Lando Norris put himself in the perfect place to blow the world championship wide open by taking a brilliant pole position for the Dutch Grand Prix.

If the title fight is to ignite it has to happen in Zandvoort tomorrow, with Norris in desperate need of narrowing his 78-point deficit to Max Verstappen. Nine races will remain once the circus leaves Holland and every point counts.

Verstappen qualified second quickest in front of a fervent home crowd of 100,000. The grandstand crowd thought he might have taken pole and cheered hard – and then along came Norris through the blustery seaside air.

He was the only man to dip under 70 seconds, three-and-a-half tenths ahead of Verstappen, and more than a tenth quicker than McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri in third.

Defending triple world champion Verstappen, who has won the last three editions of this race, has been unhappy with the performance of his Red Bull all weekend.

Lando Norris secured pole position by finishing top of qualifying for the Dutch Grand Prix
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Lando Norris secured pole position by finishing top of qualifying for the Dutch Grand Prix

Championship leader Max Verstappen will join Norris on the front row of the grid
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Championship leader Max Verstappen will join Norris on the front row of the grid

Verstappen has gone four races without a win for the first time in four years, and that needs to be extended to five. The pressure is on Norris.

A poor day for Lewis Hamilton. He could manage no better than 12th place for Mercedes. In the old days that would have been a major surprise; now it causes an eyebrow to rise.

It is the second time in succession that the world’s most successful driver has failed to make it out of Q2 at Zandvoort. He qualified a place lower a year ago.

‘OK, Lewis, I’m afraid it’s P12,’ race engineer Peter Bonnington told him. ‘We’ve been bumped. Just four-and-a-half tenths to P1, so it’s very tight in that middle pack.’

Yes, but he was four-tenths back from Russell in the other Mercedes. Curious. Russell went on to qualify fourth.

Hamilton was facing investigation by the stewards for possibly impeding Red Bull’s Sergio Perez, who was fifth best.

Logan Sargeant sat out qualifying after his car caught fire during practice on Saturday lunchtime.

Lewis Hamilton could only qualify down in 12th place as he endured a disappointing day
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Lewis Hamilton could only qualify down in 12th place as he endured a disappointing day

The American lost control of his Williams in wet conditions on the exit of the banked Turn 3 and hit the barriers hard before spinning 270 degrees, his right rear wheel becoming detached as the drama unfolded.

The rear of his car then went up in bright orange flames. A concerned Russell pulled alongside the 23-year-old Sargeant and gestured to him to scramble out of the cockpit, which he did.

He was declared fit after a visit to the medical centre. But, despite the best efforts of his mechanics, there was no way his destroyed machine could be repaired in the two-and-a-half hours between sessions.

Sargeant will start at the back of the grid. Which is not an uncommon experience for him.