ZANDVOORT, Netherlands: Max Verstappen claimed pole position for his home Dutch Grand Prix on Saturday to the delight of his orange army of fans packing the stands at Zandvoort.
McLaren’s Lando Norris will start alongside the Red Bull double world champion on the front row of Sunday’s race.
A runaway leader by 125 points in the championship Verstappen has a perfect record since his home event returned to the F1 calendar in 2021, starting from the front of the grid and winning both races.
In tricky changeable conditions at the unforgiving seaside circuit two red flags led to a frantic closing couple of minutes — just time to nail one final flying lap.
And not for the first time Verstappen produced the goods.
“It was a very tricky qualifying, all about staying out of trouble,” said Verstappen who is on a quest for a ninth successive win on Sunday to draw him level with Sebastian Vettel’s record set in 2013.
He added: “I had to risk it a bit but that last lap was very enjoyable.
“The pressure is always there to perform (at his home race) but when you can pull it off it’s incredible.”
Norris described ‘P2’ as “a good result in these conditions.
“Every now and then you hope Max will make a mistake but he doesn’t,” the Briton added.
Mercedes’ George Russell took third to start on the second row of Sunday’s race with Alex Albon’s Williams alongside him.
Qualifying began with a mix of sun and threatening clouds over the tight and twisty circuit carved into the dunes following earlier storms that caused chaos in third practice.
On a slippery track with spray flying Verstappen was in good company when sliding onto the safety gravel at turn one as qualifying started.
“What’s going on with the car, I have no grip, I’m spinning everywhere,” he exclaimed over the team radio.
As Oscar Piastri’s McLaren and the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz came close to contact with visibility low Albon’s Williams shot to the top of the pile from Verstappen.
Rain began to fall with two minutes left of the first qualifying segment, putting pressure on Charles Leclerc to scrape into the top 15 and the man from Monaco threw everything at it in his Ferrari, slithering around to nip through to the middle session.
Among the group of five going out was Liam Lawson, AlphaTauri’s reserve driver called up on Friday night to stand in for the injured Daniel Ricciardo.
With the track drying, the sun shining, the times tumbled and it was Verstappen who led the way into the top 10 shoot-out as Lewis Hamilton was knocked out in a shock for the Mercedes seven-time champion.
“It’s not an easy track to move forward on but tomorrow is a new day, so I will give it my best” said Hamilton.
This was hugely disappointing for Hamilton, even more so when Logan Sargeant, the American rookie at the wheel of the Williams, scraped into the final qualifying session for the first time in his fledgling F1 career.
As the racetrack DJ cranked up the volume the last 10 standing emerged to scrap for the first five rows in Sunday’s grid.
Sargeant’s euphoria lasted all of a minute of Q3 when he smashed his Williams into the barrier at turn two, prompting a red flag.
“I’m ok, sorry,” he assured his pit crew, before hopping out of the cockpit as his mechanics readied for a long night repairing his machine for the race.
After a 20-minute delay to repair the barrier qualifying resumed with eight minutes left on the clock.
A frantic burst of track activity followed with McLaren duo Norris and Piastri going top before the red flag came out again when Leclerc found the barriers at turn nine.
Norris was four minutes away from the second pole of his career as the session got back under way with the pressure on Verstappen and company to overhaul him.
With the crowd willing him on Verstappen pulled it out of the bag to give him an ideal platform to maintain his and Red Bull’s incredible run of form this season.
Verstappen soaks up pressure to claim pole at home Dutch Grand Prix
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Verstappen soaks up pressure to claim pole at home Dutch Grand Prix
- McLaren’s Lando Norris will start alongside the Red Bull double world champion on the front row of Sunday’s race
- A runaway leader by 125 points in the championship Verstappen has a perfect record since his home event returned to the F1 calendar in 2021
Lewis Hamilton waves to fans as he drives a Ferrari F1 car for the first time
- Hamilton was behind the wheel of a 2023-specification Ferrari SF-23 bearing his racing number, 44, at the team’s Fiorano test track
- The 40-year-old British driver set out for his first lap at 9:16 a.m. local time in light fog and twice waved to a crowd of around 1,000 spectators
MODENA, Italy: Lewis Hamilton greeted a crowd of waiting fans on Wednesday as he drove a Ferrari Formula 1 car for the first time since joining the Italian team for the 2025 season.
Hamilton was behind the wheel of a 2023-specification Ferrari SF-23 bearing his racing number, 44, at the team’s Fiorano test track, and wore a new helmet design in yellow with a prominent Prancing Horse logo.
The 40-year-old British driver set out for his first lap at 9:16 a.m. local time in light fog and twice waved to a crowd of around 1,000 spectators, who had gathered on a nearby bridge despite the cold and wet weather.
Part-way through the day, Hamilton headed over to fans who had waited for hours in the wet conditions since early morning for a glimpse of him behind the wheel. Wearing a jacket in Ferrari red, he waved, gave a thumbs-up gesture and put a hand to his heart.
There was excitement Wednesday from one of Italy’s biggest sports stars, too.
After reaching the semifinals at the Australian Open, top-ranked tennis player Jannik Sinner was asked by an Italian reporter if he had seen anything on social media about Hamilton’s Ferrari debut.
“It’s still pretty strange to see him in red,” Sinner said, “but it’ll be a great season.”
Hamilton has shaken up F1 with his move to Ferrari after 12 years with Mercedes, where he won six of his seven world titles. He has said he’s fulfilling a childhood dream.
“I’ve been lucky enough to have achieved things in my career I never thought possible, but part of me has always held on to that dream of racing in red. I couldn’t be happier to realize that dream today,” he said Monday after arriving at Ferrari’s Maranello headquarters for his first day at work with the new team.
F1 tightly restricts teams from testing current-specification cars but the rules are more loose for older cars like the SF-23 that Hamilton drove Wednesday. The F1 regulations for 2025 allow Hamilton to drive up to 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) over four days in older F1 cars under the “testing of previous cars” rule. The SF-23 is the most recent Ferrari that’s eligible.
Pre-season testing for the new season’s cars is from Feb. 26 through 28 in Bahrain.
Saudi driver Yazeed Al-Rajhi records historic Dakar Rally triumph
- Saudi Arabia have hosted the Dakar Rally since 2020, when it moved from South America.
SHUBAYTAH: Yazeed Al-Rajhi made history on Friday becoming the first driver from host nation Saudi Arabia to win the Dakar Rally.
The Overdrive pilot held onto his overnight lead to beat South Africa’s Henk Lategan in a Toyota by 3min 57sec with Mattias Ekstrom of Sweden third in his Ford, 20min 21sec adrift.
Saudi Arabia have hosted the Dakar Rally since 2020, when it moved from South America.
Saudi Arabia celebrates its champion!
— DAKAR RALLY (@dakar) January 17, 2025
Yazeed Al Rajhi makes history on home soil.#Dakar2025 #DakarInSaudi pic.twitter.com/ASaz2NhHwA
There was also a first win in the world’s most famous endurance rally for Australia’s KTM rider Daniel Sanders in the motorbike category.
Sanders, 30, dominated from the moment he won the prologue and finished a comfortable 8min 50sec faster than Spanish runner-up Tosha Schareina on his Honda.
Sanders is the second Australian to prevail in the motorbike category, Toby Price emerging victorious in 2016 and 2019.
“It was a tough race,” said Sanders.
“The last three days couldn’t come quick enough. It was really, really exciting to see the finish line when we came over one dune.
“You see the whole bivouac, I just smiled and had chills go through my whole body. Super special, won’t forget that moment.”
Teams owners Tom Brady, Will Smith and Didier Drogba prepare for E1 Jeddah Grand Prix
- The UIM E1 World Championship presented by PIF, the world’s only all-electric racing boat championship, starts its second season Jan. 24-25
- 2024 winner Team Brady prepare to defend crown against Team Drogba, Team Rafa and Racing Team Aoki
JEDDAH: Just under a week remains for Tom Brady, Will Smith, Didier Drogba, Virat Kohli and a host of other celebrity owners to prepare their teams for this season’s UIM E1 World Championship presented by PIF, which begins with the Jeddah GP.
The all-electric RaceBird boats took to the Red Sea waters off Jeddah for the E1 Championship’s global debut in February 2024, and the season concluded with Team Brady crowned the 2024 Champions of the Water.
Qualifying for the 2025 E1 Jeddah GP takes place on Friday, Jan. 24, and is followed on Saturday by the main race, presented in partnership with the Kingdom’s Ministry of Sport and the Saudi Water Sports and Diving Federation.
Prince Sultan bin Fahd bin Salman, president of the SWSDF, said: “For owners, pilots, organizers and fans, the countdown is on for the start of what will be a fascinating UIM E1 World Championship presented by PIF at the Jeddah GP.
“This is where relentless innovation, marine preservation, and exhilarating races all come together, unveiling a new season for the Championship.
“In such a spectacular setting, this popular event highlights Saudi Arabia’s commitment to pioneering sustainable sports and furthering its reputation as a global hub for innovation and eco-tourism.”
The teams, each featuring male and female pilots sharing driving duties, are owned by celebrities from the world of sports and entertainment.
They include Smith (Westbrook Racing), Marc Anthony (Team Miami powered by Magnus), Steve Aoki (Racing Team Aoki), Brady (Team Brady), Kohli (Team Blue Rising), Drogba (Team Drogba), Rafael Nadal (Team Rafa) and Marcelo Claure (Team Brazil by Claure).
In its first season, E1 races took place in Venice, Monaco, Puerto Banus and Lake Como.
Dakar Rally comes down to a duel in the sand between Lategan and Al-Rajhi
- The South African Lategan leads his Saudi rival by 2 1/2 minutes going into the 11th and penultimate stage in the Empty Quarter dunes
- Friday’s last stage is a ceremonial drive to the finish in Shubaytah
SHUBAYTAH: Henk Lategan and Yazeed Al-Rajhi will duel in the Saudi sand for their first Dakar Rally title after swapping the lead for a second straight day Wednesday.
The South African Lategan leads his Saudi rival by 2 1/2 minutes going into the 11th and penultimate stage in the Empty Quarter dunes. Friday’s last stage is a ceremonial drive to the finish in Shubaytah.
Al-Rajhi led by seven minutes before the 10th stage, a tricky 120-kilometer loop south of Shubaytah on Wednesday. But he got stuck and relinquished the overall lead back to Lategan.
“We got stuck because we were taking it easy,” Al-Rajhi said. “Everything is going good, that’s the most important (thing). I have a good position, I hope.”
Lategan also took it easy but without finding any trouble, and was 10th on the stage, making up minutes on all of his nearest pursuers.
“It wasn’t the plan to go quickly today,” Lategan said.
On Thursday, he will start 10th and Al-Rajhi 27th and they can push harder by taking advantage of the tracks of those in front.
’Most disappointing day of my life’
Third-placed Mattias Ekström fell two minutes further back to 27 minutes, and five-time champion Nasser Al-Attiyah lost five minutes to drop back to 30.
Al-Attiyah, the only former champion with an outside title shot, got lost about nine kilometers in.
“I’m very disappointed, but what can you do?” Al-Attiyah said. “We had a good pace but we lost a lot of time. This is the most disappointing day of my life.”
Spain’s Nani Roma, one of only three men to win the Dakar in a car (2014) and motorbike (2004), won his first stage in nine years by 18 seconds from Lucas Moraes of Brazil. Brian Baragwanath of South Africa was third.
Sanders on the brink
Australian rider Daniel Sanders was on the brink of his first Dakar title in a motorbike race he’s dominated from stage one.
Sanders was fourth on the 116-kilometer stage but ahead of his nearest rivals, extending his overall lead by about two minutes against Spain’s Tosha Schareina and France’s Adrien van Beveren.
The advantage over Schareina was 16 1/2 minutes, the biggest in the race so far.
“It’s pretty much survival tomorrow and just getting through,” Sanders said. “I think we’ll be all right. I felt really good in the navigation and I was opening a little bit and then, yeah, it felt nice. So yeah, ready for tomorrow.”
Portugal’s Rui Gonçalves won his maiden stage in his fifth Dakar by nearly four minutes from Slovakia’s Stefan Svitko. American Skyler Howes was third.
Al Rajhi takes over Dakar Rally lead after miserable stage for Lategan
- Lategan led the Dakar for the past week
- Al Rajhi, like Lategan, has never won the Dakar
HARADH: Local driver Yazeed Al Rajhi took advantage of a miserable stage by South Africa’s Henk Lategan to grab the Dakar Rally lead in the Saudi Arabia desert on Tuesday.
Lategan led the Dakar for the past week, but errors and bad luck on the 357-kilometer ninth stage from Riyadh south-east to Haradh turned his overall lead of more than five minutes over Al Rajhi into a potentially decisive seven-minute deficit.
The rally has effectively two days and 400 kilometers remaining in the dunes of the Empty Quarter. The last day, Friday, is a ceremonial drive to the finish line in Shubaytah.
Al Rajhi, like Lategan, has never won the Dakar. This is the Saudi’s 11th attempt with a best finish of third in 2022. He’d been lying second since last Wednesday. The title race appears to be between only them.
Third-placed Mattias Ekström of Sweden and five-time champion Nasser Al-Attiyah of Qatar were about 25 minutes behind.
“It’s a bit of disaster to be honest,” Lategan said. “About 13 kilometers in we got lost. We thought we missed the waypoint but we actually had it. When we got lost we got one puncture and then toward the end we got another one and the wheel is actually flat. So, it was a messy, messy, messy day for us but it’s not the end of the world, we’re still in it.”
Lategan and navigator Brett Cummings were 11th on the stage and Al Rajhi and Timo Gottschalk third.
“We did a great job like we planned to,” Al Rajhi said. “We pushed well. We enjoyed it, that’s the most important. I hope everything goes well the next two or three days to win the Dakar ... I will fight to win. It won’t be easy.”
Al-Attiyah won the stage ahead of Belgium’s Guillaume de Mévius in under three hours to rise to one minute off third place overall.
His 49th car stage win, and first in the Dakar for Romanian manufacturer Dacia, lifted him to only one behind the record jointly held by Finland’s Ari Vatanen and France’s Stephane Peterhansel.
Sanders cushions motorbike lead
Australian rider Daniel Sanders bolstered his motorbike lead to nearly 15 minutes when closest challenger, Spain’s Tosha Schareina, crashed early.
The back wheel of Schareina’s Honda hit a rock and sent him flying only 20 kilometers in. He resumed racing but the nearly four minutes he finished behind Sanders dropped him in the general standings.
Schareina’s teammate Adrien van Beveren of France remained third, more than 20 minutes behind, while Sanders’ KTM teammate Luciano Benavides of Argentina strengthened his position in fourth place by winning his second successive stage.
Benavides, thanks to collecting time bonuses of nearly five minutes by opening the way, beat Van Beveren by nearly two minutes, and repeated his win into Haradh two years ago. Sanders was third after leading until about 70 kilometers from the end.
“I only got lost a couple of times ... and lost a little bit of time,” Sanders said. “I could have pushed and made some more (time) but it’s not too bad.”
