Lando Norris won a turbulent Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort. The McLaren driver beat Kimi Antonelli thanks to an alternate strategy, while Max Verstappen crashed out violently on the first lap.
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For its last appearance on the Formula 1 calendar in the near future, Zandvoort offered a spectacular race. Between a wet track, red flags, divergent strategies, penalties, and several neutralizations, Lando Norris ultimately came out on top.
Starting from pole position, the reigning world champion still had to fight to secure the victory. Overtaken by Kimi Antonelli after the interruption caused by Max Verstappen’s accident, Norris played the patience card before taking advantage of his alternate strategy to definitively regain the lead.
He wins with an 11.5-second lead over Antonelli. George Russell completes the podium after holding off Lewis Hamilton, who finished fourth ahead of Charles Leclerc.
Verstappen down on the first lap
The conditions were particularly tricky at the start after several showers. Despite parts of the track still being wet, the entire field chose slick tires.
Norris kept the lead while Antonelli took advantage of a poor start by Russell to take second place. Charles Leclerc also gained a position and settled into fourth place.
But the first lap was marked by Verstappen’s huge accident. In the last corner, the Dutchman suddenly lost the rear of his Red Bull on a still wet section. His RB22 climbed up the banking before violently hitting the wall and bouncing back onto the track.
Liam Lawson managed to avoid his teammate, while Gabriel Bortoleto also spun at the same spot without hitting the barriers. Verstappen fortunately emerged unscathed from his wreck, but the race direction immediately showed the red flag.
Antonelli surprises Norris at the restart
After a nearly half-hour interruption and a new setback caused by Oliver Bearman’s retirement, the Grand Prix truly resumed on the fifth lap.
Antonelli wasted no time and immediately attacked Norris at the first corner to take the lead. Behind them, Oscar Piastri made a superb move on Russell in the fast turn 7 and moved up to the provisional podium.
The red flag had, however, disrupted strategies. Antonelli and Russell were on medium tires, Norris on softs, and Piastri on hards. The two Ferraris had also opted for soft tires.
This diversity would make the rest of the race particularly strategic.
Norris plays the patience card
Russell initiated the first major pit stop sequence on lap 17. Piastri stopped just after him, but a slow pit stop cost him the position to the Mercedes driver.
Antonelli and Norris waited until lap 21 before stopping themselves. Hamilton temporarily inherited the lead and extended his stint by four more laps to benefit from fresher tires at the end of the race.
Meanwhile, Piastri gradually lost ground. The McLaren driver was successively overtaken by Leclerc and Hamilton on laps 34 and 35.
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Mercedes then called Antonelli and Russell back on lap 40. McLaren once again chose to delay Norris’s strategy, who extended his stint by seven more laps.
The Brit gradually closed in on Antonelli and was in his slipstream about twenty laps from the finish.
Hamilton puts Ferrari under pressure
Ferrari’s strategy also caused some tension. Having caught up to Leclerc’s tail, Hamilton asked to be allowed to pass his teammate.
Ferrari finally decided to call Leclerc into the pits, but the Monegasque did not immediately respond to the instruction. Hamilton felt he lost precious time and did not hide his frustration on the radio.
Up front, Norris finally put Antonelli under pressure. The McLaren driver regained the lead on lap 54 and seemed to have done the hardest part.
But Esteban Ocon’s stoppage triggered a virtual safety car and once again reshuffled strategies.
Antonelli goes all out
Mercedes took advantage of the neutralization to call Antonelli in and fit him with soft tires. Hamilton also made a low-cost stop.
Antonelli rejoined in third behind Norris and Russell, but with significantly fresher tires. Six laps from the finish, Mercedes then asked Russell to give up his second place to his teammate to allow him to chase Norris.
The gap to the McLaren was about eleven seconds, however, and Norris perfectly controlled the situation until the checkered flag.
Russell, meanwhile, had to hold off Hamilton. The Ferrari driver attempted an attack at the first corner three laps from the finish but failed to convert it.
Norris wins the last race at Zandvoort
Lando Norris finally crossed the finish line as the winner with an 11.536-second lead over Kimi Antonelli. George Russell saved third place at 15.906 seconds and completed another Mercedes double podium.
Lewis Hamilton finished fourth ahead of Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri. Despite a ten-second penalty received at the end of the race, Liam Lawson kept seventh place for Red Bull.
Nico Hülkenberg took eighth position, while Fernando Alonso made a great comeback from 18th on the grid to score the two points for ninth place. Pierre Gasly completed the top 10.
For Norris, this victory confirms his return to the forefront after his success in Hungary. For Verstappen and the thousands of Dutch fans in the stands, Formula 1’s farewell to Zandvoort took a particularly brutal turn.
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