Red Bull’s Max Verstappen beats Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc to pole at Dutch Grand Prix by slim margin

Max Verstappen claimed pole by two-hundredths of a second at the Dutch Grand Prix on Saturday afternoon.

There was a dramatic end to the session as Charles Leclerc had looked like he would take the place on the front of the grid, but he was edged out fractionally and will begin alongside the current championship leader and last year’s world champion.

The Ferraris will be pleased with their performance as their other driver, Spain’s Carlos Sainz, took third, with the other Red Bull, Sergio Perez, down in fifth.

Perez’s late crash in Q3 hampered the Mercedes team as their last attempted runs were abandoned due to the resultant yellow flag.

After being impressive on Friday, Mercedes scored fourth with Lewis Hamilton and sixth with George Russell.

While it is no surprise to see the consistent Lando Norris up in seventh, the rest of the top 10 is a touch unexpected, with Mick Schumacher, Yuki Tsunoda and Lance Stroll in eighth, ninth and tenth respectively.

Perez’s crash was just one disruption for the drivers, as a flare on the track brought a red flag midway through the session, and a second flag just off the tarmac brought another yellow.