Max Verstappen Soaks Up Pressure To Claim Pole At Home Dutch Grand Prix

Max Verstappen claimed pole position for his home Dutch Grand Prix on Saturday to the delight of his orange army of fans packing the stands at Zandvoort. McLaren's Lando Norris will start alongside the Red Bull double world champion on the front row of Sunday's race.

A runaway leader by 125 points in the championship Verstappen has a perfect record since his home event returned to the F1 calendar in 2021, starting from the front of the grid and winning both races. In tricky changeable conditions at the unforgiving seaside circuit two red flags led to a frantic closing couple of minutes  - just time to nail one final flying lap.

And not for the first time Verstappen produced the goods.

"It was a very tricky qualifying, all about staying out of trouble," said Verstappen who is on a quest for a ninth successive win on Sunday to  draw him level with Sebastian Vettel's record set in 2013.