Lando Norris achieved his second successive victory following Hungary by taking the chequered flag at the final race at Zandvoort. The defending champion finished the Dutch Grand Prix in P1 ahead of the Mercedes duo of Kimi Antonelli and George Russell.
The McLaren driver crossed the finishing line 11.5 seconds ahead of runner-up Antonelli, whose Mercedes teammate Russell completed the podium.
It came after Norris beat sprint winner Russell for pole ahead of third-placed Antonelli and they all, like the rest of the grid, started on slicks despite rain an hour before lights out.
But the rain was on and off, causing a wet-dry surface, the dangers of which emerged at the end of the opening lap once Norris had a perfect getaway while Antonelli overtook Russell at Turn 1.
That’s because Verstappen dipped a tyre onto the white line on the inside of the final corner, causing the Red Bull driver to spin into the barrier leaving debris on the circuit.
“Yeah that’s it – sorry!,” said the Red Bull driver via team radio, having brought out the red flag just as Gabriel Bortoleto also had a spin at the banking but somehow avoided damage, with Nico Hulkenberg in particular avoiding his Audi teammate in a cloud of smoke.
Another standing start followed – after Oliver Bearman suffered an engine issue on the formation lap – much to Lando’s dismay as Kimi squeezed by at Turn 1 for the lead.
That was despite softs on the McLaren compared to mediums for Antonelli, while Russell lost third to hard runner Oscar Piastri at Turn 7.
Russell just did not have the pace, soon being under attack by Charles Leclerc as he reported balance problems, but the tight track allowed him to hold firm before swapping mediums for hards on lap 18.
McLaren responded the previous lap with Piastri, but this backfired as a slow 5.4 seconds tyre change put him behind Russell just as a dominant Antonelli streaked 2.2 seconds clear of Norris out front.
That gap closed to a second once the pit window – where all the frontrunners chose hard tyres except Leclerc on mediums – had passed, yet the reigning champion struggled to gain ground.
The wheel-to-wheel battles were more prevalent lower down. Yuki Tsunoda came out on top in an amazing multi-car fight for the top ten, while Leclerc was constantly on Piastri’s tail.
That battle finally ended on lap 34 when the Ferrari and McLaren went through the opening corners wheel-to-wheel, only for Leclerc to edge by for fourth around the outside of Turn 3.
Unfortunately for Piastri, he was overtaken for fifth at Turn 1 on the following lap by Lewis Hamilton, who quickly closed in on teammate Leclerc.
The seven-time world champion was frustrated by the team orders but they did not arrive and Hamilton sarcastically told his Ferrari team, “great way of wasting time guys, good job!”.
Hamilton eventually moved by, though, once Leclerc had made his second pitstop on lap 43, two laps after the Mercedes duo, and five before Norris came in for another set of hard tyres.
But Ferrari kept Hamilton out, which left him with first on track, yet the battle for the net lead emerged behind as Norris rapidly closed on Antonelli, who complained about his rear Pirellis.
On lap 54 Hamilton, Antonelli and Norris were all within a second and the reigning world champion made a sweeping move on Antonelli around the outside of Turn 1.
It was that same lap that Norris subsequently took the actual lead at Turn 11 from Hamilton, who dropped behind Antonelli at Turn 1 the following lap – just as Esteban Ocon caused a virtual safety car by stopping at Turn 4.
“Are you using me as a guinea pig,” complained Hamilton, wanting to pit, and that he finally did under the VSC by taking softs – same for Antonelli, while Norris and now second-placed Russell stayed out on hard compound.
Norris admitted he was “worried” by that decision and had reasons to be so, as the advantage of the fresher tyre became evident with Antonelli quickly reducing his gap to Russell.
Mercedes eventually told George to let his teammate by with the swap occurring at Turn 1 on lap 65, but this left Russell vulnerable against Hamilton claiming “we’ve lost a double podium”.
But Russell held position, helped by a brief VSC on lap 70 for debris at Turn 5, to take the final podium spot, 4.3 seconds behind Antonelli and 15.8 seconds off Norris who took his second win of the season.
So Hamilton finished fourth, Leclerc took fifth and Piastri was sixth, while Red Bull stand-in Liam Lawson, Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg, Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly respectively completed the top ten.
The result has extended Antonelli’s championship advantage, as the the Mercedes driver has a 59-point lead over both Russell and Hamilton in second as we head into Monza next weekend.
Dutch Grand Prix, race results:
1 Lando Norris McLaren-Mercedes 2:4:44.859
2 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes +11.536s
3 George Russell Mercedes +15.906s
4 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +16.755s
5 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +17.258s
6 Oscar Piastri McLaren-Mercedes +32.332s
7 Liam Lawson Red Bull-Ford +79.915s
8 Nico Hulkenberg Audi +1 lap
9 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin-Honda +1 lap
10 Pierre Gasly Alpine-Mercedes +1 lap
11 Yuki Tsunoda Racing Bulls-Ford +1 lap
12 Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls-Ford +1 lap
13 Gabriel Bortoleto Audi +1 lap
14 Franco Colapinto Alpine-Mercedes +2 laps
15 Sergio Perez Cadillac-Ferrari +2 laps
16 Carlos Sainz Williams-Mercedes +2 laps
Alexander Albon Williams-Mercedes DNF
Valtteri Bottas Cadillac-Ferrari DNF
Esteban Ocon Haas-Ferrari DNF
Lance Stroll Aston Martin-Honda DNF
Oliver Bearman Haas-Ferrari DNF
Max Verstappen Red Bull-Ford DNF
