Dutch GP 2024: Norris passes Verstappen and wins by 22 seconds

Lando Norris won the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort from pole position, 22.896 seconds ahead of Max Verstappen, after losing the lead at the start and taking it back on lap 18 of 72. It was the second win of his Formula 1 career, and the first time anyone had beaten Verstappen at his home race since it returned to the calendar in 2021. Charles Leclerc was third for Ferrari, 1.9 seconds ahead of Oscar Piastri.

How Norris beat Verstappen at Zandvoort

Norris had taken pole by more than three tenths, but he got away slowly and Verstappen was ahead before Turn 1. The Red Bull held on for 17 laps while Verstappen told his team his tyres felt numb. On lap 18 Norris went down the inside into Turn 1, and Verstappen had no reply.

The top ten all started on mediums, and the front-runners made a single stop for hards. Verstappen came in on lap 28, Norris a lap later, and the order did not change. After that the gap only grew: about ten seconds by lap 40, 14 by lap 49, nearly 23 at the flag. Norris added the fastest lap on his final tour for the extra point.

Leclerc turned sixth on the grid into a podium. He passed Sergio Pérez on the opening lap, pitted on lap 25 and ran to the end on hards. Piastri, who stopped on lap 34, closed in on fresher tyres but stayed just outside DRS range.

The teammate duels

McLaren. Piastri lost this one on Saturday. He did not find enough on his final Q3 run, which let Verstappen onto the front row, then lost a place to George Russell at the start and spent his afternoon behind other cars. He passed Russell around the outside of Turn 1 on lap 40, but fourth was the limit while his team-mate won. Norris vs Piastri now stands 12–3 in qualifying and 10–5 in races in our count.

Ferrari. Leclerc out-qualified Carlos Sainz and finished two places ahead of him. Sainz started tenth and had the busier race: he passed Fernando Alonso and Pierre Gasly in the first stint, then went around the outside of Pérez at Turn 1 on lap 47 and came home fifth. On F1 Duels Leclerc leads Sainz 9–5 in qualifying and 8–5 in races.

Mercedes. Russell started fourth and ran third after the first corner, then faded, losing ground to Sainz and Pérez around a second stop for softs. He finished seventh and said the car felt like it was on ice. Lewis Hamilton started 14th after a three-place grid penalty for impeding Pérez in Q1, worked his way forward and finished eighth, right behind him. The verdict goes to Russell, and their head-to-head is 11–4 to Russell in qualifying and 8–4 in races.

Red Bull. Pérez qualified fifth, lost places to Leclerc and Sainz and finished sixth, 16.6 seconds behind Verstappen. He has not finished in the top five since Miami. Verstappen vs Pérez is 15–0 in qualifying and 12–0 in races this season.

What it means for the title

The win and the fastest-lap point cut Verstappen's lead over Norris from 78 points to 70, with nine races left. Verstappen has now gone five races without a win, his longest run since 2020, and Red Bull's lead over McLaren in the constructors' championship is down to 30 points. Every verdict from the weekend is on the Dutch GP duels page.