Max Verstappen finishes second at Dutch Grand Prix after late Lando Norris retirement
Max Verstappen finished second in the Dutch Grand Prix on Sunday. The reigning champion climbed from third place, which he had spent most of the race in, to second place when Lando Norris was forced to retire from the race late on due to issues with the car. Oscar Piastri of McLaren finished in first place in Zandvoort.
One of the most interesting stories from the race was the third place for Isack Hadjar in Red Bull’s sister team, Racing Bulls. It is the highest finish for Racing Bulls under its current name, and a first podium spot for the 20-year-old in his rookie season.
Most of Verstappen’s race was spent in the place where he started it. The Dutch driver began behind Piastri and Norris. A risky overtake in the first turn resulted in Verstappen going past Norris and up to second place at the start of the race.
Norris eventually took second place back in the ninth lap; Verstappen had struggled to keep up with Piastri during that time.
Verstappen and Red Bull tried an alternative strategy compared to the other teams. While both McLaren vehicles started with medium tires at the beginning of the race, Verstappen began the race with soft tires. He then switched to mediums in the 24th lap, while most of the other cars had gone for hard tires.
It seemed to be a straightforward third-place finish for Verstappen, with him being unable to catch Norris and also comfortably ahead of Hadjar. But this all changed in the 65th lap when an apparent oil leakage led to Norris having to retire his car. It is a significant blow to the British driver’s championship aspirations, but it led to Verstappen climbing to second.
The resulting safety car gave Verstappen an opportunity to launch an offensive on Piastri, but he was unable to trouble the Australian, who led a race from start to finish for the first time in his career.
Verstappen was able to reduce the gap to Norris due to second place. He is still in third place in the drivers’ championship standings, trailing the McLaren driver by 70 points. Piastri increased his gap at the top to 34 points after the victory.
