F1 Dutch GP had everything go crazy, an exciting start, tackling pit reduction at the right moment, some daring changes and a home hero then snapping out in the middle of the opening lap. Lando Norris was the clear cut winner as he bounced back from a protest restart issue to take his second consecutive win in the lightweight fight and Kimi Antonelli was still looking good for the lead as he finished 2nd, moving forward into his race to take the title of the best rider under their current rules.

But, there was much more to the race than that as fortunes differed greatly through the grid. Max Verstappen’s home bowing down ceremony was marred by a lackluster finish, Ferrari simply left some questions about their race fight and a racing debut for Liam Lawson went off perfectly. Fernando Alonso and Yuki Tsunoda were also not left in a hole with just part of the picture, as they both had new things to cheer about.

But the drama began before the lights went out. The race was judged to be under rather wet conditions as rain fell some 1 hour before the race, while the race cars were on wet tyres. The rain came to a sudden end, yet the muddy roads continued to be troublesome and hazardous on lap one. Verstappen was the worst of it with the Hanssens third corner off the pace and into the outside wall which stopped the German’s race.But the worst of the lot was Anderias Hanssens’ Hans Verstappen, who lost his steering at the corner of Luyendyk and crashed into the outside wall which halted his race.

To the detriment of Verstappen it was an especially sad finish to the Grand Prix of the Netherlands. Tired from needing to conquer the 190-lap Belgian racetrack back in 2021, after its return to the Formula 1 calendar, last lap was eagerly awaited to be another classic. Rather, he had some kind of error at a wet area on track – and that put an end to his afternoon before he had a chance to become established as a racer.

Verstappen’s wipe-out was compounded by the fact that he had recently signed a new contract with Red Bull up until 2030. While he avoided injury in the accident, it was a sobering occasion for everyone that even the most competent drivers can be outsmarted when things take a sharp turn.

On the other side of the coin, Norris had a tough weekend, which he made into a huge triumph. It would be fair to say that McLaren didn’t look anything like himself in Saturday’s sprint, despite George Russell’s victory from the front and the Mercedes having looked improved over race distance.

Those questions were answered on Sunday by Norris. Any problems were overcome after the restart, as Kimi Antonelli fanned out into the way, revealing that Norris could keep the pace on the hard tyre as soon as he was able. Eventually he got to the Big Four Door bends of Antonelli and left enough space and that was 11.5 seconds ahead of the Mercedes driver at the finish! Winning his second consecutive Grand Prix in Hungary and his second of the year, it was Norris’ second consecutive win that was meant for this driver.

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella said Norris had a good idea that his reigning champion “was able to get some bit extra out of the tyre in the challenging but difficult conditions. That’s a show they might need to watch as the race unfolds because Norris is not far away from the leaders.

Another big bonanza was the win by Antonelli. George Russel took third place and the Mercedes lad closed the gap to 59 points for second place in the championship. Leadership went for another wack in Mercedes too when they relaxed their thinking and allowed Russell to take the drivers’ seat with Antonelli’s wheel later in the race. Russell did as he was told, giving his team-mate the best chance of winning and then defending and defending his third-place finish for the rest of the race.

But the weekend once more served as a reminder of a familiar issue for Ferrari. The team was good enough to fight it out at the front but its execution did not match the pace of the car with regularity. Both Charles Leclerc (P5) and Lewis Hamilton (P4) had good finishes for Ferrari but were unable to challenge for third place.

It was another of the more impressive weekend displays from Lawson, however. He had to get used to replacing the injured Isack Hadjar and nervously make his way back into the car that’s notably different from the machines he was used to driving for Red Bull.

Las Vegas, his drive was calm he didn’t seem overwhelmed by the circumstances to get to seventh. Red Bull would be the fourth fastest team on the course, making it difficult to expect ground-breaking thing to happen.

Fernando Alonso had to be given a round of applause as well. Aston Martin’s weekend had been bumpy until Friday morning when some problems with the Honda’s new engine had an impact on the car’s driveability. Then, it was back to balance and, more dramatically, the team combined the two in a bold package to secure useful points in finishing in ninth position.

Not to mention, the return of Yuki Tsunoda to an F1 race weekend came as a surprise. The Japanese had been on the sidelines as a team mate of Arvid Lindblad, but was thrust into the lineup for the Dutch weekend and remained near Racing Bulls side man in the last 20 races.

For Williams, however, there wasn’t much to be happy about. Late in the race, Carlos Sainz and teammate Alex Albon jostled for 15th place, making for a miserable weekend. The event was sparked by the lock-up on old hard tyres of ‘Sainz’ and turned out to be uninteresting as neither of the two drivers were fighting for a competitive spot.

His overall speed is more of a problem for Williams. Meanwhile the team is waiting for upgrades and at the moment looks like it could be in a survival battle with Aston Martin needing upgrades and Cadillac and Haas, looking more dominant in the midfield struggles. Both Sainz and Albon are up for retention in 2027, giving the squad stability, but there is a huge question to be answered as to how they will perform in the short term.

Nico Hulkenberg should be credited an honourable mention too. The Audi driver reacted brilliantly to a dangerous situation at the end of the opening lap, using quick reflexes to help prevent team-mate Gabriel Bortoleto from becoming involved in a much bigger accident. Hulkenberg would focus on finishing the race in a decent manner, with a top result she’s come up with in a lot of races.

Last but by no means least, it was the Dutch Grand Prix that Zandvoort had to rally for on its last day. Restoring the F1 season to the circuit meant the car had one of the most unique fansbases in the sport: this was mostly due to Verstappen’s home support. A chaotic race was a good final act, considering 2026 will be the last planned Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort

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