Norris wins Dutch F1 GP ahead of home driver Verstappen. Leclerc third

Lando winner at Max’s house. The orange of the papaya is coloredWhen: the McLaren Of Norris triumphs over the North Sea and defeats the queen and the king, the Red Bull con Max Verstappen. Dominating: the Englishman, who loses pole position under the lights but then regains the lead after 18 laps with an on-track overtaking, edges the Dutchman by 22 seconds and also takes the extra point for the fastest lap. Second success for him after the one in Miami. “It’s fantastic, I wouldn’t say it was a perfect race, because of the first lap. But the car is very strong, I managed to overtake Max which was important”.

Verstappen, leader in trouble

After three years in which he had no rivals at Zandvoort (3 poles and three wins since 2021), Verstappen becomes a spectator. He is still the leader of the World Championship, but he is no longer alone. Max says: “You always try to do better, we tried everything, but on the track we were not fast enough. I could only finish second”. In the fight between the two contenders at the top, a Ferrari surprising: Charles Leclerc third on the podium, after having resisted the attacks of the other McLaren for almost thirty laps Oscar PlatesThe Australian was a bit sacrificed: starting 3rd, he stayed on the track too long and in the end, even with fresher tyres, he had to settle for 4th behind Charles.

Leclerc third and satisfied

The red one was excellent: for the strategy with the Monegasque at the pit stop and also for the pace shown in the race after a weekend of suffering. In qualifying, Leclerc 6th with a perfect lap at 9 tenths from Norris. “It would be a miracle to finish on the podium,” Charles said on Saturday evening. Here he is. At the end of the race, laughing, he says: “I am very very surprised, I am not always happy with a third place, but considering the weekend, it was a good result. I never thought I could get on the podium, but we were very good: at the start, with the strategies, with the race management. I didn’t think I had the pace to keep up with Piastri.”

Monza the next GP

This is also confirmed by the 5th place of Carlos Sainz: the Spaniard started from hell (10th), after a 12th time in qualifying (he had not made the cut to Q2), where he had arrived with only one free practice session behind him, the first, since in the second he had broken the gearbox and in the third he had lapped very little, like everyone else, due to a long red flag and the rain. The Spaniard on fire: 5 position comeback with overtaking, good pace, great choices. The other Red Bull of Perez is fifth and also the Mercedes they end up behind: George Russell 7th despite a desperate attempt at a last pit stop, Lewis Hamilton (started with a 3-place penalty for hindering Perez in qualifying) is only 8th. A great sign ahead of next week in Monza where Ferrari will bring updates for the home race.