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Verstappen’s struggles continue as Norris wins Dutch F1 Grand Prix

Norris displays pace and control to take his second F1 win by 22.8 seconds

McLaren's Lando Norris in front of Red Bull's Max Verstappen during the Formula One Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort, western Netherlands. Photograph: John Thys/AFP
McLaren's Lando Norris in front of Red Bull's Max Verstappen during the Formula One Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort, western Netherlands. Photograph: John Thys/AFP
Giles Richards at Zandvoort
Sun Aug 25 2024 - 18:46

Lando Norris won the Dutch Grand Prix with a dominant run for McLaren at Zandvoort having kept his nerve to come back after losing the lead from pole position at the start. He beat Red Bull’s Max Verstappen into second after retaking the lead from the Dutchman before displaying pace and control to take only his second F1 win by 22.8 seconds.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was third, with his team-mate Carlos Sainz in fifth. McLaren’s Oscar Piastri was fourth but Mercedes struggled. Lewis Hamilton did well to come back from 14th to claim eighth but George Russell dropped from fourth to seventh.

After what appeared to be an all too familiar error by Norris when the lights went out and he was passed by Verstappen after a slow start, the 24-year-old kept his cool, put his head down and eased his tyres into the race before unleashing the extraordinary pace advantage of the McLaren. Having breezed passed Verstappen he was untouchable, putting in a relentless display to which neither Verstappen nor Red Bull had an answer and which the team principal, Christian Horner, referred to as “damage limitation”.

It was the result Norris required to keep the title fight alive, narrowing the gap to Verstappen to 70 points with nine races remaining. Red Bull will retire to lick their wounds and consider the task ahead. Verstappen has not won since the Spanish GP, and McLaren have surely got the edge on their rivals.

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Norris had been critical of himself in failing to exploit his previous two pole positions this season in Spain and Hungary after poor starts. He said he had worked on his starts over the summer break but after once more being beaten into the opening corner, questions over why he is struggling remain.

Nonetheless he did well to maintain his equilibrium and play the long game to come back at Verstappen. This is his first win here and the first time Verstappen has been denied victory at his home race. For McLaren it is no little moment, the team’s first win at Zandvoort since Niki Lauda took the flag here in 1985, when the race was held for the last time before it returned to the calendar in 2021.

Coming soon after McLaren’s one-two in Hungary it was another demonstration of how strong their car is across a range of tracks. They had brought their first major swathe of upgrades here since the Miami GP, and just as they had proved superlative in Florida the latest developments were once more a step forward. No little achievement given other teams have deployed upgrades that have proved ineffectual or even detrimental.

Norris had matched Verstappen in the launch off the line but was slower to come up to pace and was immediately jumped in the short run to turn one by the Dutchman, while Russell also moved up a place into third past Piastri.

ZANDVOORT, NETHERLANDS - AUGUST 25: Race winner Lando Norris of Great Britain and McLaren looks on in parc ferme after the F1 Grand Prix of Netherlands at Circuit Zandvoort on August 25, 2024 in Zandvoort, Netherlands. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)
ZANDVOORT, NETHERLANDS - AUGUST 25: Race winner Lando Norris of Great Britain and McLaren looks on in parc ferme after the F1 Grand Prix of Netherlands at Circuit Zandvoort on August 25, 2024 in Zandvoort, Netherlands. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)

Verstappen took advantage, opening up a one second lead, out of DRS range within three laps, as Norris looked to manage his tyres in the opening phase. By lap nine Norris was holding just over a second behind Verstappen.

The British driver upped his pace by lap 13, closing on Verstappen as the McLaren began to demonstrate the pace it had enjoyed in qualifying, he was within DRS range by lap 14 closing hard and by lap 17 was all over Verstappen.

Verstappen was complaining of a lack of grip as Norris put in a very quick lap and flew past into the lead with DRS on the start-finish straight on lap 18. Good on the tyres, the McLaren was comfortably on top as Norris eased a gap open, putting four seconds on Verstappen by lap 25.

Verstappen came in on lap 28 to take the hard tyre and McLaren covered him off by pitting Norris a lap later and he emerged in front of Verstappen again, their only stops of the race complete. McLaren left Piastri out long looking for a tyre advantage late in the race.

Piastri completed the leader’s stops on lap 34 emerging in fifth but Norris was in control. His lead by lap 36 was seven seconds on Verstappen as the Briton delivered a series of metronomic laps, often as much as a half a second quicker than his opponents.

Piastri also found pace and passed Russell for fourth on lap 40, while Norris extended the lead to 15 seconds by lap 54. He completed the race to take the flag with such confidence he banged in the fastest lap of the race on his final circuit, having been all but flawless after that opening setback to deliver his most commanding win and reassert his credentials as a title contender.

Sergio Pérez was sixth for Red Bull, Pierre Gasly ninth for Alpine and Fernando Alonso 10th for Aston Martin.