F1: Norris Conquered Windy Dutch Grand Prix 2024
The last 4 races before the season’s summer break were without a Max Verstappen win, and fans of the Dutch driver are hoping his home race in the Dutch Grand Prix will be a great welcome to earn another first place once again.
Most importantly, with the news that Jack Doohan will be driving alongside Gasly for the 2025 season, there are only three more seats left in the grid. The results for the second half of the 2024 season are surely crucial for every driver, including points that they can earn from the Dutch Grand Prix.
FREE PRACTICE
Circuit Zandvoort welcomed the drivers back with hugs of wind and pecks of raindrops. On FP1, Alpine’s Gasly, Red Bull’s Perez, and Ferrari’s Sainz all slid through the gravel. Current Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg followed the list when he also met the gravel at Turn 10, then at Turn 9, then another at Turn 1. Dutch driver Verstappen had the warmest welcome from his fans at his home race but went spinning at Turn 11. McLaren’s Lando Norris topped the charts for FP1 followed by Verstappen and Hamilton, respectively.
The sun finally shone at the Dutch Grand Prix for FP2, but the winds were still gushing at George Russell which sent him off the track at Turn 8. Gearbox problems arose for Spanish driver Carlos Sainz that they had to retire the car early. FP2 concluded with George Russell fastest, Oscar Piastri at P2, and Lewis Hamilton at P3.
Williams driver Logan Sargeant suffered extreme damages to his car when he lost control at Turn 4. The American driver thankfully got out of the flaming car safely, but the Williams team was not safe from an overnight of repairs from the crash. The rainy weather in Zandvoort caused many more slips from different drivers and a Hulkenberg crash on the barriers. Alpine’s Pierre Gasly managed to get the fastest for FP3, while Haas driver Kevin Magnussen got P2, and Valtteri Bottas of Kick Sauber was at P3.
QUALIFYING
The first session of qualifying was exciting as Sainz, Russell, and Perez respectively set their laps and saved themselves from elimination. Although Perez finished P1 at Q1, he was not happy with the penalty possibilities for impeding Hamilton earlier in the tracks. Ricciardo, Ocon, Bottas, and Zhou were eliminated from Q1, while Sargeant was not able to participate in the qualifying sessions.
In Q2, Hamilton was unable to set a faster lap time which caused him to drop out of the session. Stroll managed to get P4 which also knocked Tsunoda out of Q2. Norris got the fastest followed by teammate Piastri, and Russell at P3. Sainz, Hulkenberg, and Magnussen were also eliminated at the second session of qualifying.
Max Verstappen hoped to take pole on his most awaited home race in the Dutch Grand Prix, but failed to outdo Lando Norris’ lap time, taking P2 for the race. The British McLaren driver takes the pole position with his teammate Oscar Piastri at P3.
RACE
It’s definitely not a Norris pole position if he doesn’t lose P1 within the first lap. Verstappen managed to take the lead from Norris within just the beginning of the Dutch Grand Prix. Silver Arrows’ George Russell also took P3 from Oscar Piastri, leaving both the McLaren cars a position down.
Verstappen was defending his lead up until Lap 17, when now rival Norris overtook him to take back the pole, and managed to widen the interval from those behind him.
The pit times for the race sadly did not compare to the respective team’s usual times. Mercedes took 3.4s for Russell which caused him to lose a few places down to P9.
The challenges for George Russell did not stop there. At Lap 40, Oscar Piastri challenged him for P4 and the British driver failed to defend his position. Piastri ultimately claimed victory for the spot, but remained on the hunt for a podium finish.
Kevin Magnussen lost his chance for points at the same lap, when 4 drivers zoomed past him. Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon, Lance Stroll, and Fernando Alonso all fought for the P10 position with the Danish driver which led to a Haas car at P14.
Albon originally took P10, but failed to guard his position from French driver Pierre Gasly who was hungry for points. The Thai driver dropped down a position, while Aston Martin’s duo Alonso and Stroll took P12 and P13, respectively.
7-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton has earned 6 spots higher from his starting position of P14. At Lap 55, it was 7-8 Mercedes with Russell at the lead. However, this was not a great spot for Russell as it meant that he lost places because of the slow pit stop that occurred a while back.
By Lap 64, the gap between Norris and P2 Verstappen had reached more than 17s. The interval peaked at 22s by the end of the race, with McLaren bagging the Dutch Grand Prix win. Red Bull’s Dutch driver Max Verstappen finished with a second-place podium in his home race, and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc took the last podium.
POST RACE
During the post-race press conference, Max Verstappen admitted that it was not the results he and his team had hoped for–it was the race he wanted to win the most. Regardless, he is thankful and proud of finishing second in his home race. “I just tried to do my own race, and that was my race, and I was second today,” said the Dutch driver. “I’d rather win today, but I can’t win all of them. I’m always very happy with P2. I hope everyone enjoyed it. See you next year.”
Ferrari’s Monegasque driver had an amazing performance starting from P6 and ending in a third-place podium finish. He shared that he typically isn’t very happy with a P3, but given the struggles that he shared with his team since the Friday of the Dutch Grand Prix weekend, it was a very surprising and joyful win for them.
“In the race, we found some more pace, executed a perfect strategy, we undercut two of our competitors there, and then we managed to keep them behind. So a really strong race for the team, and yeah, really happy to start the second half like this,” Leclerc shared.
When Dutch Grand Prix winner Lando Norris was asked about how he’s feeling, he said it is an amazing feeling, but it was not a perfect race. Losing his position during the start to Max Verstappen was a mistake that the British driver acknowledges, but said it was a beautiful race afterwards.
Norris was confident that he would win the race as early as Lap 5. He said that he expected that Verstappen would push and increase the interval when the Dutch driver led the race, but the gap never got too big. Lando said his pace was just getting better and better which made him more assured of his second win.
He also shared that the pace they had was surprising for him as well–in a good way. “[T]he car felt amazing. The car felt great and made my life easier for sure. So a big thanks to the team.” He also mentioned that while the upgrades they have made over the weekend were helpful, it was not the sole reason why they were quicker for this race.
When asked about the next race at Monza, Norris answered that anyone could finish on top, but that there’s no point in thinking ahead because they can’t say what can happen for the Italian Grand Prix. Although not verbally said, it seems that McLaren is ready to conquer the next race.
As the fastest car on the grid, will McLaren be able to stay as competitive as it was this weekend? Monza is up next, and it will truly be a race to look forward to.
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