Lando Norris won the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort, delivering a superb drive to overtake Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli late in the race after the Italian had led for most of the 72 laps. The McLaren driver beat Antonelli into second, with Antonelli’s Mercedes teammate George Russell taking third. The race was marked on the opening lap by a major high-speed crash for Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who emerged unscathed after his car was left in pieces.
Antonelli leads before late Norris charge
The race had appeared to be in Antonelli’s hands after he made two decisive moves. He passed Russell to take second on the off and then Norris for the lead when racing resumed with a restart after a 40-minute stoppage to clear the track of debris from Verstappen’s car.
Norris did all he could to keep the Italian honest, and McLaren took a chance on running the defending world champion long before his final pit stop. The gamble proved inspired. When Norris emerged on fresher rubber, he chased after the Mercedes, with Antonelli not enjoying the best grip. Norris made a decisive move to take the lead with 15 laps remaining. A late virtual safety car led to Antonelli taking another stop in an effort to charge on new soft rubber, and Russell reluctantly moved over for his teammate, who was quicker.
Title fight tightens
It was a mighty display of determination and race craft from Norris, who kept himself in the title fight by closing the gap to the Italian. Antonelli now leads the world championship by 59 points from teammate Russell and Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton, with Norris now 83 points in arrears.
Hamilton finished in fourth after a series of feisty exchanges with his team, frustrated with their strategy calls. His teammate Charles Leclerc was in fifth place, with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri in sixth.
Verstappen’s opening-lap crash
The race opened on a damp track from rain that had hit as the cars took to the grid, and it proved crucial on the opening lap. Norris held his lead into turn one, but Russell was a little sluggish, allowing Antonelli through to take second.
At the end of the opening lap, Verstappen suffered a major accident at high speed, causing the race to be stopped. The Dutchman dipped a wheel onto the white line on the inside of the final corner, still damp from the rain, lost the rear, and spun across the track to take a major hit into the barriers. He was ricocheted back into the inside wall, the car wrecked but from which he was able to emerge unhurt.
Racing resumed 40 minutes later from a standing start, and on the off Antonelli made another quick start and squeezed past Norris, who was a little slow through turn one. He held the place well until the final, decisive stops.
Norris’s winning move
Norris went long, looking for a tyre advantage, and came in on lap 48, seven laps later than Antonelli. He was swiftly very quick on the fresh rubber, hurtling up to the gearbox of Antonelli within a few laps as the Mercedes struggled for grip on the hard tyres. Norris was all over the back of Antonelli as they came up behind Hamilton, who had yet to stop.
On lap 54 Norris barrelled past the Italian with a bold, decisive move at turn one round the outside, as they were right on Hamilton. The Ferrari was then passed by both as Norris made hay and opened a lead he would not relinquish, providing a suitably grand finale to the last Dutch Grand Prix as the event leaves the calendar.
