There was a foreboding sense of déjà
vu as the lights went out and Max Verstappen swept into the lead of the Dutch
grand prix. After a stellar lap in qualifying by Lando Norris the McLaren
driver, again, couldn’t maintain P1 off the start line. But it wasn’t the
status quo that has become the norm in 2024 though.
Instead of seeing Verstappen’s Red
Bull grow ever more distant Norris was able to keep the Dutchman well within
his sights. On lap eighteen Norris, within DRS range, overtook Verstappen going
into to turn one and seized the lead of the race. Although the overtake only
happen on lap eighteen, Norris confirmed in post-race interviews that he knew
quite early on that he had the pace to fight for the win. But he didn’t just
fight for the win though. After passing Verstappen he built a lead of roughly
five seconds before the first round of pitstops. It was a solid enough pace but
was nothing compared to what would come as the race unfolded. By the end of the
race Norris had put more than twenty seconds into Verstappen. This was the
biggest winning margin, of any driver, since Charles Leclerc’s 2021 Australian
grand prix victory. It was an eye-catching margin of victory that will
undoubtedly infuse Lando Norris and McLaren with a heap of confidence and send
Red Bull back to the drawing board.
By the measure of free practice and
even qualifying there wasn’t much to suggest that Ferrari would feature in the
top three. Heck, it looked doubtful that they could trouble the top five. But a
superb drive from Charles Leclerc delivered an impressive third place finish
for the Ferrari driver. It was no easy feat either as he had to hold off a much
quicker McLaren, in the form of Oscar Piastri, for more than twenty laps. Ferrari
often cop a lot of criticism for getting strategies wrong. It’s only fair then
that they be commended when they get it right, and they certainly did this
weekend. A perfect strategy allowed Leclerc track position, and his fine
driving ensured a well-earned podium finish ahead of Piastri in fourth.
Carlos Sainz, Williams bound in
2025, recovered from an under par qualifying position of eleventh to finish a
strong fifth. Checo Perez was sixth in the other Red Bull, no thanks to a tardy
pitstop that lost him a couple of seconds. Mercedes’ performance was a from the
glory of Belgium. Gone was the pace that saw them win two of the last three
races before the summer break. The lack of performance from Mercedes may be
specific to the Zaandvoort track, but they’ll nevertheless be surprised to have
ended up only seventh and eighth. Mind you, both George Russell and Lewis
Hamilton ran a two-stop strategy as opposed to a one-stopper for all the
frontrunners. Russell’s second stop seemed a peculiar decision given that he
was running fifth when he was called in for the late stop. There was clearly
the ambition for Russell to close down those on older tyres but he simply
didn’t have the pace to achieve this. Teammate Hamilton finished eighth after
starting the race in fourteenth. Pierre Gasly, somewhat of a Zaandvoort
specialist, finished ninth for Alpine with Fernando Alonso scoring the final
point in tenth for Aston Martin.
There will be many who are
scratching their heads at the seemingly sudden loss of pace from Red Bull and
Max Verstappen. But perhaps it isn’t a great mystery at all. It could simply be
that McLaren have out-designed and out-developed Red Bull to have overhauled
them in terms of pure pace and performance. It’s a mighty performance from the
Woking-based team that has now catapulted them to within only 30 points of Red
Bull in the fight for the constructor’s championship. How will the next chapter
of this enthralling season play out? The good news is that you don’t have to
wait for an answer as F1 heads to home of speed, Monza, this weekend.
