ZANDVOORT, Netherlands, — McLaren’s Lando Norris shattered Max Verstappen’s unbeaten streak at his home Grand Prix with a decisive victory at the Dutch Grand Prix on Sunday.
The win marked Norris’s second career Formula One victory and breathed new life into the championship race.
Verstappen, the Red Bull triple world champion, who h
ad dominated at Zandvoort since the race’s return to the calendar in 2021, finished 22.896 seconds behind Norris. Despite taking the initial lead, Verstappen was overtaken on lap 18 of the 72-lap race. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc secured third place after starting from sixth.
Norris’s triumph cut Verstappen’s championship lead to 70 points after 15 of the season’s record 24 races. McLaren also reduced Red Bull’s lead in the constructors’ championship to 30 points.
“It feels amazing,” Norris said post-race. “I wouldn’t say it was a perfect race, especially after lap one, but everything after that was beautiful. The pace was very strong, and the car was unbelievable.” Norris, who secured his first win in Miami in May, described the experience as “quite straightforward,” despite a challenging start.
Starting from pole position for the fourth time in his career, Norris initially faltered off the line due to wheelspin, allowing Verstappen to take the lead into turn one. However, Norris quickly demonstrated the superior pace of his upgraded McLaren. After a successful overtaking manoeuvre on lap 17, Norris pulled away steadily from Verstappen.
McLaren’s confidence was evident as Norris’s race engineer reassured him about not being concerned with Verstappen potentially employing an ‘undercut’ strategy. Norris reflected, “From probably lap five, six, seven, I expected Max to start pushing and get a bit of a gap, and he never did. So from that point, I knew we were in with a good fight.” Norris also secured the fastest lap and was named Driver of the Day by fans.
This victory represents McLaren’s third win of the season, their highest number of race wins since 2012. Verstappen acknowledged McLaren’s superior performance, stating, “You always hope to do better. We had a good start and tried everything we could but it was clear we were not quick enough.”
Leclerc, who managed to fend off a challenge from McLaren’s Oscar Piastri for 27 laps, was surprised by Ferrari’s improvement after struggling in previous sessions. “Today, we were strong,” he noted, reflecting on the team’s unexpected performance.
Piastri finished fourth, followed by Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz in fifth and Red Bull’s Sergio Perez in sixth. Mercedes drivers George Russell and Lewis Hamilton took seventh and eighth places, respectively. Alpine’s Pierre Gasly finished ninth and Fernando Alonso rounded out the top ten for Aston Martin.
Source: Reuters