Max Verstappen will start the Dutch Grand Prix from pole position on Sunday afternoon after a blistering pole lap at the end of qualifying saw him go quicker by over half a second than next-fastest man Lando Norris in the McLaren.

Verstappen has been in a league of his own this year in F1 and looks set to start the second portion of the campaign in the same manner that he finished the first.

Indeed, he'll be firm favourite to win his home grand prix tomorrow and, if he can do that, he will match Sebastian Vettel's record of nine straight wins in the sport.

That's one thing to look out for tomorrow, then, but what can we take away from today? Here are five things...

Varied grid a positive sign for F1 competitiveness

Yes, Max Verstappen's dominance is obviously not the most entertaining spectacle in the world, but there are plenty of positive signs about the state of the sport in behind him.

Hopefully Red Bull can be reeled in at some point to make the fight for victory just as competitive as it is for every other position in the field, with the top six for tomorrow's race start filled with six different manufacturers.

The resurgent McLaren of Lando Norris will be joined by George Russell in the Mercedes inside the top three, whilst Alex Albon will go from a brilliant fourth in his Williams, ahead of the Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso and the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz. There's a lot to look forward to at lights out tomorrow afternoon.

Williams shine

As mentioned, Albon did a brilliant job for Williams on Saturday and his team-mate also had a fine afternoon, in the main.

Logan Sargeant has obviously had some tough experiences in his rookie year in F1 but he started the second half of the campaign in fine style with him making Q3 for the first time in his career.

He marred it slightly with a crash that meant he could not set a competitive time, but he will still go from tenth tomorrow and he therefore has a great chance at getting some points through the door for the first time in the championship.

Charles Leclerc makes fresh error

There's no denying Charles Leclerc's brilliant speed and pace but on Saturday we saw his latest mistake which led him to slamming into the barriers and out of Q3.

Leclerc knows himself he needs to try and stamp out such mistakes and, though the Ferrari isn't good enough to challenge for the championship yet, he knows that if and when he gets a car to do so he will need to be error-free, or as close to that as possible, as Verstappen is at the moment in the Red Bull.

Disappointment for Lewis Hamilton

Hamilton was in a positive frame of mind as we headed into this weekend, with him feeling as though the car would suit the Zandvoort circuit.

Indeed, he continued to cut an upbeat figure after Friday practice and so he is going to be naturally disappointed with the way his Saturday went, with him revealing after the session that he lost some confidence in the car today compared to how he was feeling in it on Friday.

He'll look to fight forwards tomorrow, but Zandvoort is a track that is one of the harder circuits to overtake on...

George Russell returns to good qualifying form

Russell has, deservedly, earned the moniker of 'Mr Saturday' thanks to his qualifying performances both at Williams and Mercedes during his time in F1.

The Briton has admitted, though, that he has been a little off of the mark when it comes to qualy this year, and he has often had to put in a recovery drive to salvage good points at a weekend.

He'll be pleased, and likely relieved, that he was back to something like his qualifying best on Saturday, then, as he took P3 for Mercedes.

We know the Merc is usually strongest on race days, so he'll fancy a run at Lando Norris' P2 before the chequered flag, though Verstappen might be out of reach tomorrow.