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5 Winners and 5 Losers from Zandvoort – Who excelled as F1 returned with a bang?
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Lando Norris got his championship tilt back on track with a commanding performance in title rival Max Verstappen’s backyard in the Netherlands. But while he toasted a second career victory, others left the Dutch seaside resort bitterly disappointed. Lawrence Barretto picks out his winners and losers from the Dutch Grand Prix...
Winner: Lando Norris
On arriving at Zandvoort, Norris felt he hadn’t “performed at the level of a world champion” so far this season – but there was no dispute about his quality across the Dutch Grand Prix weekend as he converted pole position into victory for the first time in six attempts.
The Briton’s pole lap was a staggering 0.356s quicker than anyone else and while he failed to lead into Turn 1 after another bad start, he surged back past title rival Max Verstappen and then blasted away at the front to win by 22.896s – the biggest winning margin of the season.
Such was his confidence and pace, he pumped in the fastest lap of the race – on old hard tyres – on the final lap to earn an extra point and help cut his deficit to Verstappen to 70 points with nine Grand Prix and three Sprints to go. The fight for the drivers’ title is well and truly on.
Norris secured a dominant victory in Zandvoort, just the second win of his F1 career
Loser: Max Verstappen
Reigning world champion Verstappen’s winless run extended to five Grands Prix as he had no answer to Norris and McLaren’s scintillating pace over both one lap and long runs at his home event.
The Dutchman lamented Red Bull’s lack of speed at Zandvoort, the RB20 having lost its all-conquering advantage, and thus he couldn’t continue his run of always having won his home Grand Prix (he triumphed in 2021, 2022 and 2023).
He still has a substantial lead in the standings – just less than three Grands Prix worth of points – and this is only the fourth time this season he’s seen his championship advantage cut. But the manner of his defeat in the Netherlands will be concerning heading into the sharp end of the campaign.
Winners: McLaren
McLaren brought their first major upgrade package to a track since Miami – and it had the desired effect, as they crushed the opposition to take pole position before taking a commanding victory through Norris – their third of 2024.
Oscar Piastri was disappointed to miss out on a podium, but his fourth-place finish not only meant he is the top scorer in the last five Grands Prix with 92 points but it also helped McLaren slash the gap to championship leaders Red Bull to just 30 points.
McLaren are in the ascendency and with more upgrades to come, they have every chance of overhauling Red Bull and taking their first constructors’ championship in more than two decades.
Verstappen's advantage in the standings is still substantial, but his winless run has extended to five Grands Prix
Loser: Alex Albon
Alex Albon delivered a cracking lap in qualifying to take P8 and give Williams their best Saturday result of the year.
However, he didn’t get the chance to capitalise on it as his car was disqualified for running an illegal floor – one of several new parts in the team’s first significant upgrade of the season.
Albon made a good start to pick up a few places but P14 was the best he could recover. It’s unfortunate given he believed ninth was possible had he retained his original qualifying spot.
Winner: Charles Leclerc
Charles Leclerc was as shocked as anyone by the pace of his Ferrari after a difficult qualifying where he and team mate Carlos Sainz didn’t have the pace to challenge for pole.
The Ferraris came alive in the race for reasons the team have yet to fully understand and were at best second quickest and at worst third fastest on pure pace.
After a great start, a smart call to try the undercut moved him into the podium positions and he comfortably held off Piastri to take his second consecutive podium and maintain P3 in the drivers’ championship.
A weekend that promised plenty ultimately proved disappointing for Albon and Williams
Losers: Mercedes
Mercedes came into Zandvoort in stellar form, having won three of the last four Grands Prix and shown the speed to race at the front since introducing an upgrade six races ago.
Their pace on Friday was encouraging, with the Silver Arrows appearing to be very much in the fight for pole and the win with McLaren and Red Bull.
However, they were underwhelming in qualifying with Lewis Hamilton failing to make Q3 – and they could only manage P7 and P8 in the race as they ended up fourth-best in terms of pure pace.
Winners: Ferrari
Ferrari haven’t had the best time of it since Leclerc won his home race in Monaco all the way back in May – and their difficult run looked set to continue as both Leclerc and Carlos Sainz lamented a lack of performance in qualifying trim.
They were slowest of all in the slow corners through practice but come Sunday both Leclerc and Sainz looked strong.
Leclerc took his seventh podium of the season, while Sainz battled back from 10th – on a weekend where he had essentially no running on Friday because of bad weather and then a gearbox issue – to take fifth for his sixth straight top-six finish.
Leclerc secured a surprise podium in Zandvoort
Loser: Esteban Ocon
Esteban Ocon was at a loss to explain why the car could feel so good at the last race at Spa – where he scored a couple of points – yet so difficult to drive at the next race at Zandvoort.
The Frenchman was booted out of Q1 for the second year in a row at the Dutch track and simply didn’t have the pace to make any progress in the race as he crossed the line 15th.
Winner: Pierre Gasly
While Ocon struggled, team mate Pierre Gasly excelled to give his team a valuable two points to further pull away from Williams in the constructors’ championship in the fight for P8.
That result was set up by a superb qualifying that delivered 10th on the grid – his third Q3 appearance of the season and first time he’s outqualified Ocon in five races.
The Frenchman showed some impressive race-craft going toe to toe with Hamilton and Sainz on his way to ninth, equalling the team’s best performance of the year.
Ocon endured a challenging Dutch Grand Prix weekend
Losers: Red Bull
Red Bull’s stunted run continued in the Netherlands as they lost their grip on Zandvoort – having won every edition since it returned to the calendar – and could only manage second through Verstappen.
It was only their second podium in five races and while Sergio Perez secured his first top-six finish since Miami, nine races ago, the Mexican still finished behind both McLarens and both Ferraris.
In the last four races, they have scored 79 points, the same as Ferrari, one fewer than Mercedes and, critically, 57 fewer than McLaren. The pressure is well and truly on the energy drinks firm for the first time since 2021.
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