Lando Norris blew the start, then blew away Max Verstappen and the field to seize a demonstrative win in the Heineken Dutch Grand Prix on Sunday (August 25th). Norris bested Verstappen, who was making his 200th F1 start, by nearly 23 seconds, and served notice that Norris is still very much in play for the drivers championship.
“It feels amazing,” Norris said. “I wouldn’t say a perfect race because of lap 1 again, but afterwards, it was beautiful.
“From probably lap 5, 6, 7, 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 for a good fight.
“He seemed to keep dropping off and, my pace was getting better. It’s a nice feeling inside the car, and especially when I got past. The pace was very strong. The car was unbelievable today.”
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc held off Oscar Piastri for much of the race to earn the final podium spot. Piastri’s fourth-place finish gave McLaren a 38 to 26 edge in points over Red Bull on the day. Carlos Sainz finished fifth, followed by Red Bull’s Sergio Perez in sixth. Mercedes’ George Russell took seventh, while teammate Lewis Hamilton was eighth after starting 14th on the grid. Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso placed ninth and 10th, respectively, both a lap down.
In the driver standings, Verstappen’s lead over Norris is 295 to 225. Charles Leclerc is third with 192 points, 13 clear of Piastri in fourth.
In the constructor standings, McLaren gashed 12 points off Red Bull’s lead, which is now 434 to 404. Ferrari is 34 back in third with 370 points.
The Race
Verstappen blew by Norris at lights out and was easily in front into Turn 1. Piastri lost third to Russell, while Leclerc snatched fifth from Perez. Again, Norris had quickly wasted the advantage of pole. Clearly, the lessons learned in Hungary were lost on Norris.
Verstappen quickly outgrew DRS range and held a 1.5-second lead by lap 4. Norris didn’t let the gap increase, careful not to force the issue and use up his tires too quickly. Piastri was within DRS range of Russell but struggling to make the pass.
Norris radioed his team on lap 8, asking the odd question, “Who are we racing?” His team answered, “The car ahead,” surprisingly without adding “obviously” or “duh” to their reply.
On lap 12, Verstappen’s lead was about 1.2 seconds over Norris, with Russell, Piastri, Leclerc, Perez, Sainz, Gasly, Alonso, and Stroll rounding out the top 10.
Norris began to assert himself and had the gap down to less than a second by lap 14. Another epic battle for the lead appeared to be in the making, but would Norris find that catching Verstappen and passing him are two very different actions?
Meanwhile, Hamilton, who started on soft tires, was up to ninth by lap 16 and looking to reap the advantages of a potential two-stop strategy.
Norris had closed to striking distance of Verstappen on lap 17, just as the Dutchman complained that his tires were “numb” and losing grip. Norris verified Verstappen’s struggles when he smoked the Red Bull for the lead down the main straight, and this battle for the lead was not epic at all, as the McLaren blew by easily.
With their pace advantage now clearly displayed, McLaren set their aim on strategy—in other words, how not to blow the race in the pits. It was imperative that Norris pull clear of DRS range with pit stops upcoming, and he did, opening up a 1.5-second lead by lap 21. It was the best defense against the Verstappen undercut.
Norris’ lead grew to over two seconds a lap later, and the McLaren seemed to be in total control. His teammate Piastri, however, was fighting to hold off Leclerc, who was hounding the McLaren.
Hamilton pitted on lap 24 for hard tires, possibly with the intent of going the rest of the way with a one-stop strategy. Leclerc followed a lap later, also for hard tires. Russell pitted a lap later, and a slow stop meant he came out behind Leclerc.
Up front, Norris’s lead was approaching five seconds, forcing Red Bull’s hand, as Verstappen was struggling to maintain pace. Verstappen finally dove into the pits on lap 28 for a set of hard tires and returned in fifth. McLaren reacted quickly, and Norris pitted a lap later, and Piastri inherited the lead. Norris’ 3.1 second stop was not ideal, but more than enough to cover Verstappen. Norris returned in fourth, nearly four seconds ahead of the Red Bull.
Piastri made his pit stop on lap 34 after a long stint on mediums, handing the lead to Norris, who had built his margin to over six seconds over Verstappen. A quick McLaren job in the pits brought Piastri out ahead of Perez and in clean air, with Russell about five seconds ahead in fourth.
The McLarens traded a few fastest laps, and Piastri had quickly narrowed the gap to Russell to under two seconds by lap 38. Up front, Norris was cruising with a ten-second lead and thinking to himself “So this is what it’s like to be Max Verstappen.”
Piastri moved past Russell on lap 40 on his first try and charted his path for Leclerc, now under four seconds ahead. Piastri’s real target was Verstappen in second, and with McLaren’s pace exceptional, Red Bull was nervous.
Hamilton chose the two-stop strategy and pitted on lap 49 for soft tires and maintained the eighth spot.
Piastri struggled to get by Leclerc, which boded very well for Verstappen’s holding on to second. Piastri fell out of DRS range but may have been conserving his tires for a late run at the Ferrari. A second pit stop for Piastri was not out of the question, but the loss of track position might make the move not worth the risk.
With ten laps remaining, Norris’ lead was up to a whopping 16 seconds over Verstappen. The following order was Leclerc, Piastri, Sainz, Perez, Russell, Hamilton, Gasly, and Hulkenberg.
Piastri made no progress in pursuing Leclerc, and it looked like Leclerc would join Norris and Verstappen on the podium.
Norris crossed the finish line over 20 seconds adrift of Verstappen. Norris also snatched the extra point for the fastest lap on the final circuit, scoring the maximum 26 points. Leclerc held on for third as Piastri took fourth.
The Good
Aside from their shaky starts (from both Norris and Piastri) in the race, McLaren ran perfectly and made all of the correct decisions. Once Norris zipped by Verstappen on lap 18, McLaren knew Norris could build a huge gap and urged him to do so. Why was this important? Because it gave McLaren the margin for error in case they, somewhat characteristically, would have made an error, either with a slow pit stop, an incorrect tire choice, or some other boneheaded Zak Brown & Co. decision.
And McLaren decided against pitting Piastri, who was in fourth, for fresh tires in a pursuit to overtake Charles Leclerc for third and a few extra points. It was likely the right call. While Piastri definitely had the pace advantage, he would have had to overtake several cars just to get back in position behind Leclerc, to then make a run at the Ferrari. Wisely, McLaren played it safe and took the points instead of reaching for more, which would have cost them had the gamble failed.
The Bad
Logan Sargeant’s race (he finished 16th) was definitely better than his effort in Saturday’s (August 24th) free practice 3 session, when Sargeant lost control and slammed the barriers on the exit of turn 3, then bounced back onto the track. Sargeant has already lost his seat at Williams for 2025, but you can’t fault his continued determination because he’ll literally drive through a wall to prove his worth.
If you replaced Max Verstappen with Sargeant in the Heineken commercial, even a group of drunken friends would likely refuse a ride home from a sober Sargeant.
As bad as things went for Williams (Alex Albon finished 14th, also a lap down), it was worse for Kick Sauber. Valtteri Botas and Zhou Guanyu finished 19th and 20th, respectively, both two laps down. If you’re talking about things that can’t get here fast enough for Kick Sauber, one would be the finish line; the other would be Audi power units for the team.
Grid Walk Moment
If nothing else, Brundle answered the question of “What do you do when, at the time, there is no one worthy of interviewing on the grid?” Well, you talk to Logan Sargeant. Unfortunately, Brundle didn’t ask the question he should have asked: “So Logan, can you keep it in one piece today?”
Nothing is more pathetic than having your handler/bodyguard/Martin Brundle spotter physically grab Brundle and direct him to an interview. That’s what the crown prince of Bahrain, Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa, did at Zandvoort. Bahrain’s sovereign wealth fund, Mumtalakat, took full ownership of the McLaren Group in March, so the crown prince has a vested interest in the team and professed his hopes for a McLaren win. So, McLaren got “owned.” And they did the same to Red Bull at Zandvoort.
Brundle also ran into Aston Martin executive chairman Lawrence Stroll, an imposing man who oozes arrogance, excessive wealth, and his belief in nepotism. And probably wears Old Spice to cover the scent.
Brundle cheekily asked Stroll “When is Adrian Newey starting with the team?,” a reference to Newey’s recent departure from Red Bull. Stroll quickly replied, “I did not say Adrian Newey was starting with me.” Newey’s destination is, at the moment, not definite but a possibility. Newey’s expertise means he can choose exactly where he wants to go. If he wants to join Aston, he will, and he won’t even have to change his last name to “Stroll” to ensure the move.
The Disappointing
This defeat at his home track had to be humbling for Verstappen – and a boost to Kyle Larson fans everywhere. Somewhere in the United States, Larson is SIM racing the Dutch GP (with his microphone on mute, of course), trying to prove to himself that he could beat Verstappen in similar simulated conditions.
But finishing so distantly to Norris may have officially ended the era of complete Red Bull dominance. To be clear, Verstappen has gone winless in the last five races, so it’s not like we didn’t see it coming. But none have been as humiliating as his Dutch defeat. Norris outran Verstappen by 23 seconds, and that’s after spotting Verstappen the lead for 18 laps. I can only imagine Norris’ winning margin had he led into Turn 1.
This was a different Verstappen in defeat. Usually, when he struggles with his car, Verstappen is outspoken and often vehemently frustrated over radio communications. Not at Zandvoort. Aside from a few comments about tire wear, Verstappen was calm over the radio, as if he’s resigned to the fact that McLaren is not only here but ahead of Red Bull. Verstappen can take comfort in having a 70-point lead in the standings and can basically clinch the championship by just finishing the remaining nine races, regardless of what McLaren does. Red Bull’s advantage over McLaren may be dwindling or gone altogether, but Red Bull still has plenty of edge over Ferrari and Mercedes.
Norris could stand to work on his race starts. As was the case in Hungary, Norris couldn’t keep the lead into Turn 1. Ultimately, it didn’t cost Norris, as he caught Verstappen on lap 18 and ran away with the race. It did, however, cost McLaren. Had he executed a clean start, Norris would have driven away from Verstappen in clean air, leaving the Red Bull to deal with Piastri. And given McLaren’s clear and obvious pace advantage, Piastri would have had no trouble taking and maintaining second from Verstappen.
In what is shaping up to be a tight and intense battle for the constructors championship, three more points for McLaren and three less for Red Bull could be the difference.
The Driver
Even though Norris’ McLaren looked like it was trying to escape from a grid spot composed of peanut butter and molasses at the start, Norris didn’t panic, trusted his car’s pace advantage, and calmly and methodically reeled in Verstappen. Then, once past the Red Bull, Norris went “God Mode,” or maybe just “hotel mode,” and checked out. Norris wanted to make a statement to Verstappen, and that statement was “Now you know what it’s like to be embarrassed. And I know, because you’ve done it to me for years.”
The Results (Heineken Dutch Grand Prix, Circuit Park Zandvoort)
| Pos | No | Driver | Car | Laps | Time/retired | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren Mercedes | 72 | 1:30:45.519 | 26 |
| 2 | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT | 72 | +22.896s | 18 |
| 3 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 72 | +25.439s | 15 |
| 4 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren Mercedes | 72 | +27.337s | 12 |
| 5 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | 72 | +32.137s | 10 |
| 6 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT | 72 | +39.542s | 8 |
| 7 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | 72 | +44.617s | 6 |
| 8 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 72 | +49.599s | 4 |
| 9 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine Renault | 71 | +1 lap | 2 |
| 10 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes | 71 | +1 lap | 1 |
| 11 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas Ferrari | 71 | +1 lap | 0 |
| 12 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | RB Honda RBPT | 71 | +1 lap | 0 |
| 13 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes | 71 | +1 lap | 0 |
| 14 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Williams Mercedes | 71 | +1 lap | 0 |
| 15 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine Renault | 71 | +1 lap | 0 |
| 16 | 2 | Logan Sargeant | Williams Mercedes | 71 | +1 lap | 0 |
| 17 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB Honda RBPT | 71 | +1 lap | 0 |
| 18 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas Ferrari | 71 | +1 lap | 0 |
| 19 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Kick Sauber Ferrari | 70 | +2 laps | 0 |
| 20 | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | Kick Sauber Ferrari | 70 | +2 laps | 0 |
Has the Red Bull dropped off that dramatically over the last year or have the McLaren’s and Mercedes advanced their game that much?
I would say mostly the latter. Red Bull was so far ahead last year that there wasn’t much more they could do to get better; Mercedes and McLaren had no choice but to improve. If embarrassment is a motivator, then Mercedes and McLaren were certainly motivated.