Dutch GP: Lando Norris beats Kimi Antonelli to victory in Zandvoort to claim second successive race win
Lando Norris wins Dutch Grand Prix to secure back-to-back victories; Kimi Antonelli extends overall championship lead to 59 points by finishing second; Norris reduces title-race deficit to 83 points; George Russell holds off Lewis Hamilton for third; Max Verstappen crashed out on first lap
Sunday 23 August 2026 18:29, UK
Lando Norris outduelled championship leader Kimi Antonelli to claim his second successive race victory by winning the Dutch Grand Prix.
McLaren's Norris started on pole in Zandvoort but lost the lead to Antonelli at an early standing restart after Red Bull's Max Verstappen triggered a red flag at his home race by crashing out at the end of the first lap.
After struggling to pressure Antonelli on the first stint, Norris was far quicker after switching onto a hard tyre at the first round of pit stops, and eventually passed the Mercedes after emerging from his second stop with much fresher tyres than the Italian.
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Mercedes left George Russell vulnerable to missing out on a podium by ordering him to let Antonelli through to second in the closing stages, but the Brit was ultimately just able to hold off Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton for third.
Antonelli's championship lead grows to 59 points with Russell taking over second from Hamilton in the standings despite the pair having the same points total, while reigning champion Norris reduces his deficit to the leader to 83 points.
Reigning constructors' champions McLaren failed to claim a win in the opening 10 grands prix of the season, but a significant upgrade brought to the final round before the summer break in Hungary propelled Norris to a dominant success in Budapest.
Had it not been for Norris giving up the lead with a poor getaway at the early restart, this victory could have been similarly dominant, leaving little doubt that the Brit appears the driver most likely to challenge Antonelli for the title over the remaining 11 rounds despite his current position of fourth in the standings.
Celebrating his victory over team radio moments after taking the chequered flag, Norris declared: "Let's keep bringing upgrades. Let's keep bringing performance. The fight is still on. Let's keep going."
Charles Leclerc was fifth for Ferrari, whose pitwall endured a nervy final lap as their cars almost collided when the Monegasque closed up on the battle between Hamilton and Russell.
Oscar Piastri, who remains unable to come anywhere close to matching the pace of his team-mate Norris, was sixth.
Liam Lawson, deputising as Verstappen's Red Bull team-mate in place of the injured Isack Hadjar, completed a solid weekend by taking seventh.
Nico Hulkenberg, who did brilliantly to avoid a shunt with his Audi team-mate Gabriel Bortoleto on the first lap when the Brazilian spun just metres behind the Verstappen crash, made the most of the escape to take eighth.
Fernando Alonso exhibited Aston Martin's improvement following upgrades to both their chassis and Honda power unit by managing his tyres brilliantly on a one-stop strategy to claim ninth, while Pierre Gasly took the final point for Alpine.
Mercedes extended their Constructors' Championship lead over Ferrari to 87 points, while McLaren remained 163 points back from the leaders in third.
Norris pace unmatched, again…
Having finished third as Russell took victory in Saturday's Sprint, Norris benefitted from set-up changes made to his car going into full qualifying to beat both Mercedes to pole, but it remained to be seen how the set-up would work over full race distance.
Norris got off the line well to hold the lead at a start made tricky by damp conditions caused by earlier rain, but was forced to do it all over again by the red flag.
Antonelli, who had passed Russell at the first start, pulled off the trick again as he got up the inside of Norris at the first corner and held his nerve to take the lead.
Norris initially applied some pressure to Antonelli but seemed to have little hope of passing the Mercedes at a circuit where overtaking is generally very tricky.
Both pitted at the end of the 21st circuit of the 72-lap race and switched onto a hard tyre, after which the dynamic swung dramatically with Norris clearly faster.
Mercedes opted to pit the under-pressure Antonelli, with McLaren this time leaving Norris out for seven extra laps, giving him fresh rubber to chase for victory on what it appeared would be the final stint.
Norris emerged from the pits just five seconds down on Antonelli and very quickly closed in on the Mercedes, who had the extra challenge of coming up behind Hamilton, who had yet to make his second stop at the time.
As Antonelli looked to go up the inside of Hamilton at the start of lap 54, Norris darted to the outside and went past the Mercedes that way, before easing past Hamilton to take the race lead later in the lap.
"The move was good! I knew I wasn't going to get many chances," Norris said. "Every lap I spent behind them, my odds were getting lower.
"I saw Lewis defended and I knew that was my moment. I did a couple clicks of brake balance, I knew I was going to commit to the braking and that move won me the race. Just well-played from my part. I knew I had to make it."
There was a further twist to come, though, as Haas' Esteban Ocon stopped on track to trigger a virtual safety car, under which Antonelli would pit, bringing him out in third, 12 seconds behind Norris but with tyres that were nine laps fresher.
However, it swiftly became apparent that even with his newer tyres, Antonelli would not have the pace to threaten Norris, with the bigger issue for the Italian getting past his team-mate Russell for second.
With both Ferraris, who also stopped for fresh tyres under the VSC, just a few seconds behind Antonelli, Mercedes ordered Russell to let his team-mate through to avoid a potential situation where they lost both podium places to Hamilton and Leclerc.
That decision initially appeared to have condemned Russell, on much older tyres having not made a third stop, to losing his third place to Hamilton.
But just when Hamilton seemed certain to get himself on the podium, another VSC was declared to allow marshals to clear debris from the track, which gave Russell some much-needed respite before he held off one final charge from Hamilton.
Up ahead, Norris ultimately took the chequered flag 11 seconds clear of Antonelli, with the Brit showing the sort of form that propelled him to a maiden title last year.
Asked about his hopes of retaining his title, Norris said: "It sounds boring, but one race at a time.
"I know a lot of people say it now but it's the truth of it. There's no point thinking that far ahead. I need to concentrate now on having a nice little break [before Monza].
"Obviously two great weekends but we just need to reset and to learn as much as we can. I think there are still plenty of things we need to do better and can do better if we want to fight for a championship."
Zandvoort farewell dampened by Verstappen crash
A week that started with celebration for Red Bull and Verstappen, after Wednesday's announcement that he had extended his contract with the team until the end of 2030, ended on a sour note.
Sunday's race was the last at Zandvoort.
The home fans' expectations were modest after Verstappen had only qualified seventh, but rain coming down about an hour before the race heightened hope the Dutchman could produce some magic before a six-year stint on the F1 calendar for Zandvoort came to an end.
While the rain stopped about 20 minutes before the start, it actually turned out to be Verstappen's downfall.
Approaching the final corner of the first lap, he got on the accelerator too early and spun at high speed into the barrier, triggering a red flag.
Verstappen told Sky Sports F1: "It was still quite wet in that corner. As soon as I was going through the corner, I could see a little bit of a dry line coming, and I thought from that point on I could accelerate again, but it suddenly then accelerated a lot.
"It caught me out, simple as that. I tried to correct it but couldn't.
"And then you hit the wall, but it could have been a lot worse because there were a lot of cars behind me as well, but luckily that all went well."
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