Norris wins back-to-back races at Dutch Grand Prix as Verstappen crashes out
Lando Norris has won the Dutch Grand Prix to take a second consecutive victory this season after beating the Mercedes pair of championship leader Kimi Antonelli and George Russell, as home hero Max Verstappen crashes.
Norris got away cleanly from pole position as Antonelli passed his Mercedes teammate for second. However, the red flag came out at the end of the first lap when Verstappen spun off and heavily hit the wall on the greasy track caused by the morning’s rain. The Dutch driver came on the radio to report he was ok.
On the restart, Antonelli crucially overtook Norris with Russell close behind, only to be dismissed by Norris’ McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri in a flurry of action.
After the pit stops, Norris was on fresher tyres and pushed Antonelli all the way to the Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton, who had extended his first stint and acted as the bottle neck in the battle.
The reigning World Champion then passed championship leader Antonelli and seven-time champion Hamilton in a single lap to retake the lead.
The virtual safety car came out after Esteban Ocon stopped his car trackside to which Mercedes chose to pit Antonelli for fresh tyres and set up a thrilling chase for the race lead after Russell ceded his position to his teammate under team orders.
But by the flag Norris had stretched out a lead of over 10 seconds and was untroubled by Antonelli, while Russell just managed to fend off the charging Ferraris of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc for the final podium place.
Norris’ win moved him up to fourth in the standings while Russell levels with Hamilton in second.
Oscar Piastri finished behind in sixth while Liam Lawson claimed seventh as the sole finisher for Red Bull in a decent return to the team.
In a tight midfield battle, Nico Hulkneberg came out on top in P8 with Fernando Alonso claiming critical points for Aston Martin in ninth.
Pierre Gasly earned the last points position for Alpine after fending off the two Racing Bulls of stand-in Yuki Tsunoda and Arvid Lindblad in a gripping race-long fight.
Gabriel Bortoleto finished thirteenth after spinning his Audi round at the same time as Verstappen, keeping it on the track and narrowly avoided a big hit from his teammate.
Franco Colapinto claimed fourteenth for Alpine as Sergio Perez finished behind in P15 for Cadillac.
Carlos Sainz was the last of the finishers in sixteenth but earned a penalty for locking up and clattering into his teammate. Alex Albon retired from the damage, on the week the Williams team had extended the pair’s contracts.
Other retirees included Valterri Bottas, Esteban Ocon, Lance Stroll, Max Verstappen and Ollie Bearman who pulled over with a technical issue on the first restart.
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