F1 Dutch Grand Prix 2026 Recap: Norris wins in Zandvoort as Verstappen crashes out at home

Lando Norris made it back-to-back wins as the reigning world champion won the Dutch Grand Prix 2026, converting his pole position to a second win of the season. Norris lost the lead early on but strong race pace from the McLaren saw him take it back late on while Kimi Antonelli finished second ahead of George Russell, who managed to pick up the final podium place by the skin of his teeth. It was a disappointing race for the Dutch fans though, who came to see their local boy Max Verstappen with Verstappen crashing out on the opening lap itself. 

Antonelli’s second place finish sees him further extend his championship lead in the drivers’ standing win while Norris’ win sees him go past Charles Leclerc for fourth place in the drivers’ standing. For Norris, who went into the summer break by winning the Hungarian Grand Prix, he resumed the racing with a win in the Netherlands and has kept himself in the fight to defend his title. 

Lando Norris got the race going under wet conditions at Zandvoort as all drivers started precariously. Kimi Antonelli made up a place on George Russell on the opening lap while Charles Leclerc got  past his teammate Lewis Hamilton and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri for P4. The race saw an early Red Flag at the end of the opening lap as home hero Max Verstappen, who was initially pushed wide at the start, lost his rear on a damp part of the track at the final corner and smashed into the walls. Not only was Verstappen an early retiree as Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto also spun at the final corner and suffered damage on his car right at the start of the race.

After a delay of over half an hour, racing was set to resume through a standing start with Ollie Bearman pulling over on the side during the formation lap which caused a second formation lap. When racing finally resumed Norris had to get his elbows out to keep Kimi Antonelli at bay but Antonelli stormed on the inside of Norris to take the lead of the race going into the first corner. Oscar Piastri, behind them, flew past George Russell for P3 in a stunning move on the Hard compound as the rain had stopped which saw all the drivers switch from the inters and full wets to the normal compounds. Within a couple of laps’ time, Antonelli was more than a second clear of Norris with Piastri five seconds behind the race leader on lap 10.

By lap 16, the Ferrari pair of Leclerc and Hamilton were catching Russell which led to Mercedes calling him in on lap 18 to switch to the Hard compound and rejoined the track in ninth position. Piastri pit a lap later but McLaren’s crew wasn’t able to send Piastri out in time which saw him come out on the track at P7, behind Russell, who had gotten past Audi’s Nico Hülkenberg. On lap 22, Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes called in Leclerc, Norris and race leader Antonelli which saw Lewis Hamilton take the lead of the race with Antonelli coming out in second place ahead of Norris while Leclerc re-emerged on the track in sixth place. Hamilton finally pit on lap 26 and joined the track in sixth place, behind his teammate which saw Antonelli take the lead of the race once again with Norris behind him. Outside the top 10, Pierre Gasly and Nico Hülkenberg were involved in a tight scrap for the final points place and while Gasly tried to take the 10th place, it was the Ferrari engine of Nico Hülkenberg that saw him go to P10 while Yuki Tsunoda, who was standing in for Racing Bulls for the weekend, made a stunning move on his former teammate Pierre Gasly to move up to P12 on lap 29. Hülkenberg meanwhile kept making up places and was up to P9 after getting past Carlos Sainz as well on the 30th lap with Sainz and Arvid Lindblad being the only two in the top 12 who hadn’t pitted yet.

While the midfield battle was intensifying, at the top Norris was cutting into Antonelli’s lead and was within a second of Antonelli by lap 32 while Leclerc was pressing Piastri to fourth place. Leclerc got past Piastri for fourth place on lap 34 as he went around the outside of the McLaren at Turn 1 and made the move stick by going around the Australian at Turn 3 and within a few corners left Piastri in his wake as he sped away. Things got from bad to worse for Piastri as a lap later, Hamilton got past Piastri as well, going on the inside of Piastri at Turn 1. Mercedes called in Antonelli for a second stop on lap 41 and it was a double stack as they also brought in Russell. Antonelli rejoined the track in fourth place behind the Ferrari pair while Russell came out behind Piastri in sixth place as Norris took the lead of the race with Leclerc and Hamilton behind him. 

Leclerc came in for his second stop on lap 44 after Ferrari had to pacify an agitated Hamilton who was furious at being stuck behind a slow Leclerc with Ferrari not making the call to let the much quicker Hamilton through. Leclerc came out in P6 following his stop while Hamilton was let loose at Norris who was more than 10 seconds clear of Hamilton. Race leader Norris came in for his second stop on lap 48 and a swift stop from the McLaren crew saw Norris come out behind Antonelli in P3. As Hamilton led at the front, it was Norris charging at Antonelli who was struggling with his tyres and Norris moved up to P2 on lap 54 at Turn 1 and Norris was all over the back of Hamilton as well and Norris took the lead of the race once again heading out of Turn 12. 

Hamilton lost a place to Antonelli as Antonelli moved up to P2 before the Virtual Safety Car came out on lap 55 as Esteban Ocon’s Haas stopped on the track. Hamiton pitted under the Virtual Safety Car, with Ferrari bringing in Leclerc as well while McLaren brought in Piastri. Hamilton, Leclerc and Piastri came out in P4, P5 and P6 respectively. Antonelli also came in for a stop under the Virtual Safety Car but a slow stop from the Mercedes crew saw Antonelli rejoin in third place, behind his teammate, George Russell. The Virtual Safety Car ended on lap 57 which saw Norris speed away from the lead as Russell struggled to keep up. With 10 laps to go on lap 62, Norris was 9.5s clear of Russell who had no pace to stay with the race leader while Antonelli behind Russell, was pulling out a gap from the Ferraris.

Mercedes asked the slower Russell to swap places with  Antonelli on lap 65 and at Turn 1 at the start of lap 66, Antonelli was let through with Antonelli speeding away leaving Russell behind. Russell was left exposed to Hamilton and the Mercedes driver’s hard tyres were no match for Hamilton’s fresher softs. The race saw a late Virtual Safety Car on lap 70  with Albon and Sainz coming together seeing a host of debris being sprayed on the track. Russell hung on for third place by the skin of his teeth to pick up the final podium place.Lewis Hamilton finished fourth ahead of teammate, Charles Leclerc with Oscar Piastri, Liam Lawson, Nico Hülkenberg, Fernando Alonso and Pierre Gasly rounding out the points places.

Russell’s podium finish sees him go P2 in the drivers’ standing with Antonelli holding a 59 point lead over him and Hamilton. Norris is now 84 points behind Antonelli with 11 races to go. Next up for the grid is the Italian Grand Prix as the drivers will move to Monza in two weeks’ time.