BREAKING: Dominant Norris fights back to win Dutch GP

McLaren’s Lando Norris fought back to take a dominant victory in the Dutch Grand Prix despite losing the lead to Max Verstappen’s Red Bull at the start.

Norris, for whom starts and first laps have been a weakness in recent races, was passed almost immediately when he had too much wheel spin off the line.

But such was the pace in his McLaren that he re-passed Verstappen on lap 18, before the pit stops, and romped away into the distance.

Charles Leclerc took the final podium position, belying his pre-race pessimism, fending off the McLaren of Oscar Piastri for the final 27 laps.

Verstappen appeared to sense the way the race was going even while he was still leading.

The Dutchman, who has monopolised this event since it returned to the calendar in 2021, was complaining about a lack of grip from very early in the race.

His defence of the lead when Norris caught him was half-hearted, especially in the context of his normally ultra-robust defensive tactics, and the McLaren swept into the lead down the inside line at the first corner, Tarzan.

Once in front, Norris pulled away at about half a second a lap and there was nothing Verstappen could do to prevent losing his home race for the first time since its return after a 36-year absence.

Norris was in total control once in front and crossed the line 22.8 seconds ahead of Verstappen for one of the most dominant wins of the season.

He rubbed in his crushing form by setting the fastest lap on the final tour, taking it away from Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton by just 0.067secs.

“Simply lovely,” Norris said cheekily over the radio, copying the phrase Verstappen used so many times in victories during his dominance of the past two years.

“It feels amazing,” Norris added. “I wouldn’t say a perfect race because of lap one again but it was beautiful, the car was very strong, I could push and get past Max and just go from there. Still tough but enjoyable.”

Verstappen said: “We had a good start so we tried everything we could but throughout the race it was quite clear we were not quick enough so I tried to be second.

“I know we have good starts and I was quite confident we would have another one. That was my race.”

Norris’ win, his first since his maiden victory in Miami in May and following the introduction of McLaren’s first car upgrade since that race in Florida, will come as a welcome tonic for a driver and team who have faced criticism for letting opportunities slip.

It cuts Verstappen’s championship lead to 70 points with nine races to go – a still formidable advantage but one which Norris, on this form, might just have a chance of overhauling.

In the constructors’ chase, McLaren are now just 31 points behind Red Bull in the quest for their first teams’ title for 26 years.

It was a rocky start for Norris!

When Norris lost the lead off the line, there were echoes of the events in Spain, Hungary and Belgium, in all of which his victory chances were compromised by being passed on the first lap, either through a slow start or an error.

This time, there was nothing to worry about. Norris was easily able to stay with Verstappen in the early laps despite the difficulty of following at Zandvoort – an indication of a comfortable pace advantage

.And when Verstappen’s tyre started to go off after about 15 laps – he was complaining they were “numb” and had “no”grip”—Norris moved in for the kill.

McLaren’s confidence in his pace was transparent on the pit wall, too, when Norris’ engineer Will Joseph said Verstappen might try to under-cut him – stop earlier and regain the lead on fresh tyres – but they were not worried about it.In the end, they did not have to worry.

Norris was more than five seconds in front by the time Verstappen stopped for fresh tyres on lap 27, and McLaren was able to cover him with a stop on the following lap to enable their driver to continue to control the race from the front.