Norris wins. And Antonelli extends his lead.
The Zandvoort circuit bid farewell to Formula 1 with a dramatic Dutch GP. Lando Norris, through strategy and grit, won the race and was voted ‘Driver of the Day’. Mercedes took the podium with Kimi Antonelli (2nd) and George Russell (3rd). A shocking crash involving Max Verstappen right after the start only avoided serious consequences due to the dexterity of Gabriel Bortoleto and Nico Hulkenberg. The Brazilian driver finished 13th. The organization announced a crowd of 325,000 people over the three days. The race will leave the calendar starting next year. The next F1 round will be the Italian Grand Prix, at the fast Monza circuit, on September 6th.
With the track still having damp patches at the start, Max Verstappen went off the dry line and crashed hard into the barriers on both sides of the track, destroying the Red Bull single-seater. With all the cars very close to each other, Bortoleto was very skillful, braking and spinning to avoid the collision and continuing in the race. Behind him, Hulkenberg also controlled his car, preventing a crash with Bortoleto. The Audi driver duo, in a split second, highlighted the crucial importance of quick reflexes. Bortoleto, who had a great weekend making it to Q3 in both the sprint and the GP, was disadvantaged and finished outside the points zone.
If it is true that Zandvoort is a circuit that does not offer great thrills, the tire strategy made up for it. McLaren won because it managed the pitstops better, even with Norris losing the lead to Antonelli early in the race.
The Mercedes driver held 1st place until lap 54 of the scheduled 72, when he was decisively beaten by Norris. In the final laps of the race, Antonelli made a late stop to put on soft tires and pushed hard to overtake his teammate, George Russell, for 2nd place. Ferrari, which did not manage the battle between Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc well, lost the chance to reach the podium.
The race result favored Antonelli. He increased the gap to Lewis Hamilton from 50 to 59 points. And he maintained the same 59-point gap over George Russell. Hamilton and Russell have the same number of points and share 2nd place in the championship standings.
On Saturday, in the sprint race, the positions barely changed over the 24 laps. Polesitter George Russell started and finished ahead; Charles Leclerc started 3rd but overtook Lando Norris, who lost a position. Kimi Antonelli started 5th and overtook Oscar Piastri, finishing 4th. Gabriel Bortoleto started and finished in 9th place.
The chance of a massive game of musical chairs for next year’s season was buried at the end of the week when Red Bull announced the renewal of Max Verstappen’s contract until 2030. Carlos Sainz Jr. also confirmed he is staying at Williams alongside Alexander Albon. Thus, the main teams – Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes, Red Bull, Williams, Audi – will race with the same pairings, barring any surprises. Rafael Câmara continues to negotiate a possible seat at Haas or Cadillac, teams that compete with Ferrari engines.