Photo by Bryn Lennon – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images
A dominating drive from Lando Norris offers the latest wrinkle in a fascinating F1 season
Shortly after Lando Norris put his McLaren into pole position for Sunday’s Dutch Grand Prix, the questions began. Saturday’s qualifying effort in Zandvoort marked the third time this Formula 1 season that Norris qualified up front for a Grand Prix, but on both previous occasions, Norris failed to lead the opening lap. Could Norris take advantage of a shorter run into Turn 1 in Zandvoort and hold off Max Verstappen off the start, or would his rival get the better of him again?
Immediately after the lights went out Sunday we had our answer. Yet again Norris struggled in the second phase of the start and Verstappen pounced, taking the lead on the opening lap.
It did not matter.
Norris remained patient in the cockpit of his upgraded MCL38, and while Verstappen managed to pull out of DRS range over the first handful of laps, Norris slowly reeled in his rival. Finally, Norris caught Verstappen, overtaking the Red Bull driver on the tail end of Lap 17 and rocketing into the lead.
He did not look back.
After the teams cycled through pit stops, with the bulk of the field switching to the hard compound after starting on the mediums, Norris remained on the charge. By Lap 46 Norris had an advantage of over ten seconds over Verstappen, and McLaren began working through various “what if” scenarios over the radio. At one point Will Joseph, Norris’ race engineer, outlined the strategy the team would implement in the case of an unexpected safety car.
But the only strategy Norris needed on this day was to keep the hammer down inside the rocket ship that is the MCL38. By the time the checkered flag flew, Norris had an advantage of over 22 seconds ahead of Verstappen.
And he set the fastest lap of the race on the final lap of the day.
Gauntlet, thrown.
“It feels amazing,” said Norris trackside to Giedo van der Garde. “I wouldn’t say a perfect race because of Lap One again. But afterwards I could just get comfortable.”
Norris’ victory means he inched closer to Verstappen in the F1 Drivers’ Championship, as he trimmed eight points off the Red Bull driver’s advantage. As the grid heads to Monza for next weekend’s Italian Grand Prix, Verstappen now holds a 70-point advantage over Norris with nine race weekends to go.
But in the all-important Constructors’ Championship battle, Sunday was another strong day for Norris and McLaren. With his win (along with the bonus point for the fastest lap) and a fourth-place finish from teammate Oscar Piastri, McLaren picked up another 38 points on Sunday.
Verstappen’s second-place finish, and a sixth-place finish from Sergio Pérez, banked 26 points for Red Bull. That allowed McLaren to gain another 11 points on Red Bull, pulling to within 30 points of the top spot in the standings.
Game on, indeed.
