delay for barrier repairs, Leclerc understeered wide at Turn 9, causing extensive damage to the left-hand side of his Ferrari.

Leclerc's incident followed his Miami Grand Prix crash and will leave Ferrari nervous over potential gearbox damage.

Williams driver Alex Albon took a sublime fourth ahead of Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso, whilst Carlos Sainz ensured there will be six different cars in the first six positions on the grid.

Sergio Perez was only seventh fastest in the second Red Bull ahead of Oscar Piastri, with Leclerc and Sargeant on row five.

Hamilton Q2 nightmare

Hamilton was unhappy throughout Q2 and ultimately set his best effort a lap too early as the track continued to dry.

The seven-time World Champion was left to get out of the way of those on flying laps at the death, eventually being shuffled down to only 13th on the grid - the second time this year Hamilton has exited in the second session this term.

He will start behind Aston Martin's Lance Stroll, who missed out on a Q3 spot by just 0.054s to Sargeant, with Alpine's Pierre Gasly and Hamilton both within a tenth of the cut-off line.

Summing up the chaotic nature of the final moments, Yuki Tsunoda and Nico Hulkenberg had both occupied a top 10 spot after the chequered flag had flown, before the AlphaTauri and Haas drivers were pegged back to 14th and 15th.

Ocon shocker as Lawson keeps his nose clean

Esteban Ocon was the big name to miss out on Q2 with only the 17th quickest time for Alpine.

The Frenchman simply struggled for pace as the track continuously ramped up with cars circulating on Intermediate tyres.

Zhou Guanyu held a massive slide through the penultimate corner on his final effort to take 16th on the grid, though that moment likely cost the Alfa Romeo driver a place in the second session having been beaten by Sargeant by just 0.031s.

Ocon will be joined on the second-to-last row of the grid by Haas' Kevin Magnussen, who twice went straight on at Turn 1 after his team had prepared him for qualifying.

The Dane had missed a chunk of time following a crash in final practice but failed to offer his mechanics a reward.

Valtteri Bottas was a surprise down in 19th given his pace through practice, whilst F1 debutant Liam Lawson - who is standing in for the injured Daniel Ricciardo - rounded out the field with a solid introduction.