F1 LIVE: Verstappen targets win in home race as Hamilton starts fourth at Dutch GP

George Russell believes he can fight his way onto the podium despite starting sixth at the Dutch Grand Prix today. The Mercedes driver said after qualifying: “It didn’t quite work for us but P6 isn’t a terrible place to start and the run into Turn 1 and those first few laps will be vital.

“I see no reason why we can’t fight for a podium. I hope the sun comes out and combined with the orange fog, creates a bit of temperature in the atmosphere tomorrow. We understand why we were slow in Spa and why we are faster this weekend, so I think these two races have been key to our understanding of how to make a faster car across 23 races.”

Charles Leclerc: “I’m confident for tomorrow, though it’s a track on which it is rather difficult to overtake, so I hope it will be as close as today and that we can have a good battle with Max.”

Carlos Sainz: “We knew we were up for a good battle and it proved to be one of the closest qualifyings of the year. Finishing P3 within less than a tenth from pole shows how small the margin was today.

“I expect a close race with even more cars in the mix, but I’m confident we can fight for the top places. Overtaking may be a bit easier than last year and strategy will play a big role.”

Lewis Hamilton was hoping for a battle with Red Bull and Ferrari at the Dutch Grand Prix after qualifying in fourth. Hamilton will start behind Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, with Max Verstappen on pole, but ahead of Sergio Perez and team-mate George Russell, as Mercedes look for an improvement in performance.

“I generally feel good,” Hamilton said. “I’m really happy that the car has finally felt alive this weekend. And… only being a tenth behind a Red Bull was a great feeling and really gave me a lot of hope that I could fight for the front row, but then obviously the yellow flag at the end was a bit unfortunate, but that’s motor racing.

“We’ve closed the gap somehow on [a single] lap. I can’t really understand why but anyways. But I am hoping that that means we are closer and even closer in the race and if we are that would be fantastic. If we can fight these guys and have a battle with these three ahead of me, that would be an amazing experience.”

Max Verstappen told fans it was stupid to throw flares after one landed on the track and halted qualifying for his home Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort on Saturday.

Verstappen is running away with the championship, already 93 points clear at the top after 14 of 22 rounds, and the race is sold out for the Red Bull driver’s first home grand prix as champion.

The boisterous Dutch fans usually create a party atmosphere at the seaside circuit, but their habit of lighting smoking orange flares has caused problems.

“To hold flares, it’s nice but of course there’s a limit to how much. But to throw it on the track is just stupid,” Verstappen told reporters after taking pole position.

“Just don’t do that. It’s not good for anyone — you get thrown out, so you can’t see the race, and for us the session is stopped because it is dangerous, there’s stuff on the track, so you shouldn’t do it.”

While the weekend action began out on track in Zandvoort, Formula One’s most enthralling summer soap opera reached its conclusion with the news that Oscar Piastri has signed for McLaren.

The 2021 Formula Two champion has for the past month been in the middle of a squabbling match between McLaren and Alpine.

Kieran Jackson takes us through a saga that had more twists and turns than a race itself.

Lando Norris has warned Lewis Hamilton that an “unstoppable” Max Verstappen is coming for the British driver’s records.

Verstappen heads into his home race at Sunday’s Dutch Grand Prix in Zandvoort with a commanding 93-point title lead as he closes in on his second championship triumph in as many years.

The Dutch driver’s victory last time out in Belgium took him to 29 career victories, just three short of Fernando Alonso, placing him eighth on the all-time list. Hamilton holds the record of most wins (103) and, alongside Michael Schumacher, has been crowned champion of the world on seven occasions.

But Norris believes Verstappen, in his dominant Red Bull machine, could reach 70 wins within two seasons, leaving just Hamilton and Schumacher (91) ahead of a driver who has not yet celebrated his 25th birthday.

Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes boss Toto Wolff fears a Formula One driver could face “lethal consequences” if flares are thrown on to the track at Sunday’s Dutch Grand Prix.

Max Verstappen claimed pole position to the delight of his orange army after edging out Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc by just 0.021 seconds at Zandvoort. Carlos Sainz starts third with Hamilton fourth.

But Saturday’s action was overshadowed when Formula 1’s governing FIA were forced to suspend qualifying for six minutes after an orange flare landed on the circuit just as Q2 started.

On the face of it, this looks like a customary Saturday at the office for runaway championship leader Max Verstappen at his home race, securing pole position at Zandvoort on a track notoriously difficult to overtake. But unlike Spa last week, this was tight. The tightest margin of the year, in fact.

Charles Leclerc, 98 points off Verstappen in the standings with eight races to go, had the advantage throughout the final qualifying session. But a few acutely minor errors on his final improved run opened the door to Verstappen and the Flying Dutchman powered through, capturing top spot by just 0.021 seconds for, perhaps surprisingly, just his fourth pole of 2022.

Qualifying report by our correspondent Kieran Jackson

1. Max Verstappen – 284 points

2. Sergio Perez – 191 points

3. Charles Leclerc – 186 points

4. Carlos Sainz – 171 points

5. George Russell – 170 points

6. Lewis Hamilton – 146 points

7. Lando Norris – 76 points

8. Esteban Ocon – 64 points

9. Fernando Alonso – 51 points

10. Valtteri Bottas – 46 points

11. Kevin Magnussen – 22 points

12. Sebastian Vettel – 20 points

13. Daniel Ricciardo -19 points

14. Pierre Gasly – 18 points

15. Mick Schumacher – 12 points

16. Yuki Tsunoda – 11 points

17. Guanyu Zhou – 5 points

18. Alex Albon – 4 points

19. Lance Stroll – 4 points

20. Nicholas Latifi – 0 points

21. Nico Hulkenberg – 0 points