Farewell to the Calendar

LIVE: Norris Aims for Victory at Zandvoort

Lando Norris won the Dutch Grand Prix.(Bild: AP/Darko Bandic)

World Champion Lando Norris won what is, for now, the last Dutch Grand Prix. The McLaren driver triumphed at Zandvoort ahead of the two Mercedes drivers, Andrea Kimi Antonelli and George Russell. Max Verstappen had a day to forget; the local hero wrecked his Red Bull car on the first lap.

For Norris, it was his second consecutive Grand Prix victory, following his triumph in Hungary just before the nearly four-week summer break. “The fight continues,” the British defending champion radioed to the pit with satisfaction; he now trails by 83 points in fourth place in the World Championship. Antonelli extended his lead at the top of the standings; the 19-year-old Italian is now 59 points ahead of Russell and Lewis Hamilton.

The result:

The record-holding world champion had to settle for fourth place after a bit of bad luck at the end of the race, just ahead of his Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc. Last year’s winner, Oscar Piastri, could not finish higher than sixth in the second McLaren. Spanish veteran Fernando Alonso celebrated a sense of accomplishment, driving his improved Aston Martin to ninth place.

Verstappen’s Violent Crash
Verstappen, on the other hand, experienced one last home race to forget in front of the “Orange Army.” The local hero crashed into the track barriers at the end of the first lap in wet conditions. However, the 2021, 2022, and 2023 Zandvoort winner immediately gave the all-clear after losing control of his car—which had been running in seventh place—in the steep curve before the start-finish straight. “I’m okay,” radioed the four-time world champion, who had started the race feeling slightly under the weather. His interim teammate Liam Lawson, who was filling in for Isack Hadjar—who was sidelined with a wrist injury—in the Red Bull, finished seventh.

Before the start, it had rained intermittently on the dune circuit right on the North Sea coast. Despite wet patches on the track, all teams opted for the faster dry-weather tires. At the start—which is particularly crucial at Zandvoort due to the limited overtaking opportunities—pole-setter Norris defended his lead against the Mercedes duo of Antonelli and Russell. At the second standing start following a half-hour interruption, Antonelli passed Norris, while Russell dropped back to fourth place behind Piastri.

Grip issues for Antonelli
Russell regained his position with an early pit stop. Piastri first had bad luck with a slow tire change, then he also slipped back behind the Ferrari duo. On lap 41 of 72, race leader Antonelli made his second pit stop, as Norris had been putting increasing pressure on the teenager. “I have no grip,” Antonelli radioed shortly afterward.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli(Bild: AP/Darko Bandic)

Mercedes struggled with the hardest tire compound—Norris capitalized on the weakness and passed Antonelli on lap 54 with a bold move. Then a virtual safety car added to the excitement: Norris stayed out, while Antonelli switched to the fastest set of tires and fell back behind Russell, who was running on a used set. With six laps to go, Russell—somewhat reluctantly—let his teammate and championship rival pass following a team order, even though Antonelli no longer had any chance of winning.

Russell subsequently had to fend off the charging Ferraris and was lucky that Hamilton was held up by another virtual safety car just before a potential overtaking maneuver. The series continues in two weeks with the race at the high-speed circuit in Monza, where local hero Antonelli will start the Grand Prix with a grid penalty due to a scheduled engine change.