Title-chasing McLaren driver Lando Norris remained hopeful of success on Saturday despite qualifying in a lowly 17th place for Sunday’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix. The Briton, knocked out of the first qualifying session for the first time since the 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix, lost his best lap when he eased off due to a yellow flag, but said he would do his best to limit damage to his championship challenge. Norris is 62 points behind three-time champion and series leader Max Verstappen of Red Bull with eight races, and three sprint races, remaining with the Dutchman qualifying in sixth place for Sunday’s race.

Verstappen has failed to win in six races, but showed improved form in practice and qualifying in Baku after a dismal run of form.

“I’m not expecting a lot from 17th,” said Norris.

“But we will put in a good plan tonight and do our best.”

He said his lap, interrupted by the yellows, had been “easily good enough” before he “had to back off”.

His race engineer Will Joseph said: “Mate I’m sorry” on team radio, suggesting he felt that he could have advised him sooner of the spin by Williams’ Alex Albon that led to the yellow flag.

“I hope I’m wrong,” said Norris. “And I hope there are plenty of chances to overtake, but I’m not expecting it. It’s a very low downforce track which makes it pretty much impossible for overtaking.

“It’s worse than people think and not easy, but I’ll do my best.”

Norris’s flop effectively rendered redundant any likely use of team orders this weekend to boost his hopes of victory with support from team-mate Oscar Piastri who starts from the front row alongside pole-sitter Charles Leclerc of Ferrari.

Piastri said: “I got a little bit close to the walls on my last lap — I was just trying to get the most out of it. This track rewards commitment and, last lap in Q3, I knew I had a little less to lose so I just tried to maximise the car.

“It was feeling good all the way through.”

Looking ahead to the race, he said: “Following around here is really tough so it’s good to get soe clean air. We’ll see what I can do. Our race pace is good, but again the Ferraris are not slow.”

Behind Piastri, Carlos Sainz will start from third place in the second Ferrari ahead of Sergio Perez of Red Bull, Mercedes’ George Russell, Verstappen and seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton in the second Mercedes.

Charles Leclerc on Saturday set himself up to bid for another emotional Ferrari victory when he claimed his fourth consecutive pole position on the streets of Baku for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. The Monegasque driver, who triumphed at Monaco in May and won the Italian Grand Prix at Monza two weeks ago, continued his supreme current form to beat McLaren’s Oscar Piastri by three-tenths of a second. Despite three previous poles in 2021, 2022 and 2023, Leclerc has yet to taste victory in Azerbaijan.

In a dramatic qualifying session with title-chasing Lando Norris, in the second McLaren, eliminated in Q1 in 17th place, Leclerc clocked a best lap of one minute and 43.365 on his final run to take his career 26th pole.

Series leader and three-time champion Max Verstappen of Red Bull, who leads Norris by 62 points, qualified only sixth.

“It’s amazing to be on pole,” said Leclerc.

‘The pace was there’

“The car felt really good and everything was great. It’s one of my favourite tracks. I really like it. It hasn’t been an easy weekend because of my crash in FP1.

“It didn’t make me lose confidence, as I knew that the pace was there, but you’ve got to be back up to speed.

“In Q3 and qualifying, it was all about trying to stay away from the walls and on the last lap I went for it a bit more – and the lap time came very nicely.”

His Ferrari team-mate Carlos Sainz was third in the second Ferrari ahead of Sergio Perez of Red Bull and Mercedes’ George Russell.

“Its the best we could hope for,” said Leclerc.

“The left side of the grid is a little bit less grippy, so first and third is where you want to start here and hopefully we can play a team game tomorrow to win.

“It’s going to be a long race. In the past, we have been very strong in qualifying and struggled a bit in the race, but this year we have a stronger race car — so I hope we can finally make it tomorrow.

“Tyre management will be a big thing so we’ve got to do a good job again. We did a good job in Monza, but we have to re-set every race we do so this is another race with other issues.”

Ferrari team-mate Carlos Sainz qualified third.

“We had a solid qualifying and we’re in a good position. I’ve never felt 100 per cent hooked up around here in my career and I tend to struggle on this track, but this is a good position. And my race pace seemed strong — so I think it is all to play for.”

Sergio Perez was a strong fourth for Red Bull on a track he enjoys, ahead of George Russell of Mercedes and Verstappen.

Seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton was seventh for Mercedes ahead of two-time champion Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin and Argentine new boy Franco Colapinto who out-paced his more experienced Williams team-mate Alex Albon.

British driver George Russell set the fastest time in practice at the Dutch Grand Prix on Friday, with local hero Max Verstappen complaining of a lack of pace as he trailled in fifth. Mercedes star Russell set a lap time of 1:10.702 early in the second hour-long practice session and it was never beaten, Oscar Piastri from Australia coming in 0.061 seconds behind in a McLaren. World champion Verstappen of Red Bull came in fifth, 0.284 seconds behind Russell, having been pipped into second by Lando Norris from McLaren in the day’s first practice session.

“We didn’t quite have the pace on the long and the short runs and at the moment, there isn’t a clear answer on how to improve this, but we will look into things,” said Verstappen.

The second session was paused for six minutes while officials cleared debris off the track after Nico Hulkenberg crashed his Haas as his rear tyres locked up.

In the first practice session earlier Friday, the drivers had to deal with typical Dutch weather that swung from torrential rain to bright sunshine and back within minutes.

Even Verstappen spun his Red Bull on the wet track but as the clouds parted and the sun emerged, so did quicker lap times, with the lead changing hands several times.

In a thrilling last lap, Verstappen took the lead only to be pipped by Norris, who turned in a lap of 1:12.322, just 0.201 seconds ahead of his Dutch rival.

“A pleasing first day back on track,” said Norris after the second practice session.

“We made some good progress and the car is in a strong position ahead of qualification tomorrow.”

Russell said he struggled with “perhaps the windiest conditions I can remember” but added that the car was performing well after an upgrade to the floor.

“We expect to be facing another fascinating battle across the rest of the weekend for the podium spots,” predicted Russell.

Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton could also be satisfied with his day’s work, finishing third behind Russell and Piastri.

– ‘A lot of points’ –

Verstappen, 26, has never lost at his “home” Grand Prix since it was reintroduced to the circuit in 2021.

The three-time champion had a blistering start to the season, picking up from where he left off in 2023 with seven wins out of the first 10.

But he has endured a lean spell by his high standards, failing to take the chequered flag in any of the last four Grands Prix — his most barren period since 2020.

This has given the chasing pack, led by Norris, some hope they can somehow prevent Verstappen cruising to a fourth world championship.

Norris sits 78 points behind Verstappen in the drivers’ championship and while he hopes to overhaul the Dutchman, he was realistic about his chances before the race.

“It’s a lot of points and it’s against Max, so I want to be optimistic and say there’s still chances, I know it’s a lot and it’s going to be a very difficult challenge.”

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella, said that Norris “definitely has the potential of a world champion and he’s performing at world championship level”.

Whether he can top the standings this year remains an open question, though, Stella told reporters.

“Numerically, from a driver’s championship point of view, it looks like there’s a big gap to fill and we are chasing Max Verstappen, so definitely he’s not going to make it easy for us.

“But we are excited to be in this position.”

Britain’s Lando Norris was fastest in the first practice session for the Dutch Grand Prix Friday, pipping home favourite Max Verstappen in wildly unpredictable weather conditions on the Zandvoort circuit. In classic Dutch seaside fashion, the weather veered from torrential rain to bright sunshine and back again in a matter of minutes, making tyre and racing strategy a real headache. On a thrilling last lap of practice, Verstappen briefly took the fastest lap time in his Red Bull before McLaren’s Norris seized back the advantage with a 1:12.322 lap.

Verstappen was just 0.201 seconds behind, with the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton third, a further 0.483 seconds behind the Dutchman.

On the wet track, even Verstappen locked up his wheels and spun out of control just as he looked to be delivering the fastest lap.

Then the clouds parted, the sun emerged, and the lap times quickened appreciably, the lead changing hands several times over the hour of practice.

Local hero Verstappen has never lost at his “home” Grand Prix since it was reintroduced to the circuit in 2021.

The three-time champion had a blistering start to the season, picking up from where he left off in 2023 with seven wins out of the first 10.

But he has endured a lean spell by his high standards, failing to take the chequered flag in any of the last four Grands Prix — his most barren period since 2020.

This has given the chasing pack, led by Norris, some hope they can somehow prevent Verstappen cruising to a fourth world championship.

Norris sits 78 points behind Verstappen in the drivers’ championship and while he hopes to overhaul the Dutchman, he was realistic about his chances before the race.

“It’s a lot of points and it’s against Max, so I want to be optimistic and say there’s still chances, I know it’s a lot and it’s going to be a very difficult challenge.”

Max Verstappen, facing a 10-place grid penalty for taking a new engine, topped the times for Red Bull ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in a qualifying session run in mixed wet-and-dry conditions at the Belgian Grand Prix on Saturday. Leclerc will start Sunday’s race from pole position as he did in 2023 with Sergio Perez alongside him in the second Red Bull, the Mexican having ended a nightmare run of qualifying failures amid reports that his future with the team is at risk.

Seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton qualified fourth for Mercedes and will share the second row of the grid with McLaren’s Lando Norris, who qualified fifth ahead of team-mate Oscar Piastri and George Russell in the second Mercedes.

Carlos Sainz was eighth in the second Ferrari in front of compatriot and two-time champion Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin, Esteban Ocon of Alpine and Alex Albon of Williams — who will be 10th on the grid ahead of Verstappen.

“It was a nice qualifying and luckily the weather was ok,” said Verstappen, referring to earlier heavy rain that turned final practice into a washout. “It was raining a little bit, but we could do a decent session.

“I know I have to start 10 places back so this was the best I could do today and we’ll go from there. I don’t know quick we are going to be, but I hope we can be in the mix.”

Verstappen will be bidding to win the Belgian race for the fourth consecutive year, having won previously after taking grid penalties, but his car this year lacks the same clear superiority. Last year, he won from sixth. This year he starts 11th.

“It’s exactly the same as last year and, for me, it’s good as I didn’t expect that. We had tricky conditions and the rain helped us a bit and it’s good to be back at the front of the grid,” said Leclerc.

In steady but light rain, Norris led a train of cars from the pitlane for Q1, followed by both Haas cars and his McLaren team-mate Piastri, who was forced to drop to fourth by an exit by Kevin Magnussen that he described as “dangerous”.

– Racing in the rain –

A heavy shower was forecast by McLaren and this accelerated all 20 drivers to join the fray in pursuit of an early banker lap before the conditions deteriorated. All were on intermediates as Norris clocked 1:58.894 before being beaten by Piastri, in 1:57.411.

Verstappen then took over on top in 1:56.003 with Piastri threatening and taking second before rising to take command with five minutes to go in 1:55.549, before the Dutchman regained the ascendancy.

He clocked 1:54.938 to go six-tenths clear of Piastri while Norris struggled to match him and Russell fought to survive, rising from 17th to third in the final seconds of Q1.

Taking advantage of a problem for Verstappen, who was involved in a blocking incident with Zhou Guanyu’s Sauber, Piastri took top spot again in 1:54.835 ahead of Pierre Gasly.

The early departures were taken by the two Haas men, Nico Hulkenberg and Magnussen, RB’s Yuki Tsunoda, who will start from the back of the grid after taking a penalty for new power unit parts, Logan Sargeant of Williams and Zhou.

Q2 began in similar fashion, with rain forecast and all 15 runners on track, Alex Albon setting the early pace for Williams before Norris took over in 1:54.459 and then Verstappen, in 1:53.857. All were on ‘inters’ again.

With five minutes to go, Russell and Leclerc, with fresh tyres, were both in the drop-zone as the rain intensified. Russell reacted by leaping to fourth followed by Leclerc, taking third, and Hamilton up fifth.

Late faster laps from Perez, Ocon and Gasly pushed the Mercedes pair to go second and third while the under-pressure Perez survived by 0.003 seconds. Albon, Pierre Gasly of Alpine, Daniel Ricciardo of RB, Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas and Lance Stroll, whose Aston Martin team had rebuilt his car after his crash in FP3, missed the cut.

Hamilton was first out for Q3 and posted a lap in 1:54.011 as a marker.

On their first runs, only the two Red Bulls beat him, Verstappen going top in 1:53.159, leaving it all down to the final laps to decide the final grid order.

Oscar Piastri claimed his maiden Formula One victory on Sunday when he finished ahead of his McLaren team-mate Lando Norris, after a vexed radio argument produced an extraordinary finish to an incident-filled Hungarian Grand Prix. In a race of fluctuating fortunes and many quarrels on and off the track, the McLaren duo secured a comprehensive one-two after starting from the team’s first front row lockout since 2012, Norris finally obeying team orders to hand his team-mate his first career win.

Piastri, 23, won by 2.141 seconds with seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton finishing third for Mercedes to claim his record 200th podium finish.

He survived a late collision with Red Bull’s three-time champion and series leader Max Verstappen, who flew off, but recovered to finish fifth.

Charles Leclerc came home fourth and Ferrari team-mate Carlos Sainz sixth, sandwiching a grumpy Verstappen who was called to see the stewards to explain his collision with Hamilton.

Sergio Perez finished seventh for Red Bull, having started 16th on the grid, ahead of George Russell in the second Mercedes, who started 17th, and RB’s Yuki Tsunoda. Lance Stroll was 10th for Aston Martin.

“It’s very special,” said Australian driver Piastri.

“I dreamt of this as a kid and if it was a bit complicated at the end, I did put myself in the right position at the start of the race.

“It’s a hell of a lot of fun racing with McLaren. This is an incredible feeling.”

Norris was first to congratulate his team-mate, after he had appeared to reject team orders and allow the Australian to pass in the closing stages.

“Well done, a good 1-2 and lots of good points for the team. Well deserved,” he said.

Norris had made an uncertain start and he, Piastri and Verstappen were three abreast into Turn One where Piastri exited in the lead as the Dutchman ran wide and cut back into second place, gaining a clear advantage and pushing Norris down to third.

This prompted an exchange of messages before race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase told Verstappen to allow Norris to pass, a command that clearly irked him.

“So, you can just run people off the track?” barked the Dutchman.

‘Do the right thing’

By lap 10, Piastri led Norris by 2.7 seconds with Verstappen third adrift by two seconds ahead of Hamilton and the two Ferraris, led by Leclerc.

Hamilton eventually reeled off a series of fastest laps to rise to third, but Verstappen on younger tyres reeled him in, waiting to pounce as the Briton endured a lurid slide out of Turn 12 before pitting again on lap 41 after fending off the Dutchman.

At the front, Piastri was in cruise mode ahead of Norris with Verstappen third, 11.5 seconds adrift. Hamilton rejoined fifth behind Sainz, but with Leclerc, on new mediums, on his tail.

Norris pitted again for mediums on lap 46, rejoining fourth ahead of Hamilton, followed by Piastri on 47, handing the lead to Verstappen with Norris up to second, but told to “re-establish the order at your convenience”.

Verstappen made his second stop, for mediums, on lap 50, rejoining fifth behind Leclerc, but adrift of the Ferrari by 4.5.

In the lead, Norris was reminded of his team instructions and responsibilities as Piastri closed in.

“We know you’ll do the right thing,” said McLaren, but Norris, knowing he could reduce Verstappen’s championship lead, stayed silent when told not to stress his tyres.

“Tell him to catch up, please,” he said.

As McLaren’s tensions boiled over, Verstappen lunged down the inside of Hamilton at Turn One on lap 63, but locked up and clipped the Mercedes. The collision sent him airborne briefly before he bounced clear and wide before rejoining in fifth.

McLaren then issued an ultimatum to Norris.

“There are five laps to go. The way to win a championship is not by yourself. It is with the team. You are going to need Oscar and you are going to need the team.”

With three laps remaining, Norris slowed dramatically to gift Piastri the lead.

Lando Norris grabbed pole position ahead of his team-mate Oscar Piastri for the Hungarian Grand Prix on Saturday as McLaren locked out the front row of the grid for the first time since 2012. Red Bull’s three-time champion Max Verstappen had to settle for third and the second row in the tense wet-dry qualifying. The 24-year-old Briton, who is 84 points behind Verstappen in this year’s title race, clocked a best lap in one minute and 15.227 seconds to outpace the Australian by 0.022 seconds.

Verstappen was three-hundredths of a second adrift in third ahead of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, who leaves the team at the end of the year, and seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes, who will replace him.

Charles Leclerc, in the second Ferrari was sixth ahead of two-time champion Fernando Alonso and his Aston Martin team-mate Lance Stroll and the RBs of Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda, who had survived a high-speed crash earlier in Q3.

It was Norris’s second pole in four races and the third of his burgeoning career as he gains front-running experience in his bid to challenge Verstappen who, on Sunday bids to complete a hat-trick of Hungarian wins.

“I’m very happy with that and it wasn’t easy at all in difficult conditions so ending up on top is the best for us all and a great result for the team,” said Norris.

“We have come into this weekend confident we can do a good job so to be on pole is sweet.”

“It’s the first 1-2 for McLaren for a long time and an amazing result for us,” said Piastri. “I had a tricky day yesterday so for me it is nice to bounce back.”

Verstappen said: “I tried. We have been behind the whole weekend and I tried to make it as close as possible, but it wasn’t enough. I would have liked a bit more grip…”

After Friday’s sweltering conditions for practice, qualifying began in much cooler weather with temperatures and light rain falling.

The McLaren pair were first out on soft slick tyres along with Kevin Magnussen in his Haas.

Under pressure Perez

George Russell was also struggling before the session was red-flagged when Sergio Perez smacked the wall at Turn Eight, having lost control and made a sideways slide into the barriers in the second Red Bull.

For the under-pressure Mexican driver, it was another Q1 setback in a sequence of bad qualifying outings and came just seconds after Russell had saved his car sliding off at the same place as the rain intensified.

After a 12-minute break, the action resumed with Perez hanging on in ninth from his earlier efforts, before he suffered his fourth Q1 exit in six outings as he embarked on two racing weekends that many observers believe offer him a last chance to save his seat at Red Bull.

In a frantic finale to Q1, on a damp circuit, Russell managed to jump from 14th to 10th but it was not enough as others improved to leave him 17th and out, taking an early exit for the second year running at the Hungaroring along with Perez, 16th, Zhou Guanyu of Sauber and the two Alpines of Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly who stayed in the pits.

Unexpectedly, Daniel Ricciardo was fastest for RB in the changing conditions while Norris was only 13th.

“I’m sorry about this session guys,” said Russell, who had asked for more fuel to prolong his running to three laps. “That one is on me.”

The Q2 segment started with Sainz on top, until Hamilton and then Verstappen took over, the Dutchman in 1:15.770, nine-tenths faster than Hamilton’s pole in 2023. Piastri went second only 0.015 off the pace.

On his second run, Norris took command in 1:15.540 while Hamilton struggled to survive in 10th and Haas’s Nico Hulkenberg, Valtteri Bottas of Sauber, Williams’ Alex Albon, Sargeant and Magnussen missed the cut to the top-ten shootout.

All this left Norris and Verstappen to scrap for pole, as rain was forecast, and the Dutchman led them out to clock 1:15.555 before Norris cut that time by 0.328 with his lap in 1:15.227. It was provisional pole, as rain began to fall.

The world champion pushed to improve but stayed third as Yuki Tsunoda crashed at Turn Five in his RB to prompt a red-flag stoppage. It was a big accident, but the Japanese driver was unhurt.

Two minutes and 13 seconds remained, enough time for one more flying run as the marshals cleared the debris. In the event, as it drizzled, only Ricciardo improved his time to take ninth from his team-mate.

File image of Kevin Magnussen.© Instagram

Mercedes’ driver Lewis Hamilton waits to compete in the Formula One British Grand Prix on July 7, 2024.© AFP

George Russell is the form man in Formula 1 at the moment, as he grabbed a second pole position in four races to head an all-British top 3 in the British Grand Prix qualifying on Saturday. Russell finished 0.171s ahead of Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton, who qualified P2. McLaren’s Lando Norris slotted in third, despite being the favourite going into qualifying. His teammate Oscar Piastri qualified P5. It was a disappointing day for Max Verstappen by his standards, as he qualified only fourth. But how did Mercedes come out on top?

Wet weather the secret to Mercedes success

Not for the first time in 2024, the Mercedes came alive in cooler conditions. Much like the Canadian GP when Russell grabbed pole, a wet-to-dry qualifying session suited the Mercedes car during qualifying, making them the team to beat on the soft tyre runs.

Championship leader Max Verstappen went off into the gravel in Q1, and a possible loss of downforce from that incident meant that the Dutchman was never really in contention for pole.

With rain on the cards on Sunday, George Russell will be eyeing up a second successive win, after his Austrian GP success last weekend.

Watch out for Hamilton, Norris

Lewis Hamilton is an eight-time winner at Silverstone, and no driver drives the circuit quite like the seven-time world champion. Starting on the front row, Hamilton, for once in 2024, will not have to rue a poor qualifying result.

Lando Norris in the McLaren is likely to also take the fight to the two Silver Arrows. In recent weekends, the McLaren has been the fastest car on raceday.

Day to forget for Ferrari

Ferrari have abruptly fallen behind Red Bull, McLaren and Mercedes, proved by the fact that Nico Hulkenberg in the Haas outqualified Carlos Sainz. The day was even worse for Charles Leclerc, who failed to make it to Q3.

Lance Stroll (P8) also outqualified Fernando Alonso (P10) in the Aston Martin team.

Earlier in the day, Sergio Perez beached it in the gravel in Q1, meaning it was yet another Q1 elimination for the Mexican.

British GP Qualifying Top 10: 1. George Russell, 2. Lewis Hamilton, 3. Lando Norris, 4. Max Verstappen, 5. Oscar Piastri, 6. Nico Hulkenberg, 7. Carlos Sainz, 8. Lance Stroll, 9. Alex Albon, 10. Fernando Alonso.