Norris beats sprint winner Russell for Dutch GP pole position
· Yahoo Sports
World champion Lando Norris beat sprint race winner George Russell to take pole position for the Formula One Dutch Grand Prix on Saturday.
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The McLaren driver clocked the fastest time of 1 minute 11.163 seconds to beat the Mercedes title hopeful by 0.102 seconds. Championship leader Kimi Antonelli was third in the other Mercedes, 0.133 seconds off the pace.
"It doesn't get any better, a little surprised honestly. A decent lap, I was pushing as you've seen how close it is, every one-hundredth can make a difference," Norris said.
"A good turnaround from earlier where I felt we struggled a little bit."
Norris had provisional pole after his first flying lap, but improved his time in his final attempt to fend off Russell's efforts.
"Lando did a great job so congrats to him and McLaren. It was a strong session, I thought we had it there to fight for pole but second is good. I feel in a good place, I feel myself again which is important," Russell said.
Oscar Piastri was fourth in the other McLaren, followed by the Ferraris of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc. Four-time world champion Max Verstappen was seventh, with this weekend's team-mate Liam Lawson right behind in eighth.
Racing Bull driver Lawson is replacing Isack Hadjar, who's out due to a wrist injury.
Gabriel Bortoleto of Audi and Arvid Lindblad of Racing Bulls completed the top 10.
Russell wins sprint race
Earlier on Saturday, Russell got a taste of victory again as he cruised to victory in the sprint race.
The Mercedes driver started from pole, retained his lead and faced no trouble on his way to the finish line.
This was his first win in a sprint or a main race since his triumph at the Austrian GP in June.
"I knew if there were going to be any overtakes, they would be towards the end, so I knew I needed to manage (the tyres) to make sure I had some at the end. I knew Charles (Leclerc) would be fast, but I was able to stay away," Russell said.
Leclerc grabbed second place after his patient chase paid off, and he overtook the Norris on lap 18. The defending F1 champion had to settle for third.
"I knew Lando didn't have much deployment on the main straight, so I needed to maximize that. But we still arrived at the braking point at the same moment, so it was tough," Leclerc said.
Antonelli was fourth, followed by Piastri, Verstappen and Hamilton. Pierre Gasly of Alpine completed the top eight.
Ahead of Sunday's Dutch GP, Antonelli top the drivers' standings with 224 points, 53 more than second-placed Hamilton. Russell is third, 56 points adrift.