Lando Norris had to wait 110 races for his first Formula 1 win, but his second came just nine rounds later.
What’s more, this was an emphatic triumph, in which he also set the pole position and fastest lap. He is the 48th driver in F1 history to achieve this hat-trick and sixth driver on the grid today, joining Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen, Fernando Alonso, Valtteri Bottas and Charles Leclerc.
Given how rapid the McLaren was, had Norris kept his lead at the start he would have had a strong chance of leading every lap and therefore taking his first ‘grand slam’. However Norris lost his lead at the start again, which is an unfortunate habit of his.
As has been widely noted, from Norris’ six starts at the front in F1 so far (four grands prix, two sprint races) he has never kept the lead yet. Nor have his starts from further back on the grid been particularly strong.
Indeed, only one driver on the grid has made consistently worse starts than Norris over the 15 grands prix so far this season: Daniel Ricciardo. He is the only driver besides Norris who has started every race this year and never gained a position on the first lap.
Even drivers like Charles Leclerc and Nico Hulkenberg, who suffered double-digit position losses at some races this year, have better average starts than Norris and Ricciardo.
Inevitably, drivers who usually start in the mid-to-rear of the pack have the most to gain at starts. However it’s noteworthy that, despite having more pole positions than anyone so far this year, Verstappen has never ended the first lap in a lower position than he started. And while McLaren may have room to improve their car’s starting performance, Oscar Piastri’s starts are, on average, considerably better than his team mate’s:
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Despite this, Norris left Zandvoort with much to be cheerful about. He is the 80th driver in the history of the world championship to become a multiple race winner; his fourth pole position gives him as many as Mike Hawthorn, Didier Pironi, Jarno Trulli and Giancarlo Fisichella; and his eighth fastest lap matches the tallies of James Hunt, Gilles Villeneuve, Ralf Schumacher, Jenson Button and rival George Russell.
Norris is only the second driver this year to lead more than 100 laps in total. Verstappen reached that milestone on the 105th lap of the season.
The reigning world champion made his 200th grand prix start on…
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