Here’s Giles Richards’ report from Zandvoort. And with that, we’ll say goodbye on this live blog. Thanks for joining us.
“Pretty awesome, Lando drove perfectly,” says McLaren chief Zak Brown on Sky Sports. “Close to getting them both on the podium, but that was a big win. We knew we were fast all week … pleasantly surprised about the size of the gap.
“We need to keep our feet on the ground with how competitive Formula 1 is.”
Constructors World Championship standings
And it’s even closer when we get to the constructors’ race”:
Red Bull, 434 points
McLaren, 404
Ferrari, 370
Mercedes, 276
Aston Martin, 74
RB, 34
Haas, 27
Alpine, 13
Williams, 4
Stake, 0
Updated
Drivers World Championship standings
The updated standings after the Dutch Grand Prix – it’s getting close!
Verstappen, 295 points
Norris, 225
Leclerc, 192
Piastri, 179
Sainz, 172
Hamilton, 154
Perez, 139
Russell, 122
Alonso, 50
Stroll, 20
Updated
Thanks Daniel. The drivers are out onto the podium to receive the acclaim of the crowd before the champagne is sprayed. In the mean time, God Save The King plays.
Righto, I need to dash, so here’s Dominic Booth to finish things off.
Norris knew from quite far out he was going to win today. It wasn’t a perfect performance – he notes he was passed from the start – but once he had clean air in front, there wasn’t much Verstappen could do to stop him.
Final standings
Lando Norris (McLaren)
Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
Carlos Sainz Jr (Ferrari)
Sergio Pérez (Red Bull)
George Russell (Mercedes)
Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
Pierre Gasly (Alpine)
Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
Niko Hülkenberg (Haas)
Daniel Ricciardo (RB)
Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
Alex Albon (Williams)
Esteban Ocon (Alpine)
Logan Sargeant (Williams)
Yuki Tsunoda (RB)
Kevin Magnussen
Valtteri Bottas (Kick Sauber)
Zhou Guanyu (Kick Sauber)
Updated
Norris will be chuffed to have won from pole, given how many timers he’s failed to, and will also enjoy being the first driver to beat Verstappen on his home track.
“The car was unbelievable, thanks so much,” Norris tells his team. “Keep pushing” – using Verstappen’s favourite phrase. The lead in the driver standings is down to 68 points and given how quick the McLaren is, with nine races to go this year’s title is in the balance.
Lando Norris wins the Dutch Grand Prix for McLaren!
Mex Verstappen of Red Bull finishes second, Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari third.
Updated
Lap 72/72 Norris oozes around a victory lap, and the crowd stand to applaud him despite the beating he’s put on their hero.
Lap 71/72 Norris leads by 20.831 and he’s almost there.
Lap 70/72 It’s about to be six races since Verstappen won one, and the pace the McLaren has, Norris has a chance to put him under pressure as regards the championship because there’s no reason he shouldn’t keep on winning.
Lap 69/72 Norris will take loads of confidence from this performance – in his car more than in his driving, given he was passed at the start. But sportsfolk are brilliant at convincing themselves everything good that happens to them happens because of them, and this second race-win, bu 20-odd seconds, is a proper statement.
Lap 68/72 Five laps to go as Norris takes his lead towards 20s. We’ve barely seen him since he hit the front, which tells you everything about how dominant he’s been.
Lap 67/72 Piastri still can’t get at Gasly, who’s driving superbly.
Norris
Verstappen
Leclerc
Piastri
Sainz
Perez
Russell
Hamilton
Gasly
Alonso
Lap 66/72 Norris drives over the kerb, which makes no difference to anything. He leads by 18.398 and is going to win this race by miles.
Lap 65/72 Norris now leads by 18.217 and this is a devastation. Verstappen took the lead at the first corner, his superior driving too much for Norris, but the car has made all the difference here.
Lap 64/72 Hamilton’s Merc is the fastest car on the track now, and he should be able to improve his position in what’s left of the race.
Lap 63/72 Ten laps to go, the raw pace of Norris’ McLaren defining the race. Hamilton, in eighth, sets a fastest lap, 1,824s behind Russell, his teammate.
Lap 62/72 Leclerc continues to keep Piastri at arm’s length despite driving on far older tyres, and must now be favourite to hang on to third.
Lap 61/72 I’d love to hear how Verstappen feels about this race; it’s so rare we see him so comprehensively shut down, or at least was.
Lap 60/72 We’ve barely seen or heard from Norris, which tells us how easily he’s dealing with this race, the gap increasing lap on lap.
Lap 59/72 Norris now leads Verstappen by 16.163s, the McLaren the fastest car in the paddock by far, and the constructor championship – currently, Red Bull leads by 42 points – is well in the balance.
Lap 58/72 Still, Piastri can’t get at Leclerc in third; he won’t be at all happy with that.
Updated
Lap 57/72 A quiet lap, Norris continuing to dictate.
Lap 56/72 Piastri cuts the gap to Leclerc to 1.10s, having regrouped. Can he get to within DRS range?
Lap 55/72 Another fastest lap for Hamilton, now 21.653s behind Russell, who’s in the pits; Norris leads by 15.199s and has been totally untroubled since hitting the front.
Lap 54/72 Leclerc is bousting, looking good to hold off Piastri. I’m not sure how that can be, but it’s good news for Verstappen, who won’t want a McLaren behind him.
Lap 53/72 Norris serenely presses on.
Lap 52/72 Norris keeps at it, the gap between Leclerc in third and Piastri in second grown to 1.336.
Lap 51/72 We’ve barely seen Norris, so nicely is he going; in eighth place, Hamilton sets the fastest lap, but he’ll need to make up 25.236s on Perez to skank seventh.
Lap 50/72 I’m surprised Piastri hasn’t managed to pass Leclerc yet, but it’s good news for Verstappen, who’ll want to hold off the McLaren for as little time as possible; Norris leads the race by 13.623s.
Lap 49/72 Mercedes bring in Hamilton to see if he can have a hit at Perez and Sainz on new softs, as there’s no danger from behind.
Lap 48/72 Piastri still can’t get past Leclerc as we speculate what might happen in the event of a safety car; McLaren think they’ve the gas to change tyres and still win if so.
Lap 47/72 Piastri is just 0.306s behind Leclerc now, while Sainz, who’s been trying for a couple of laps, nips past Perez to take sixth.
Norris
Verstappen
Leclerc
Piastri
Russell
Sainz
Perez
Hamilton
Hulkenberg
Gasly
Lap 46/72 Norris leads by 11.797s and the McLaren looks swifter than the Red Bull in all conditions and circumstances.
Lap 45/72 The Red Bull is chewing up its tyres; Verstappen tells his team he’s losing grip. In more ways than one!
Updated
Lap 44/72 Piastri closes on Leclerc, the gap now 1.490s and it won’t be long before he’s attacking Verstappen – who trails Norris by 11.472.
Lap 43/72 Of course, if Piastri knocks Verstappen into third, his teammate will close the gap at the top of the standings to 67 points with nine races to go.
Lap 42/72 Norris leads by 9.900s but it seems more likely Verstappen will be overtaken by Piastri than overtake the man in charge of the race.
Lap 41/72 Four laps till Piastri is threatening Leclerc, reckons Martin, and if he gets by, Verstappen in second will feel under threat; rightly so, because this McLaren is rapid, especially on hards.
Lap 40/72 The fastest ma on the track now, Piastri nails Russell at the first opportunity and looks good to force his way on to the podium – he’s 3.881s behind Leclerc, who’s third.
Lap 39/72 Norris leads Verstappen by 9.776; Stroll is hit with a five-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane.
Norris
Verstappen
Leclerc
Russell
Piastri
Perez
Sainz
Haimlton
Hulkenberg
Magnussen
Updated
Lap 38/72 Talking of which Piastri is motoring now, setting a fastest lap and chasing Russell – the gap is 1.308s.
Lap 37/72 Let’s say Norris wins here: can he challenge Verstappen for the title? The McLaren looks by far the fastest car now, but does its lead driver have the nous to go with it?
Lap 36/72 Norris’ lead is building quickly as halfway, now up to 8.477s.
Lap 35/72 Gasly has been cited for an unsafe release but in the meantime he’s 12th; at the front, Norris increases his lead to 7.897 and chances are, we’ve seen the pits we’re going to see. Which of the top five can go fast enough to podium?
Lap 34/72 Piastri pits, gets out in fifth ahead of Gasly, and this is Norris’ time to make hay – he now leads Verstappen by 7.304 and the McLaren looks uncatchable! Who expected to type those words at the start of the season?!
Lap 33/72 Piastri keeps at it, his teammate Norris 2.742s behind and Verstappen 6.609s further back. The clear air for McLaren is exactly what they need and I’m not sure how Red Bull reduce the gap.
Lap 32/72 Sainz and Hamilton move up to eighth and ninth as Alonso pits.
Piastri
Norris
Verstappen
Leclerc
Russell
Gasly
Perez
Hamilton
Gasly
Hulkenberg
Lap 31/72 Piastri still leads but in second, Norris is flying, now over six seconds ahead of Verstappen.
Lap 30/72 Hamilton took out Hulkenberg for the second time last lap and now glides by Magnussen to sit 10th.
Lap 29/72 In comes Noz, now fourth and on hards. Verstappen is 4.962 behind; Piastri leads, at least until he stops.
Updated
Lap 28/72 Verstappen comes in and emerges in fifth, while Russell, on hards, sets a fastest lap; Norris is still out there, 12.812 ahead of Piastri. Surely he’ll shortly pit?
Lap 27/72 Norris is enjoying this!
Lap 26/72 Russell departs the pits in ninth – Mercedes hoped he’d emerge ahead of Alonso and Leclerc, who now sit in front of him.
Lap 25/72 Norris builds his lead to 4.531s and Leclerc pits, exiting ninth, then Russell is also ordered in. Verstappen doesn’t seem to have the scope to sort himself here.
Lap 24/72 Leclerc goes at Piastri on the outside; Piastri shuts the door. Meantime, Hamilton comes in, coming out at 16th.
Updated
Lap 23/72 Hamilton , the only driver on softs, is dredging every bit of life out of them, looking to go after Galy in eighth; Norris builds his lead to 3.281s and it’s hard to see how anyone challenges him.
Lap 22/72 Wow, Norris is 0.7s quicker than Verstappen now, and he’ll be wanting to force the champ to pit first, so he can choose his strategy accordingly.
Lap 21/72 Norris gets that lead over a second, breaking the DRS threat. He’s looking good now.
Norris
Verstappen
Russell
Piastri
Leclerc
Perez
Sainz
Gasly
Hamilton
Alonso
Lap 20/72 I reckon we’ll see Verstappen come in soon, butNorris is doing all he can to extend a lead now at 0.997. There’s still the possibility of DRS, though, which makes this very tight.
Lap 19/72 There was just nothing Verstappen could do there: the McLaren was way, way quicker and Norris now leads by 0.590s.
Lap 18/72 So who’ll stop first? Will it even matter?! Because Norris has plenty of pace to zip past Verstappen and with clear track ahead of him, he needs to punish his tyres while he still can.
Lap 17/72 Now then! Nozza takes huge chunks out of Verstappen and the lead is now down to 0.633s. They’re almost bumper to bumper and I doubt this is the last we see of these two duelling.
Updated
Lap 16/72 Norris tells his team he’s now happy with his tyres and will stop whenever his team advise. The gap is 0.993s, while Albon, now on hards, sets a fastest lap, and Hamilton passes Alonso and now sits ninth.
Lap 15/72 With Albon, 20th, having stopped, Hulkenberg and Tsunoda do likewise. Verstappen leads by 1.0156s, but he’s hanging on, not extending.
Lap 14/72 Hamilton sneaks by Stroll as Norris continues to make ground on Verstappen who might just have an issue with his front tyres, about which he complains to his team. There might just be something happening here.
Lap 13/72 Norris closes a little, now trailing Verstappen by 0.984s. Perhaps he’s trying to rinse his tyres before stopping, having taken it a little easier between the start and now.
Lap 12/72 Verstappen sets a fastest lap as Hamilton looks for DRS in his bid to overtake Stroll; no dice.
Lap 11/72 Gasly and Sainz are locked alongside one another, but the former finds a way past and now sits seventh!
Lap 10/72 Nice from Hamilton, who slides past Hulkenberg on the inside but knows he’s too slow, advising his team of an issue also self-evident given how long it took him to move from 12th to 11th.
Lap 9/72 Norris was asked by his team who he thinks they’re racing – Verstappen in first of Russell in third – and in comms, they can’t grasp why they’re not deciding that for him, given their superior access to information.
Lap 8/72 Norris now trails Verstappen by 1.40s but the McLaren has the pace to challenge – in theory. In practise, how does anyone get by the champ?
Lap 7/72 Verstappen continues building as Magnussen, who started from the pit lane, finds himself sliding off the track.
Verstappen
Norris
Russell
Piastri
Leclerc
Perez
Gasly
Alonso
Sainz
Stroll
Hulkenberg
Hamilton
Tsunoda
Bottas
Ricciardo
Ocon
Albon
Sargeant
Magnussen
Zhou
Lap 6/72 Verstappen maintains his lead, now at 1.328s, and we see the start again – reaction times are identical but Norris’ wheels spin as the Red bull cuts across into the centre of the track and frankly, that was too easy.
Lap 5/72 Russell, third, 0.850s in front of Piastri, is allowing Leclerc and Perez to close on fourth spot. Piastri will be raging he was passed off the start.
Lap 4/72 Perez goes at Leclerc, the gap between fifth and sixth 0.870s; Leclerc holds on.
Lap 3/72 Verstappen now leads by 1.709s and does this already feel like a definitive lead? He’s well out of DRS range, and having led for 186 out of the 211 laps he’d raced on this circuit before today, he’ll feel confident of seeing this out.
Lap 2/72 Gasly also started well, up from 10th to 7th, while Perez is down from fifth to sixth … and Hamilton moves past Tsunoda into 12th!
Verstappen
Norris
Russell
Piastri
Leclerc
Perez
Gasly
Alonso
Lap 1/72 Ahahahaha! Verstappen diddles Norris off the start, burning in front as his rival’s wheels spin, and Russell nips in front of Piastri too! Dreadful start for McLaren!
…lights out and away we go!
And we’re set…
Our formation lap is under way.
It’s a hot atmosphere, with a lot of orange. Hamilton will start on softs, so is presumably following a two-stop strategy.
Our race will be over 72 laps, each with two DRS zones.
Norris thinks he’s got good plans but won’t reveal what they are. Not long till we find out!
Verstappen thinks it’ll be a difficult race in which it’s tricky to pass Norris, but he’s mainly concerned about his own pace.
Apparently it’s the oldest anthem in operation, dating back to 1626.
Anthem time! A youth clad in all black, overcoat and baggy trouser included, sings along.
Brundle corners Horner, who thinks Red Bull can win but that the wind will be a factor. My sense is he’s confident…
Just live for you…
Jack Doohan, son of motorbike champ Mick Doohan, takes over from Ocon at Alpine next term, and he tells Martin Brundle that he’s honoured to be selected, citing his dad as his inspiration. He seems a good boy.
Logan Sargeant is happy following a big turnaround last night – he crashed his car yesterday, which then caught fire. His team couldn’t repair it; he’ll start from the back of the grid.
Lewis Hamilton, by the way.
There was huge disappointment, too, for Lewis Hamilton who was knocked out in Q2 and finished in 12th place. On his final lap, Hamilton had a very poor first sector, struggling with tyre temperature that proved costly and he dropped three-tenths. It was a deficit he could not overcome and was enough to push him out of the top 10. Worse was to follow, however, when he was given a three-place grid penalty almost four hours after qualifying, for impeding Sergio Pérez during the session, relegating the British driver to 14th after Alex Albon was dropped from eighth to 20th. George Russell was in fourth with Red Bull’s Pérez in fifth.
Worth your time:
Updated
The corners on this course are pretty steeply banked, which should give drivers a fun challenge. It might help them generate pace before overtaking, but that remains to be seen.
Two stops or one? It’s not clear what we’ll see today, nor which tyres will work best. If Verstappen gets in front early, it might not matter – or at least it might not be relevant as regards who wins the race. But if Norris keeps ahead, the tactical battle could well be crucial.
Get in the mood:
Also going on:
Ave a word wiv im!
Verstappen tells Sky it’s great to see the support he has, which puts a big smile on his face … and, er, that’s it. Great stuff!
Fair dos, this looks exceedingly comfy.
Back to our race, Verstappen has won his home race the last three times it’s been held. He’s under pressure to do so again, but expectation can be self-fulfilling.
Every time I see the name Esteban, I think of this legend.
The grid
Lando Norris (McLaren)
Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
George Russell (Mercedes)
Sergio Pérez (Red Bull)
Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
Alex Albon (Williams)
Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
Pierre Gasly (Alpine)
Carlos Sainz Jr (Ferrari)
Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
Yuki Tsunoda (RB)
Niko Hülkenberg (Haas)
Kevin Magnussen (Haas)
Daniel Ricciardo (RB)
Esteban Ocon (Alpine)
Valtteri Bottas (Kick Sauber)
Zhou Guanyu (Kick Sauber)
Logan Sargeant (Williams)
Updated
Preamble
It’s been 22 hours and 63 days since you took your love away Max Verstappen won a Grand Prix. Not words anyone supposed to type, nor was the local hero able to secure pole for his home race – that honour was won by Lando Norris – and it might just be that his years of domination are over.
Might, because how on earth can anyone say that when Verstappen leads the standings by a princely 78 points? No one would be surprised to see him win today, as he did when behind Norris on the grid in Spain – the last time he took the chequered flag – but if he cannot, the suspicion will grow that, though he might be in sufficient credit to see out a fourth straight driver championship, the F1 landscape is changing.
First, though, comes today’s return after the summer break, and a chance for someone to lay down a marker for the denouement. Norris blamed a poor start for Verstappen passing him in Barcelona, and given the difficulty of overtaking on the Circuit Zandvoort, will know he must get away well here. And if he does, who knows where this season might yet take us?
Lights out: 3pm local, 2pm BST
