Dutch GP qualifying disrupted by pigeons and flares as Max Verstappen takes pole

Max Verstappen had to negotiate pigeons and flares as he took pole position for the Dutch Grand Prix.

Verstappen just pipped the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, to the delight of his home fans at Zandvoort. The Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell were also quick, but their final runs at the end of Q3 were wrecked when Verstappen’s teammate, Sergio Perez, spun at the final corner to bring out the yellow flags.

Hamilton will start fourth with Perez fifth and Russell sixth for what promises to be a much closer race than in Belgium last weekend when Verstappen romped to victory despite starting down the grid due to an engine penalty.

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There was drama earlier in the session when the red flag was waved after an orange flare was hurled onto the track. Around the same time, Williams’ Alex Albon became the latest driver of the weekend to complain about the presence of a group of pigeons near the racing line at turn seven.

“There’s a ton of pigeons around,” Albon told his engineer over team radio.

During the stoppage to remove the flare, another marshal went onto the track to try and shepherd the birds away. In free practice three, Russell had also complained about the pigeons, saying: “Those pigeons are back on the apex of seven.”

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Verstappen’s preparations for qualifying had been dealt a blow when he missed a large chunk of practice on Friday following a gearbox failure.

But the world champion came up with a lap when it mattered most to see off Leclerc by just 0.021 seconds and claim the 17th pole of his career on his seemingly unstoppable march towards the championship.

Lando Norris leads the charge of the non-big-three teams after placing his McLaren seventh on the grid ahead of the Haas of Mick Schumacher, who gave his hopes of staying in the sport a boost by qualifying eighth. Yuki Tsunoda of AlphaTauri and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll rounded out the top 10, although the latter couldn’t take part in Q3 because of a car problem.

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