QUALIFYING: Weug narrowly comes out on top over Palmowski to claim pole position in chaotic Zandvoort session

Ferrari driver Maya Weug sailed through at the last second to secure pole position in Zandvoort, denying Alisha Palmowski her first top spot in an incredibly eventful Qualifying session.

Seven drivers were in an exhilarating battle for pole amid changing track conditions, but it was Weug who overcame the challenge to set a time of 1:38.834s, just 0.039s of Red Bull Racing’s Palmowski. Ella Lloyd finished marginally further back in P3 to set the scene for a thrilling Race 2.

The session started in less than ideal conditions as the rain that fell overnight left the track damp, pushing all the drivers to begin on full wet tyres despite the clear skies and sun blazing over the Dutch circuit.

Before anyone could clock in a fast lap, Aiva Anagnostiadis beached her TAG Heuer car in the gravel after teammate Nicole Havrda tapped her from behind at Turn 1, bringing out the Red Flag to temporarily halt the session whilst her car was recovered.

Once the track was cleared, Red Bull Ford driver Chloe Chambers reported over the radio that the surface was drying out quickly. While she has claimed the last three pole positions, it was Williams’ Lia Block who set the initial fastest lap of 1:48.856s.

The American was rapidly demoted down the order by Weug’s effort which was almost five-tenths quicker, but the Ferrari driver was nevertheless around 10 seconds adrift of the times recorded in the much drier Practice sessions.

With a third of the session gone, Block confirmed that she would make the gamble of switching to slick tyres along with her ART Grand Prix teammate Aurelia Nobels, while Doriane Pin jumped up to the top of the timesheets.

The Williams driver’s first attempt to seek out the dry line left her in eighth place as she narrowly avoided the barrier at Turn 1, where she was forced to take to the escape road. There were plenty of similar errors around the circuit, with drivers spinning, locking up and grazing the walls.

This came to a head with the session’s second Red Flag as Nobels drove wide and ended up in the gravel, bringing her Qualifying to an early end. The conditions had improved significantly in the build up to her incident, with Palmowski temporarily claiming P1 before her time was deleted for exceeding track limits.

Times began to tumble dramatically and there were plenty of changes at the top, with Kick Sauber driver Emma Felbermayr initially establishing herself as the one to beat as the clock ticked down.

At the chequered flag, Weug charged through to take pole ahead of Palmowski and Lloyd, with Chambers ending in fourth ahead of Pin, who managed to salvage her Qualifying on her final effort after being bumped down the order.

Block found herself in sixth position, with Aston Martin’s Tina Hausmann and Alpine’s Nina Gademan securing P7 and P8 respectively. Wild Card driver Esmee Kosterman was an impressive ninth place, while Felbermayr rounded out the top 10.

WHAT’S NEXT?

There’s not much time for the drivers to reset before Race 1 gets underway at 17:05 local time, with the reverse grid seeing Gademan start from pole position.