Lando Norris has taken his second consecutive victory of the season during an eventful Dutch Grand Prix, the Briton beating Kimi Antonelli to the win while home favourite Max Verstappen suffered a dramatic crash that resulted in the race being red-flagged.
After Norris initially led away from pole position at the start, the race was halted just one lap later when Verstappen lost the rear of his Red Bull and hit the wall heavily. The Dutchman fortunately reported that he was okay.
When the action resumed, Antonelli made a flying start to overtake Norris for P1 and from there stretched out a lead – but as the race entered its final third, Norris made ground and retook the position from the Mercedes.
A late Virtual Safety Car – called due to Esteban Ocon’s Haas stopping out on track – resulted in a number of drivers pitting including Antonelli, setting up for a potential chase to the end as both Norris and George Russell in front of him had not stopped for fresh tyres.
While the Silver Arrows inverted their cars to release Antonelli into second, Norris would prove unbeatable at the front and crossed the line with an 11.536s margin over the championship leader. Russell, meanwhile, just sealed the final spot on the podium, having fended off that chasing Ferrari’s to the very end.
The full top 10 are- P1: Norris, P2: Antonelli, P3: Russell, P4: Hamilton, P5: Leclerc, P6: Piastri, P7: Lawson, P8: Hulkenberg, P9: Alonso and P10: Gasly.
What a result for Lando Norris! Fresh off summer break and started exactly how he would want! Makes it even more sweeter having the win before summer break. He really did no wrong in the race, so great to see him up on the top step.
As for his teammate, not such an amazing race, Piastri finishing in sixth, but when your teammate wins, nothing will match up to that unfortunately.
Double podium for the Mercedes duo, Antonelli seemed to have some pace it wasn’t enough compared to the McLaren. The same for Russell, he seemed to be putting right foot forward all weekend and then he couldn’t match up either.
Good haul of points for the Ferrari’s, 4th & 5th. A shame they didn’t get on the podium, but was great to see a bit of fighting with Mercs and staying with them for a long period of the race.
P7 for Liam Lawson in the Red Bull – a great race for him in the points, that drive may have just secured his future on the grid…
Talking of Red Bull, Max Verstappen out on the first lap. First and foremost, so glad to see he was okay as it looked like a nasty crash but also I really can’t believe how he didn’t collect someone after the initial hit into the barriers. It was definitely not the home race he was expecting.
P8 for Hulkenberg, a good race for the Audi man, little mention of I don’t know how he didn’t hit his teammate when he spun at the same time as Max…
P9 for Fernando Alonso! Points! A good race for him and Aston Martin, there upgrades are finally getting somewhere and making it worthwhile.
Rounding out the top 10 is Pierre Gasly, another point for the Frenchman.
Now we have another week off! As we head to Itallyyyy, for the Italian Grand Prix at Monza from the 4th to 6th September.
Jordan's Track Talk 
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