New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.<\/a><\/p>\nHis second consecutive victory, after monstering title leader Andrea Kimi Antonelli early in the final stint with eye-popping pace \u2014 the result of a well-considered and perfectly executed strategy \u2014 was more than just a boost for McLaren morale.<\/p>\n
Norris has taken 18 points out of Antonelli\u2019s lead over the last two weekends. He\u2019s up to fourth in the title standings and is fast closing in on the stalled George Russell and Lewis Hamilton.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s beginning to feel a lot like belief.<\/p>\n
IS THE TITLE ON FOR NORRIS?<\/p>\n
If there\u2019s one statistic worth contemplating, it\u2019s this one: 83 points.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s Norris\u2019s deficit to Antonelli\u2019s championship lead with 10 or 11 rounds to go.<\/p>\n
It sounds like a lot, and it is.<\/p>\n
But it\u2019s also a hell of a lot less than Max Verstappen\u2019s 104-point deficit to the championship lead after last year\u2019s Dutch Grand Prix, where there were only nine rounds remaining. He finished the season two points off the lead.<\/p>\n
Remember too that Verstappen\u2019s deficit was to Oscar Piastri and that he finished 11 points ahead of the Australian in the final count.<\/p>\n
Hulkenberg pulls off epic reflex save | 01:15<\/p>\n
It would constitute the greatest comeback in history \u2014 and, on Antonelli\u2019s part, the biggest ever lead loss \u2014 but last year proved that big things are possible in modern Formula 1.<\/p>\n
\u201cI clearly have a very, very strong car now,\u201d Norris told Sky Sports. \u201cIt\u2019s been amazing.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m very pleased and happy for the team to see how much progress we\u2019ve made.\u201d<\/p>\n
But he remained cautious about defending his title.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you want me to be confident and you want me to say, \u2018Yeah, I can still fight for the championship\u2019, I need more than what I have now.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s not to say that I\u2019m not pleased that I can win a race here and win in Budapest, but I know what\u2019s needed in a season. I know what kind of a car I need. I know what level I need to perform at.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like I\u2019m doing a very good job and the team is doing an incredible job, but you can\u2019t ever relax in a situation like this.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m very pleased, but there\u2019s a lot of work ahead, and it\u2019s a long season to go.\u201d<\/p>\n
There are some circumstantial elements to Norris\u2019s double victory.<\/p>\n
The first is that Hungary and Zandvoort are similar circuits, and both have been favourable tracks for McLaren for years.<\/p>\n
The second is that his win in the Netherlands wasn\u2019t as convincing as his victory in Budapest, with Ferrari and Mercedes both arguably faster, at least at certain points in the race.<\/p>\n
McLaren must still prove this car works at different circuit types before letting the lid off.<\/p>\n
The next race at flat-out Monza, for example, will on paper be one of the car\u2019s least favourite circuits.<\/p>\n
Norris\u2019s mission will be assisted by Antonelli being likely to serve an engine penalty there, but if he can walk away having been competitive, regardless of any points swing, that would really make things interesting.<\/p>\n
‘I had nothing, I don’t know why…’ | 00:51<\/p>\n
WHAT HAPPENED TO PIASTRI?<\/p>\n
Zandvoort had the makings of a good weekend for Piastri, who had been on Norris\u2019s pace throughout \u2014 or at least right up until the middle of the grand prix.<\/p>\n
A good second start \u2014 after the Verstappen red flag \u2014 got him into a podium position ahead of Russell with a gutsy and opportunistic pass, and on the hard tyre he was setting competitive times relative to Norris on softs. His first trophy since the Miami Grand Prix back in May looked achievable.<\/p>\n
A slow pit stop dumped him back behind Russell and appeared to scupper his chances, but then his pace nosedived anyway, and he played no further meaningful part in a race his teammate eventually dominated.<\/p>\n
\u201cDisappointing, obviously,\u201d he told Sky Sports. \u201cI think that the first lap was good after the red flag, then the first stint felt okay, then after that I had nothing. I don\u2019t know why, but plenty to look into.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe pace [is not there]. I don\u2019t really have any more answers other than that at the moment.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the moment it\u2019s been pretty challenging.\u201d<\/p>\n
A year ago Piastri looked on course for the world title. He\u2019s now a distant seventh in the standings ahead of only Isack Hadjar among the frontrunning drivers \u2014 and he\u2019s now a stinging 55 points behind Norris.<\/p>\n
Team boss Andrea Stella theorised that the conditions of the weekend worked against Piastri\u2019s driving style in a car the Australian has already struggled to gel with.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe tyres today were a little tricky,\u201d he told Sky Sports. \u201cWe saw with Antonelli, we saw with the second stint of Oscar there are times it was difficult to switch them off.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe tyres were not straightforward this weekend \u2026 at times the tyres could just go off completely, like it happened in the second stint for Oscar. It was difficult to understand.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know that with Lando, when we have these tyres that actually don\u2019t have as much grip is when he expresses his best talent compared to other drivers \u2026 it\u2019s kind of his natural ground.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think Lando probably just did a better job than anybody else from this point of view, and he deserved the victory.\u201d<\/p>\n
Piastri spoke ahead of the mid-season break of having the chance to experiment with his driving style to make it work with the car given he\u2019s out of title contention. At 138 points adrift, there\u2019s no doubt that his championship hopes are all but lost.<\/p>\n
Painful, though, is the idea that his teammate might yet rescue his title defence from the fire for a second time.<\/p>\n
CARNAGE as Verstappen suffers huge wreck | 01:22<\/p>\n
MERCEDES FLIRTS WITH TEAM ORDERS<\/p>\n
We\u2019ve been wondering if \u2014 when \u2014 the cordial Mercedes rivalry might begin to simmer.<\/p>\n
We got a tiny glimpse of friction at the Dutch Grand Prix.<\/p>\n
Russell started the weekend on the front foot, winning the sprint from pole and qualifying on the front row, beating his title-leading teammate throughout.<\/p>\n
But then a series of bad starts in the grand prix cost him places \u2014 to Antonelli and then Piastri \u2014 cutting him adrift of the lead fight, though he never looked like he genuinely had the pace to go with his teammate or Norris at the front.<\/p>\n
Good fortune, however, came Russell\u2019s way in the shape of Piastri\u2019s slow stop and then Antonelli\u2019s inexplicably uncompetitive hard tyres, which triggered the Italian to make an extra stop late in the race and drop behind.<\/p>\n
Suddenly Russell was unexpectedly second and in with a chance of taking points off his teammate.<\/p>\n
But Antonelli was much faster on fresher rubber and closed in on Russell in no time at all.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s when the politicking started.<\/p>\n
Russell argued that Antonelli should be kept behind him to help protect him from the faster Ferrari drivers, who were also closing fast on fresher rubber. He posited it was the only way to protect a double podium finish.<\/p>\n
Of course it was self-interest at play. Antonelli had already been overtaken by Norris while he was bottled behind the slower Lewis Hamilton. Mercedes was never going to allow it again.<\/p>\n
Russell was told to yield, and after a brief attempt to argue back, he acquiesced \u2014 and he later admitted that it was fair enough, Antonelli having been ahead of him before switching strategies.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve always said as a team when we\u2019re on different strategies we\u2019re never going to fight and we\u2019re always going to invert [positions],\u201d he added. \u201cThat\u2019s always just been our rules.\u201d<\/p>\n
In reality the choice was between a guaranteed Antonelli podium and perhaps no podium places at all \u2014 that is, not really a choice.<\/p>\n
\u201cFinishing second and third is damage limitation, I would say,\u201d Toto Wolff told Sky Sports.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt seems that we had the pace to win the race, but then for unclear reasons, we lost so much performance on both cars \u2014 probably more on Kimi.\u201d <\/p>\n
He denied there was any hidden motive in the swap \u2014 that the team was attempting to protect the title leader.<\/p>\n
With a healthy 59-point lead, were not at that stage yet.<\/p>\n
But McLaren and Norris\u2019s recent form has been good enough that Wolff might be beginning to prepare himself for a difficult conversation sooner or later.<\/p>\n
Hamilton EXPLODES at Leclerc & Ferrari | 01:40<\/p>\n
FERRARI COUNTS THE COST OF GROWING ERROR COUNT<\/p>\n
It\u2019s just so Ferrari, isn\u2019t it.<\/p>\n
The Italian team genuinely felt as though it was building towards a title challenge in the races before the mid-season break, with unexpectedly strong performances at what should have been weak circuits considerably raising hopes.<\/p>\n
It underperformed in Hungary, where it should have gone well, but maybe that was just a blip at a McLaren favourite circuit.<\/p>\n
But now it\u2019s happened again, with Ferrari miraculously managing to avoid the podium despite having what was arguably the quickest car in race conditions.<\/p>\n
Not only that, but it managed to blow its chances of a trophy by uniquely \u2014 but somehow characteristically \u2014 bungling strategies for both drivers simultaneously.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe pace was decent in the race, but we had some issues with the execution,\u201d team boss Fr\u00e9d\u00e9ric Vasseur told Sky Sports understatedly.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have to now have a deep look at what we did and what we did wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hamilton will surely have some answers in the debrief.<\/p>\n
The seven-time champion was in good form in the race, making the most of an offset strategy that saw him run long before his first stop, giving him fresher tyres than his rivals for the rest of the afternoon.<\/p>\n
But then he came up behind Leclerc in the middle of the race, the Monegasque attempting to build his own offset to pass Russell.<\/p>\n
Met by these two competing objectives, the pit wall appeared to freeze.<\/p>\n
Hamilton was furious, which perhaps triggered the team to pit Leclerc \u2014 which infuriated the Monegasque, who got no meaningful undercut and thus had his race ruined.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t really understand why we had to box so close to George\u2019s pit stop, because that really was signing up to finish behind George,\u201d he told Sky Sports.<\/p>\n
Ironically Hamilton was then left out too long before his final stop, costing him even more time and contributing to him falling short of overhauling Russell for the podium.<\/p>\n
He started the weekend 50 points behind Antonelli and ends it 59 points adrift and down to third in the standings.<\/p>\n
He kept himself upbeat speaking to Sky Sports after the race, but he underlined that his frustrations had more to do with the bigger picture than the specific clumsy scenario.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m here to win, and I really believe that this team can win,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo win championships you have to pick up every point, and the last few races have been difficult with penalties and stuff, and then today I lost several seconds behind Charles, which I think would have made the difference at the end.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll take it offline. My goal is to try and lead this team to the top of the championship. We\u2019ve got some work to do for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s quite the understatement.<\/p>\n
McLaren blunder undoes Piastri magic | 01:33<\/p>\n
VERSTAPPEN CAN\u2019T BOW OUT OF DUTCH GP IN STYLE<\/p>\n
The Dutch Grand Prix was revived in 2021 for one reason: Max Verstappen.<\/p>\n
Verstappen is a national hero in his home country for his on-track exploits, and the historic Zandvoort track \u2014 host of 30 grands prix between 1952 and 1980 \u2014 sought to capitalise by returning Formula 1 to the Netherlands.<\/p>\n
The Dutchman won the first three return events in succession, sending the partisan crowd into raptures each time.<\/p>\n
He didn\u2019t quite manage to send the race out in the same style.<\/p>\n
Already on the back foot in a car that never looked competitive at this circuit, Verstappen made a highly uncharacteristic mistake on the first lap, spinning his car across the final corner and slamming into the concrete barrier.<\/p>\n
What was already bad enough could\u2019ve been much worse when his car rebounded onto the track, but remarkably none of his rivals hit him \u2014 including Gabriel Bortoleto, who repeated almost exactly the same mistake just seconds later.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was of course still quite wet in that corner,\u201d he told Sky Sports, referencing the rain that lashed the track in the hour before the start. \u201cAs soon as I was going through the corner at one point I could see a little bit of a dry line coming, and I thought from that point on I could accelerate again.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut then it suddenly accelerated a lot, and it caught me out, as simple as that.\u201d<\/p>\n
An ignominious end to his career as the home driver \u2014 and to the weekend on which he confirmed he would stay with Red Bull Racing for another four seasons at least.<\/p>\n
Will it be indicative of his season, though?<\/p>\n
You can never write Verstappen off, and there are still circuits remaining on the calendar that have historically suited him very well.<\/p>\n
But it was telling that he\u2019s already talking about switching focus to next year and ensuring the 2027 car doesn\u2019t have the same vices.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not going to be the most straightforward end to the season, but we\u2019ll try to do the best we can.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lando Norris was hopeful of putting on a good show for the final Dutch Grand Prix, and the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":866170,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[573],"tags":[64,63,817,813,816,85],"class_list":["post-866169","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-f1","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/866169","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=866169"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/866169\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/866170"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=866169"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=866169"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=866169"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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