Max Verstappen (1/66 Drivers Championship Outright) may already have one hand on the trophy as he looks to make it back-to-back Drivers’ Championship successes but he is showing no signs of letting up as he claimed pole position at the Dutch Grand Prix.
The Dutchman held a 93-point lead over Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez in the standings coming into this race, with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc a further five points adrift in third, but Verstappen clearly is taking nothing for granted in the remaining races.
The 24-year-old came through a ding-dong battle with Leclerc in qualifying to claim pole position for his home grand prix, after managing to edge out his title rival by a mere 0.021 seconds on his final lap.
After winning the Belgian GP from 14th on the grid last weekend, it is no surprise that Verstappen is priced at 4/9 to win Sunday’s grand prix, having won this race in dominant fashion last year.
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The world champion was understandably delighted to have secured another pole, particularly having needed to overcome early practice issues, for which he thanked his Red Bull team.
“Unbelievable. It’s special,” Verstappen said. “Especially after yesterday as well. We had a difficult day but we worked really well over night with the whole team to turn it around.”
Leclerc (4/1 Race Winner) will start alongside the Championship leader on the front row of the grid, with Ferrari team-mate Carlos Sainz (12/1) behind him in third.
Lewis Hamilton (8/1) had been threatening pole position only to be denied the chance to finish fastest after yellow flags were brought out on his final lap after a spin from Sergio Perez (25/1), who will start behind the Briton in fifth, with George Russell (20/1) in the other Mercedes in sixth.
McLaren’s Lando Norris claimed seventh ahead of the Haas of Mick Schumacher while AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsundoda and Lance Stroll of Aston Martin completed the top 10.
