Gazzetta dello Sport: Verstappen not untouchable
The Italian The Sports Gazette headlines his report as follows: “Lando Norris wins and puts Max Verstappen under pressure, great podium for Charles Leclerc.” At the Zandvoort circuit, where Verstappen won the past three editions, there seemed to be a chance for the home hero to make it four in a row. Norris, despite another poor start, put a stop to that. “At the start, the Dutchman from Red Bull beat his rival Norris in the sprint, but his lead holds until lap 18, when the Englishman overtakes him and holds the lead with great authority, even after the pit stops,” writes the reporter on duty. “With this success, his second of the season, and the fastest lap, on the last lap, Norris now approaches Verstappen to seventy points in the championship. With nine races left in the season, the Dutchman’s margin does not seem unassailable.”
Of course, the Italians are also paying a lot of attention to Charles Leclerc’s third place. After qualifying, Leclerc sounded the alarm because the gap to the competition was too big, but on Sunday he was back and managed to climb from sixth to third place. “Leclerc finishes third in a generous and very encouraging race in the run-up to next week’s Monza GP: with an early stop on lap 25 he conquers the position and then keeps it in the final from the insistent Oscar Piastri, fourth in the second McLaren, more than 27 seconds behind his winning teammate. Carlos Sainz was a good fifth, recovering from tenth on the grid in the other Ferrari: confirmation that the performances of the two Reds in the race were better than the difficult qualifying and such that moderate optimism is justified.”
BBC: Welcome win for criticised Norris and McLaren
In Britain, hopes for a thrilling title fight, with a British driver in one of the leading roles, appear to be back after Norris’ dominant display. BBC sees a turnaround in the title fight. “Once in the lead, Norris pulled away at around half a second per lap. There was nothing Verstappen could do to prevent him from losing his home race for the first time since returning after a 36-year absence,” the report reads. “Norris took complete control and crossed the line 22.8 seconds ahead of Verstappen for one of the most dominant victories of the season. He rubbed his crushing form in even more by setting the fastest lap on the final lap, beating Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton by just 0.067 seconds.”
It was the second F1 victory for Norris, who had been criticised for not fully exploiting the potential of the MCL38 – and could therefore have had more victories to his name. BBC therefore states that this victory comes at just the right time for the 24-year-old driver – and the team. “Norris’ victory, his first since his maiden win in Miami in May and following the introduction of McLaren’s first car upgrade since that race in Florida, will be a welcome boost for a driver and team who have been criticised for missing opportunities. It reduces Verstappen’s championship lead to 70 points with nine races to go – still a formidable lead, but one that Norris in this form may well overtake. In the battle for the constructors’ championship, McLaren are just 31 points behind Red Bull in the hunt for their first constructors’ title in 26 years.”
Video: Watch the summary of the Dutch Grand Prix here
Watch: 2024 F1 Dutch GP: Race Summary
Picture: Negative scoop for Verstappen in Zandvoort
The headline of the race report from the German Bild is telling: “Bitter defeat for Verstappen! That hasn’t happened in years.” With the latter, the medium mainly refers to the fact that Verstappen, after two seasons of dominance, was now the one who was defeated by a dominant rival. Where the reporters of The Gazette in BBC still have some hope for an exciting battle for the drivers’ title, the German reporter on duty looks at it with a bit more scepticism. “It is unlikely that Norris can make the championship exciting again. But: McLaren is now the favourite in the constructors’ championship, despite a thirty-point deficit to Red Bull. In contrast to Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Pérez, who finished sixth, Norris’ partner Oscar Piastri raced to the finish in fourth. This was made possible by McLaren, which currently has the fastest car in Formula 1.”
Bild notes that there is little evidence of that speed at the start, where Norris was outpaced by Verstappen. It led to loud cheers from the stands, but it was short-lived. After 72 laps, Norris triumphed and Verstappen had to watch a rival win a Grand Prix for the fifth time in a row. “It is a (negative) first for the Dutchman,” they refer to the fact that Verstappen did not win in Zandvoort after three home victories. According to Bild, Nico Hülkenberg therefore had more reason to be happy. “The German, who started the race in twelfth place, drove a good race. But it was still not enough for points. The Haas driver is ultimately the first loser with an eleventh place.”
Mercedes also failed to shine in Zandvoort: George Russell and Lewis Hamilton finished seventh and eighth. “It was a disappointing race for the German racing team. After Hamilton had only qualified twelfth and started fourteenth due to a grid penalty, it was mainly a matter of limiting the damage for the seven-time world champion. Expectations after the training were different. The Silver Arrows made a good impression – just not when it mattered.”
L’Équipe: Norris couldn’t have wished for a better race
In France too, it is seen that Norris drove an almost perfect race. “Norris could not have wished for a better race in Zandvoort on Sunday”, is stated in the report of The Team to read. “He converted his pole position into an overall victory for the first time in his career – in four attempts. And he beat Verstappen on home soil by 22 seconds to the Dutchman, who had won every race since Zandvoort was back on the calendar in 2021. And he took the point for the fastest lap of the race on his final lap. It didn’t start well for the Briton, who didn’t get off to a good start and had to let Verstappen go first in the first corner. But Norris proved that he was indeed the strongest driver of the weekend, because he easily put his rival down on lap 18 when exiting the banking,” the reporter refers to the Arie Luyendyk corner. From that corner, Norris took DRS to outwit Verstappen in the Tarzan corner. Whether they now see Norris as a serious threat to the title, is not written down specifically. However, it does see The Team chances for the Briton. “This could make him the most likely candidate to challenge the three-time world champion’s hegemony.”
In addition to this battle at the front, attention is paid in France to the performances of Alpine, where Pierre Gasly in particular made a strong impression. “Gasly started ninth and crossed the line in the same position to score two points for Alpine. It was a courageous race, with several daring overtaking moves, especially on the outside of the first corner. It was in stark contrast to the race of Esteban Ocon, who could at best be described as discreet. The other French driver on the grid could do no better than fifteenth in Zandvoort on Sunday.”
