Lando Norris starts on pole alongside championship leader Max Verstappen at Zandvoort; Norris is looking to win his second career F1 race; watch the Dutch Grand Prix live on Sky Sports F1 and Main Event from 2pm Sunday (build-up from 12.30pm)
Sunday 25 August 2024 10:04, UK
Lando Norris says he's relishing a fight with Max Verstappen at the Dutch Grand Prix on Sunday as he looks to win the first F1 race after the summer break.
Norris took a stunning pole position by over three tenths from home hero Verstappen in qualifying, as the title protagonists line up on the front row together, with Oscar Piastri and George Russell in behind.
The Briton is 78 points behind Verstappen with 10 races remaining and realistically needs to win multiple races to put the championship leader under serious pressure.
"I wish he was last but it doesn't matter, honestly. I think it's probably better for me in terms of, I want to go up against Max, I want to fight him," Norris told Sky Sports F1.
"I wish I had a bigger gap to him but at the same time, I enjoy racing against him. He is my main competitor at the minute and I enjoy those battles that we have. So as much as I want that, I also don't want it.
"I want to be able to focus on a good start, focus on getting to Turn 1 well, and go from there."
Norris has started on pole three times for a Grand Prix and twice for a Sprint in his career. Each time, he's lost the lead after the first lap, most notably this year to Verstappen at the Spanish Grand Prix and to his McLaren team-mate Piastri in Hungary.
The short run to Turn One at Zandvoort should give Norris every advantage to maintain the lead over Verstappen on Sunday when the lights go out at 2pm - live on Sky Sports F1 and Main Event.
Norris says stats "don't mean a lot" to him and has been working over the summer break to improve his first laps.
"I just need to do what I've been practicing. There's not a lot to say, honestly," he said.
"I know it's not been my strength, my forte, and those couple of times I've been on pole, I've not stayed there. But it's been for different reasons, it's not like a common thing.
"I just keep my head down, keep focused. What we're doing is good work and I'll keep making sure that I do the same for tomorrow."
Verstappen is on his longest winless run since 2020 having gone four races without victory and appears to accept that streak is likely to be extended on Sunday.
"When you see the gap (in qualifying), it's going to be very tricky. It seems like Lando has been happier in general with the driving and how he feels," Verstappen said.
"I'm a bit more all over the place with the balance. Maybe it stabilises a bit tomorrow. Anything can happen, so we will find out."
The Dutchman appeared to be cruising towards a fourth successive drivers' title when he won four of the opening five races of the season, but has regularly been matched or outperformed by the McLarens since Norris took his maiden F1 win at the Miami Grand Prix in May.
Verstappen's challenge only appears to have been heightened by the major upgrade package McLaren have brought to Zandvoort, which is their first since Miami.
"They are quick in every scenario," Verstappen told Sky Sports F1. "Cold, warm, race-pace, qualifying - it doesn't matter if it's wet. They don't really have weak points anymore.
"And from our side I think the race pace is not particularly strong compared to them, so I don't expect any miracles.
"But again, tomorrow is a long race, a lot of things can happen. We just need to be in there, and then you never know what happens."
It's possible that Norris' biggest challenge could come from his team-mate Piastri, who overtook the Brit at the start of the Hungarian Grand Prix in July on the way to his maiden grand prix win.
That one-two in Budapest was overshadowed by a team orders controversy as McLaren's strategy enabled Norris to undercut Piastri for the lead before the positions were eventually switched back.
Aside from the radio drama that played out, it was clear on that occasion that McLaren were willing to let their cars race each other, and Piastri expects the same this time around.
"The rules are very, very clear and haven't changed," the Australian said. "We are free to race each other to try and win.
"We are in a Constructors' Championship fight and know there's a lot at stake for the team but we have shown time and time again that we can race each other well and cleanly. We are both free to race and that's not changed."
In Hungary, Piastri was able to take the lead from second on the grid at the start, but he expects a "tougher" challenge in the Netherlands.
"It will be a bit tougher tomorrow," Piastri told Sky Sports F1. "The run to Turn 1 is a lot shorter here, I'm one position further back from where I started when I won, so it's a bit more of a challenge definitely.
"But it's a long, long race, no one has done that many laps in terms of long runs. So let's see. Everyone's got very different tyre allocations as well, so let's see what it brings."
Sunday August 25
9.40am: F1 Academy: Race Two
12:30pm: Grand Prix Sunday: Dutch GP build-up
2pm: The DUTCH GRAND PRIX
4pm: Chequered Flag: Dutch GP reaction
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