Dutch Grand Prix 2025 F1: Norris Needs ‘Some Magic’ After Missing Out On Pole Position In Zandvoort

Lando Norris acknowledged it is "going to take some magic" to beat McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri at Sunday's Dutch Grand Prix.

The Briton will start second on the grid at Zandvoort, where he was pipped to pole position by Piastri by only 0.012 seconds.

Norris, a winner of three of the past four races, is looking to close the nine-point gap to the Australian at the top of the World Drivers' Championship standings.

However, he knows he will have his work cut out, with the narrow circuit making it difficult for drivers to overtake their rivals.

"It's going to take some magic, some good strategy or incredible tyre saving or something," he said.

"But it's normally pretty difficult to overtake in the first place. It's even harder to do that behind your team-mate, so I'll see what I can dream of tonight.

"It is frustrating [not to be on pole], mainly because it is a track that is pretty much impossible to overtake on, so a lot of my chances are now gone."

Max Verstappen will start his home Grand Prix in third place, after finishing 0.263 seconds behind the McLaren duo.

The reigning world champion, who struggled to get going during practice at Zandvoort, certainly felt he made up for it in qualifying.

"This weekend so far was quite tricky for us, but in qualifying, [it] was basically the best I've felt all weekend, so that's exactly what you want," he said.

"To be honest, to be P3 here, [I'm] very happy with that. The energy of the crowd the whole weekend has already been amazing, and to see so much orange on the grandstands is always very special.

"Let's see what we can do. The McLarens have been very fast all weekend. It's also important to just focus on our own race and see what we can do, but this has been a good step forward."