F1 Dutch Grand Prix: Dominant Norris Ignites Title Race with Win on Verstappen’s Home Turf

Mike Pryson

August 25, 2024 at 2:39 PM·11 min read

f1 grand prix of netherlands — Norris Ignites Title Race with F1 Dutch GP WinClive Rose - Getty Images

Lando Norris claimed an emphatic second career victory to end Max Verstappen’s unbeaten record at the Dutch Grand Prix, as the British driver kept open the door to a previously improbable tilt at this year’s Formula 1 title.

Autoweek rounds up the main talking points from Zandvoort.

Norris Lays Down a Marker

The majority of the 100,000 fans who streamed into Zandvoort on race day donned the orange of the Netherlands, optimistic of further home success after Verstappen’s wins at the venue in 2021, 2022 and 2023, but instead it was the papaya team that was celebrating an emphatic victory.

Since Norris’ maiden win in Miami, in May, McLaren has been a contender for victory at the majority of the grands prix. But in an eight-race spell after Miami, Norris beat Verstappen only twice, allowing the reigning world champion to grow his points advantage to 78, with the squad’s sole win coming courtesy of Oscar Piastri in Hungary.

Norris, again, made a poor getaway from pole position at Zandvoort, remarkably extending a quirky statistic that means he has started from first on six occasions in Formula 1 without actually converting the grid spot into the lead at Turn 1.

f1 grand prix of netherlands qualifying — Lando Norris has suddenly closed the gap to Max Verstappen to 70 points.Bryn Lennon - Formula 1 - Getty Images

But after shadowing Verstappen for 18 of the 72 laps he cruised past the Red Bull driver into Turn 1 and never looked back. Norris set the fastest lap on the last lap, claiming the bonus point for good measure, and his 22.8-second margin of victory was the largest of any race all season.

“A win’s always satisfying,” he said. “Obviously it didn’t start in the most optimistic way, but the pace was unbelievable from the beginning and I could go with Max quite happily at the start,” Norris said. “I just didn’t expect our pace to be as good as what it was today. Which is a good thing. It’s nice to be kind of a little bit surprised by this.

"As soon as I got ahead, it was quite straightforward, I could push, I had good confidence to push the whole race, save the tires a little bit but just getting in a good rhythm and going from there. The car felt amazing, car felt great, and made my life easier for sure.”

Verstappen still took second place—displaying the consistency and composure of a world champion—but the pace of Norris’ McLaren will have alarmed the Red Bull camp. Verstappen still holds a 70-point title advantage, but that looks significantly less comfortable in light of McLaren’s pace, while Red Bull’s lead in the Constructors’ battle is down to just 30.

“The last few races haven’t really been fantastic,” Verstappen said, having also struggled with the balance of the RB20 through the weekend. “Something in the car has made it more difficult to drive and it’s very hard to pinpoint where that is coming from at the moment. That is then hurting our one-lap performance but also our long run.”

Verstappen’s teammate Checo Perez was sixth and agreed that the squad needs to get a better handle on the RB20.

“I think there are a lot of things that will stay within the team, but I think right now, the main focus is to understand the issue,” Perez said. “We know the way we have developed the car, we’ve lost some path, and we’re definitely trying to bring it back.”

McLaren has chipped away at Red Bull’s advantage across the season and the reigning champions know it has a fight on its hands.

“McLaren has been the benchmark car over the last few races,” Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner said. “We’re very acutely aware that we need to respond to that. Everybody in Milton Keynes is working incredibly hard to address that.

“It’s only the fourth time this year that Max’s points lead has reduced. It’s only Lando’s second win, but we know we have to find performance. So we were 78 points, now we’re 70 ahead. We want to make sure that we extend the lead, not see it continue to diminish. The pressure is on us to respond. We’re used to being in championship fights over the years, we’ll dig deep and we’re going to fight with everything we’ve got over the remaining races.”

Outstanding Leclerc Salvages Ferrari podium

Ferrari struggled for performance throughout practice and qualifying at Zandvoort, but a well-executed strategy and some outstanding driving delivered a surprise podium finish for Charles Leclerc.

The Monegasque was shocked at qualifying nine-tenths off a second away from pole position but conceded that the long-radius medium-speed corners at Zandvoort accentuated the inherent weaknesses of the current-spec SF-24. But in the race it was a different matter.

Leclerc jumped Checo Perez off the line while Ferrari used the undercut to great effect, enabling Leclerc to leapfrog Oscar Piastri and George Russell. Leclerc managed to stay in front of Piastri through the remainder of the race to pick up a podium finish, boosting the team’s morale ahead of its home event in Italy.

“It’s not often that I would say I am happy with a P3, but today, I am extremely happy with the job the team has done on such a difficult weekend,” Leclerc said. “We struggled in all sessions since FP1, and managed to put it all together when it matters most. We found the pace we needed, executed a perfect strategy, undercut our competitors and kept them behind. It feels great to start the second half of the season like this.”

Carlos Sainz completed an encouraging recovery for Ferrari by rising from 10^th to fifth spot.

“This is a good result as we didn't expect to have such a positive race, especially after a very difficult start to the weekend,” he said. “We executed a very solid race all along with good overtakes on track and a fast pace, especially with the hard tire once I cleared the cars ahead.”

Mercedes Underwhelms

Mercedes was the team in form prior to the summer recess, with three wins from four, but at Zandvoort the squad endured a difficult weekend.

George Russell ran third in the early stages, putting him in contention for a podium finish, but was unable to adopt the one-stop strategy utilized by the rest of the front-runners and fell away to seventh.

Lewis Hamilton meanwhile dropped out of qualifying in Q2, was penalized for impeding Checo Perez, and from 14th on the grid picked his way through to eighth, where he remained.

“Today's race was an odd one,” Russell said. “We didn't have the pace and that was the case on all three tire compounds. It felt that I was sliding around quite a lot, suffering from high degradation, and slowly went backwards. We will have to understand why that was as we were relatively quick on Saturday. Performance does swing circuit to circuit, but we have been up near the front in the past six races. I am therefore confident that this is an outlier.”

Hamilton agreed that “ultimately, we didn't have the pace to fight for much more today. If we had qualified better yesterday, than it may have been a little different.”

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff described Zandvoort as a “bad race” for the manufacturer and affirmed that “we clearly got some decisions wrong in terms of how we were running the car here.”

Wolff also confirmed that protégé Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who is in line for a 2025 race seat, will participate in first practice at Monza on Friday.

“It is going to be a really emotional moment,” Wolff said. “We’ve followed him since he was 11 and a baby go-kart driver, with a Mercedes kit, proud to be in the garage… To see him drive out on Friday in FP1, in Monza, in front of the tifosi, having an Italian kid in a competitive car…. I think that will be something that everybody in Italy can be very proud of. Then we’ll take it from there.”

Tough Time for Williams

Albon qualified in eighth position in the upgraded Williams and both drivers spoke positively of the new components having a positive impact on overall performance and confidence.

There was also a slight weight reduction with the new parts creeping Williams closer to the minimum weight limit that it has been over all season. But post-qualifying Albon was excluded after the floor on the FW46 was deemed too wide. Williams blamed its own tools, explaining that it had scanned its floor on several occasions at the factory—and at the track—but that it was getting different readings to the FIA’s tools.

“We need to understand how we can be wrong in our measurements,” Williams Team Principal James Vowles said. “It’s an easy fix, but the rule is the rule. We need to address it and get on top of that with immediate effect.”

Albon finished the race in 14th after starting from 19th place.

“If we started where we should have, Pierre’s position was for us, I feel, but that’s just how it is,” Albon said, referring to ninth-placed Gasly. “In terms of silver linings what’s positive is the upgrade worked, the car’s strong, and we can take it into Monza.”

Logan Sargeant started from 18^thposition and brought the sister car home in 16^th spot, fending off Yuki Tsunoda and Kevin Magnussen, keeping out of trouble after his monstrous practice accident.

Haas Just Misses Points on Crazy Weekend

Haas brought a frustrating weekend to a close without points at Zandvoort, and now must wait before its equipment can leave the paddock.

Nico Hulkenberg adopted the undercut strategy to move into the top 10 but dropped from ninth to 11th in the closing stages as his worn hard tires cried their last, unable to prevent the fresher-shod Pierre Gasly and Fernando Alonso from moving ahead.

“I feel a bit disappointed right now,” Hulkenberg said. “At the end, Pierre and Fernando had much fresher tires so I couldn’t fight back. It’s a shame as maybe a point or two would’ve been possible today.”

Kevin Magnussen finished 18^thafter starting from the pit lane due to taking fresh engine components prior to the start.

Haas must now wait before its equipment can leave the paddock and make its way to Monza. It made its payment to former title sponsor Uralkali – believed to relate to around $10 million—on Friday, after the Russians escalated matters relating to the court case that was settled – and which Haas did not contest—in June.

Haas is nonetheless awaiting confirmation of the receipt of payment from the company, and does not want to risk its cars and equipment being impounded. Haas is able to pack up its cars and equipment as usual and is expected to leave its trucks overnight at Zandvoort; the team is confident that the receipt of payment will come through on Monday, allowing its trucks to leave and make the trip by road to Monza.

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