{"id":110670,"date":"2025-08-31T23:50:06","date_gmt":"2025-08-31T23:50:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/110670\/"},"modified":"2025-08-31T23:50:06","modified_gmt":"2025-08-31T23:50:06","slug":"piastri-opens-gap-in-title-race-after-norris-forced-to-retire-from-f1-dutch-gp-formula-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/110670\/","title":{"rendered":"Piastri opens gap in title race after Norris forced to retire from F1 Dutch GP | Formula One"},"content":{"rendered":"

For a weekend that opened with such high hopes of fresh starts and title charges, the Dutch Grand Prix could not, for some, have borne more bitter fruit. Oscar Piastri<\/a> did take a dominant win but his teammate and title rival Lando Norris was left head bowed, disconsolate, alone in the blustery dunes beside the North Sea. Similarly, the seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton was forced to trudge back to the paddock, his \u00adFerrari in pieces by the side of the track after an enormously uncharacteristic, unforced error.<\/p>\n

This was sport as a cruel mistress writ large at Zandvoort. Piastri\u2019s performance was as admirable and assured as any he had delivered, the 24\u2011year\u2011old Australian as unflappable as ever to deliver a consummate pole\u2011to\u2011flag victory. Indeed it never looked in doubt from the moment he held his lead through turn one, even through a brief period of light rain and three safety-car restarts.<\/p>\n

But in his wake fate had decreed the most damnable fortune for \u00adNorris. The British driver had entered the weekend fired up for the title run\u2011in, with just nine points between the two protagonists. He had noted that now it was getting serious, with nine races to go after the meeting in Zandvoort, every point would matter. Dropping a few he might consider a setback but a DNF to his teammate\u2019s victory was surely the veritable white whale of Norris\u2019s nightmares.<\/p>\n

Worse still was the manner he was denied. In the turbo-hybrid era the cars have become all but bulletproof in reliability, the days of an engine going pop seemingly all but long gone. Yet as Norris harried Piastri to the flag in second place, with only seven laps to go, the unthinkable became blunt reality as his cockpit filled with smoke that belched from the car as the oil leak that was to blame finally ground him to a halt.<\/p>\n

Norris pulled over, climbed out and moved, dejected, to sit alone on the dunes, helmet on and head bowed, sitting disconsolate as his hopes fell to pieces \u2013 through no fault\u00a0of his own.<\/p>\n

Nonetheless Norris, \u00adimpressively, took it with no little phlegm, \u00adremaining calm and remarkably stoic on reflection. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t my fault, so there\u2019s nothing I can really do. It\u2019s just not my weekend,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course it\u2019s frustrating. It hurts a bit for sure in a championship point of view. It\u2019s a lot of points to lose so quickly and so easily.\u201d<\/p>\n

Piastri, as cool as ever<\/a>, calmly took the flag with complete control to secure a 34-point lead in the \u00addrivers\u2019 championship. Not \u00adinsurmountable but a swing that amounts to a body blow for the British driver and one from which he must recover for Monza in a week\u2019s time.<\/p>\n

Hamilton has a similarly short time to reset after what was \u00adsupposed to have been his fresh start in the wake of the summer break after a difficult first half of the season on his debut with Ferrari. Last week he said he was determined to have fun driving again,\u00a0to enjoy himself competing for the team he had dreamed of joining when he was child, and that he felt positive and motivated.<\/p>\n

Oscar Piastri stands triumphant atop his McLaren after cruising to victory in the Dutch Grand Prix. Photograph: Sem van der Wal\/EPA<\/p>\n

His hopes were left in tatters in a shower of carbon fibre as the front of his Ferrari came apart on impact with the barriers. With very light rain intensi\u00adfying a little on lap 21, \u00adHamilton was caught out. At turn three he went wide on to part of the track beyond the white line where painted \u00adbranding adorns the tarmac.<\/p>\n

With a fine coating of Dutch drizzle it was a slippery surface and he lost the rear and slid inexorably off into the \u00adbarriers. \u201cI\u2019m so sorry guys,\u201d he said as, clearly dejected, he made his way on foot back to the paddock, helmet still firmly on.<\/p>\n

It was striking that he lost the car in circumstances in which he usually exhibits absolute control. Yet even after what was a blow to his ambitions for a reinvigorated restart at Ferrari, he remained upbeat. \u201cTook me by complete surprise what happened, I lost the rear up the bank and that was it. I was hoping to save it, but I didn\u2019t,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cApart from that, it\u2019s been a really solid weekend. I feel like I made progress, just overall, and my approach and everything. To come away with nothing is definitely painful. I\u2019m sad for the team because I really wanted to get those points for the team today.\u201d<\/p>\n

His team principal, Fred Vasseur, maintained afterwards that \u00adHamilton remained positive, that he felt the weekend had been a step forward with which he was happy despite his error, as the Scuderia look forward to their home race at Monza.<\/p>\n

Quick GuideDutch F1 GP result and standingsShow<\/p>\n

1 Oscar Piastri (Aus) McLaren 1hr 38mins 29.849sec<\/p>\n

2 Max Verstappen (Ned) Red Bull +1.271<\/p>\n

3 Isack Hadjar (Fr) Racing Bulls +3.233<\/p>\n

4 George Russell (GB) Mercedes +5.654<\/p>\n

5 Alexander Albon (Tha) Williams +6.327<\/p>\n

6 Oliver Bearman (GB) Haas +9.044<\/p>\n

7 Lance Stroll (Can) Aston Martin +9.497<\/p>\n

8 Fernando Alonso (Sp) Aston Martin +11.709<\/p>\n

9 Yuki Tsunoda (Jpn) Red Bull +13.597<\/p>\n

10 Esteban Ocon (Fr) Haas +14.063<\/p>\n

11 Franco Colapinto (Arg) Alpine +14.511<\/p>\n

12 Liam Lawson (NZ) Racing Bulls +17.063<\/p>\n

13 Carlos Sainz Jr (Sp) Williams +17.376<\/p>\n

14 Nico H\u00fclkenberg (Ger) Sauber +19.725<\/p>\n

15 Gabriel Bortoleto (Br) Sauber +21.565<\/p>\n

16 Kimi Antonelli (It) Mercedes +22.029<\/p>\n

17 Pierre Gasly (Fr) Alpine +23.629
DNF\u00a0Lando Norris (GB) McLaren, Charles Leclerc (Mon) Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton (GB) Ferrari
Fastest lap: Piastri 1:12.271 on lap 60<\/p>\n

Drivers’ championship 1 Piastri 309pts, 2 Norris 275, 3 Verstappen (Ned) 205, 4 Russell 184, 5 Leclerc 151, 6 Hamilton 109, 7 Antonelli 64, 8 Albon 64, 9 H\u00fclkenberg 37, 10 Hadjar 37, 11 Stroll 32, 12 Alonso 30, 13 Ocon 28, 14 Gasly 20, 15 Lawson 20, 16 Bearman 16, 17 Sainz Jr 16, 18 Bortoleto 14, 19 Tsunoda 12, 20 Colapinto 0, 21 Doohan 0<\/p>\n

Constructors’ championship 1 McLaren 584pts, 2 Ferrari 260, 3 Mercedes 248, 4 Red Bull 214, 5 Williams 80, 6 Aston Martin 62, 7 Racing Bulls 60, 8 Sauber 51, 9 Haas F1 44, 10 Alpine 20<\/p>\n

Thank you for your feedback.<\/p>\n

Hamilton has known similar set\u00adbacks before and is no stranger to overcoming them, old enough and experienced enough to move onwards and, he doubtless hopes, upwards. But Norris \u2013 in his first real head-to-head title fight \u2013 must now draw deep and steel \u00adhimself to these slings and arrows, even as \u00adPiastri took a mighty step toward the title.<\/p>\n

Hamilton\u2019s woes were further compounded more than three hours after the race when the stewards gave him a five-place grid penalty for the Italian Grand Prix, for failing to slow for waved yellow flags on his reconnaissance laps to the grid before the race had even begun.<\/p>\n

Max Verstappen took second for Red Bull, while Isack Hadjar was third for Racing Bulls \u2013 his first podium and a superb result in his rookie season.<\/p>\n

George Russell was fourth for Mercedes and Alex Albon fifth for Williams. Oliver Bearman and Esteban Ocon were sixth and 10th for Haas, Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso were in seventh and eighth for Aston Martin, and Yuki Tsunoda ninth for Red Bull.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For a weekend that opened with such high hopes of fresh starts and title charges, the Dutch Grand…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":110671,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[441],"tags":[49,48,578,576,577,82],"class_list":["post-110670","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-f1","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110670","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=110670"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110670\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/110671"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=110670"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=110670"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=110670"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}