Zandvoort, Netherlands, 27 August 2023 (dpa/MIA) — Champion Max Verstappen of Red Bull has taken pole position for his home Dutch Grand Prix for a third consecutive year.

The Dutchman clocked 1 minute 10.567 seconds on Saturday to beat Lando Norris of McLaren by 0.537 second and George Russell of Mercedes by 0.727 second.

That means Verstappen, who's chasing a record-equalling ninth straight victory, has swept all pole positions at the Circuit Zandvoort since it returned to the calendar in 2021 after a 36-year absence.

"It was a very tricky qualifying. It was all about putting your laps in but also staying out of trouble. We had to risk it a bit, but that last lap was very enjoyable," the championship leader said.

The session started under wet conditions but the track quickly dried. But the Q3 was still messy, coming to a halt twice. First when Logan Sargeant, in his first Q3 appearance, crashed his Williams at Turn 2, and then when Charles Leclerc of Ferrari hit the wall on the exit of Turn 9.

Norris has been chasing Verstappen throughout the entire weekend, but was not fast enough to beat the home favourite for pole. He stressed, however, he's still happy with second place.

"In these conditions, you hope Max [Verstappen] makes a mistake but he doesn't. Chaotic qualifying, but good fun. Qualifying is always stressful, the first half of my lap was mega but the second half was one of the worst second halves we've ever done," he acknowledged.

Russell, meanwhile, hasn't been among the top three in qualifying since the Australian GP in April and started the race out of the top 10 in two of the last four events.

"Qualifying was one of my strengths at the start of the year but it's been going wrong recently so great to have a refresh, a break and try some new things," he said.

Alex Albon was fourth, his best result with Williams since joining the team in 2022. While team-mate Sargeant will be frustrated to have crashed in his first-ever Q3, the US driver still got his best result with 10th.

Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin was fifth, followed by Carlos Sainz of Ferrari and Sergio Perez in the other Red Bull. McLaren's Oscar Piastri and Leclerc were eight and ninth respectively.

Debutant Liam Lawson was last. The 21-year-old from the Red Bull academy is replacing Daniel Ricciardo at Alpha Tauri after the Australian suffered a hand fracture in a crash in second practice on Friday.

Yuki Tsunoda of Alpha Tauri was later handed a three place grid penalty for impeding seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, meaning he will start from 17th. Hamilton had to be content with 14th.

The incident was noted by the stewards and Tsunoda was later handed a three-place grid stop.

At Sunday's race, Verstappen is chasing a record-equalling ninth straight victory. The milestone currently belongs to four-time world champion and former Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel.

The now retired driver won all of the final nine races in 2013 to claim his fourth consecutive title.

Verstappen tops the drivers' championship, 125 points ahead of team-mate Sergio Perez.

The Dutchman has won 10 of the 12 races so far, the other two won by Perez as Red Bull has dominated the season.