Lando Norris’ championship campaign has been gaining momentum of late. With the Brit winning three out of the last four races immense pressure has been placed on his Championship-Leading teammate Oscar Piastri, closing the gap to just 8 points. Returning from the summer break to the Dutch GP, historically a track that suits Norris, the Brit was favourite. Yet on a sunny Saturday afternoon in Zandvoort, it was Piastri that clinched pole.
Piastri’s improvement this season has been astounding, and his dominant victory this weekend in Zandvoort evidences this. He was in control ever since he controlled the opening lap, where Norris lost a place to home-favourite Max Verstappen, before keeping his head down under the pressure of sporadic Dutch showers, 3 safety cars, and a VSC too. On lap 60 Piastri set the fastest lap at 1:12.271, before cruising to a comfortable victory 12 laps later, completing his first Grand Chelem.
Norris did eventually manage to take back P2, with a solid overtake around the outside of Verstappen at Tarzanbocht, but remained in Piastri’s shadow for the rest of the race. McLaren, therefore, seemed set for their 5th consecutive 1-2, but luck would not be on Norris’ side as his MCL39 began to emit smoke on lap 65, forcing him to retire. This extended Piastri’s championship lead to 34 points. Whilst the protagonists insisted Norris was not out of contention, such a deficit will be hard to make up.
Isack Hadjar’s P3 finish saw the Rookie claim a podium at only his 15th race – a highly commendable feat. Hadjar has had an excellent season which he extended this weekend, qualifying P4 – a career best – and finishing on the Podium.
Despite limited overtaking spots, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc made a bold overtake on Mercedes’ George Russell on Lap 32 to take P5, and demonstrated his defensive prowess as he continued to hold the Briton off. Leclerc tangled with Kimi Antonelli whose attempted overtake saw a crash which took Leclerc out. The race was a disaster for Ferrari as Lewis Hamilton also found himself eliminated after crashing out on lap 22. This marks Ferrari’s second double elimination of the season and extends their slightly horrifying winless streak.
This year’s race was the penultimate Dutch Grand Prix as the circuit is set to be axed after 2026, with this weekend showing what a great track it can be. The entertainment provided last Sunday was a much-needed exciting break back to F1 after the summer break, leaving much anticipation for the coming races as we head into the second half of the season.
“Norris & Piastri on the grid – Chinese GP 2024” by Liauzh is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.