Max Verstappen gave the Orange Army exactly what they wanted with a sensational pole position at the Dutch Grand Prix.
The reigning champion overcame a wet/dry session interrupted by several red flags to beat Lando Norris by over half a second at Zandvoort, to continue his 100% pole record at his home race.
Q1
Qualifying began in very wet conditions, but with no rain falling lap times tumbled with every flying lap.
McLaren led the way initially when conditions began to stabilise, with Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris taking turns to sit P1.
Verstappen had a tricky start, running wide at Turn 1 on his first run, but would improve to briefly go fastest before Alex Albon went even quicker in the Williams.
Further down, the two Ferraris and Lewis Hamilton were the notable drivers at risk of elimination entering the final minutes.
The seven-time world champion had been compromised by Fernando Alonso in an earlier run and was able to secure a place in Q2.
Carlos Sainz likewise improved to claim fifth while Charles Leclerc only just squeezed through in 14th.
That demoted Zhou Guanyu down to 16th and Esteban Ocon to 17th. Kevin Magnussen was 18th with Valtteri Bottas and Liam Lawson completing the bottom five.
Q2
As the threat of more rain receded, Q2 became all about if conditions would improve enough for slicks.
Verstappen and the McLarens traded fastest laps at the top as times dipped below 1m20s but everyone would continue on a fresh set of intermediates for the final run.
Max would improve to a 1m18.8s to finish P1, half a second clear of Piastri, Albon and Alonso all within a tenth.
The big shocks came further down as fast laps by the Ferraris knocked Hamilton out in P13.
A late flier promoted Logan Sargeant into his first Q3 in P10, demoting Lance Stroll to 11th with Pierre Gasly in 12th.
Hamilton and Yuki Tsunoda marginally impeded each other in 13th and 14th as Nico Hulkenberg completed the top 15.
Q3
Soft tyres made their first appearance in Q3, with a narrow dry line now extending around the entire circuit.
Albon immediately proved that was the right call setting a 1m15.7s on his first lap, but Williams teammate Sargeant proved how tricky conditions were with a big crash at Turn 2.
That triggered a red flag and a lengthy stoppage to repair the barriers, allowing the track to dry further.
When the session resumed, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri made it a McLaren one-two at the front, three-tenths ahead of Verstappen in third.
Moments later, however, Leclerc caused a second red flag after running wide into the barrier at Turn 8 in his Ferrari.
With three minutes to go, it meant drivers only had time for one flying lap to decide the grid.
And Verstappen would unleash the pace of the RB19, setting a 1m10.567s to secure his third pole in a row at his home race.
Norris claimed second for McLaren with George Russell snatching third for Mercedes.
Albon followed in a fantastic fourth for Williams with Fernando Alonso dragging his Aston Martin into fifth.
Sainz was sixth, ahead of Sergio Perez, a whopping 1.3s behind Verstappen in seventh.
Piastri will be disappointed in eighth as the two crashers, Leclerc and Sargeant, completed the top 10.
