Source :- PERTH NOW NEWS
Oscar Piastri will start the sprint race at the Dutch Grand Prix from the second row after coming fourth in qualifying.
His McLaren teammate and reigning world champion Lando Norris is immediately ahead of him on an all-British front row with Mercedes’ George Russell on pole.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was third and championship leader Kimi Antonelli fifth.
Piastri has had a disappointing season languishing seventh in the standings with 92 points, 127 behind Antonelli. He has no wins and as many Did Not Starts as podium finishes (two). But the Australian has scored in all four previous Sprint races including a second in Miami.
Italian Antonelli, who turns 20 next week, has returned from the sport’s summer shutdown with a 50-point lead over Lewis Hamilton at the top of the standings, with his Mercedes team-mate Russell nine further back.
Antonelli has won six races in the grid’s dominant car but Hamilton and Russell hope to begin closing the gap – starting this weekend in the seaside town of Zandvoort.
Russell pipped Norris by 0.041 seconds. Less than a tenth separated the top four but Max Verstappen – fresh from signing a new Red Bull deal – and Hamilton were more than five tenths off the pace in sixth and seventh.
Antonelli topped the sole practice session earlier on Friday but was on the back foot as sprint qualifying got under way, sliding into the gravel on his first fast lap in SQ1.
Mercedes told him that there was no apparent damage and he eased through the first session but, with both McLarens and Ferraris – plus Russell – showing pole pace, Antonelli could afford no further slip-ups.
Aston Martin, hopeful of a better weekend with their much-awaited upgraded Honda engine, suffered more disappointment as Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso finished 19th and last respectively.
There appeared to be a genuine six-way fight for pole, with both cars for Mercedes, McLaren and Ferrari all within touching distance of the top.
Norris shot to the top of the standings on his final run, with Antonelli unable to match him but Russell – who got engaged to long-term partner Carmen during the break – strung together the key lap to claim pole.
