Lando Norris blew the start, then blew away Max Verstappen and the field to seize a demonstrative win in the Heineken Dutch Grand Prix on Sunday (August 25th). Norris bested Verstappen, who was making his 200th F1 start, by nearly 23 seconds, and served notice that Norris is still very much in play for the drivers championship.
“It feels amazing,” Norris said. “I wouldn’t say a perfect race because of lap 1 again, but afterwards, it was beautiful.
“From probably lap 5, 6, 7, I expected Max to start pushing and get a bit of a gap, and he never did, so from that point, I knew we were in for a good fight.
“He seemed to keep dropping off and, my pace was getting better. It’s a nice feeling inside the car, and especially when I got past. The pace was very strong. The car was unbelievable today.”
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc held off Oscar Piastri for much of the race to earn the final podium spot. Piastri’s fourth-place finish gave McLaren a 38 to 26 edge in points over Red Bull on the day. Carlos Sainz finished fifth, followed by Red Bull’s Sergio Perez in sixth. Mercedes’ George Russell took seventh, while teammate Lewis Hamilton was eighth after starting 14th on the grid. Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso placed ninth and 10th, respectively, both a lap down.
In the driver standings, Verstappen’s lead over Norris is 295 to 225. Charles Leclerc is third with 192 points, 13 clear of Piastri in fourth.
In the constructor standings, McLaren gashed 12 points off Red Bull’s lead, which is now 434 to 404. Ferrari is 34 back in third with 370 points.
The Race
Verstappen blew by Norris at lights out and was easily in front into Turn 1. Piastri lost third to Russell, while Leclerc snatched fifth from Perez. Again, Norris had quickly wasted the advantage of pole. Clearly, the lessons learned in Hungary were lost on Norris.
Verstappen quickly outgrew DRS range and held a 1.5-second lead by lap 4. Norris didn’t let the gap increase, careful not to force the issue and use up his tires too quickly. Piastri was within DRS range of Russell but struggling to make the pass.
Norris radioed his team on lap 8, asking the odd question, “Who are we racing?” His team…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at …