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Norris wins Dutch Grand Prix

NEWS STORY
25/08/2024

While they cannot be entirely discounted it doesn't look as if the Weather Gods will play a part in proceedings this afternoon, then again they've been pretty busy this weekend and probably need the day off.

That said, while we are not expecting any rain the wind appears to be playing up again, which could lead to some headaches.

The main factor is whether Lando Norris can convert his much-deserved pole into a win, and having failed on the five previous occasions he's started from the coveted spot the odds are against him, especially with Max Verstappen starting alongside.

The Briton will also have to worry about the threat from behind in the form of Piastri and Russell, while Perez also has a point to prove.

Even if he does lose out at the start, we know the McLaren is fast and therefore Norris will be able to apply the pressure, while strategy will also be key.

On a track where overtaking is difficult but not impossible it will be interesting to note the progress of Sainz and Hamilton who both start well out of position and will be keen to join the battle at the front as quickly as possible.

Then again, Ferrari has struggled this weekend, and even Charles Leclerc is set to have his hands full what which trying to take on the likes of Perez and Russell, whilst holding off the Aston Martins.

Thus fat it's been a torrid weekend for Williams what with Sargeant crashing and Albon being disqualified as a result of his car being 'illegal'. Still, the attitude under James Vowles is clearly positive so we can expect the team to fight back.

Due to the ever-changing conditions the teams have very little data available to them but on paper, the one-stop is quickest, with the soft/hard combination preferable to a medium/soft. In the first case the pit stop window can be between laps 24 and 30, while for the second it should open four laps later and close on lap 34.

The pitlane opens and one by one the drivers head out into the bright sunshine.

Other than being gusty, the wind appears to be changing directions which will only add to the teams' concerns.

"It's a beautiful day at least," says Hamilton, "I do wish it was raining again from my position. There's always something to lose as every decision I take affects everyone I work with, but not being at the front it is different so just send it."

Meanwhile, Mercedes sends (18th) birthday wishes to Kimi Antonelli, which will not be lost on Williams or Sargeant.

"We'll give it a good go," vows Christian Horner, "the first corner will be crucial and so will the wind and the conditions today."

The Williams pair start from the back of the grid, while Magnussen starts from the pitlane after taking on a new energy store and control electronics and exceeding the permitted allowance.

All are on mediums bar Tsunoda, Hamilton and Bottas who are on softs, while Magnussen is on hards. As you would expect, what will all the wet running, it's fresh rubber all round.

Air temperature is 18 degrees C, while the track temperature is 29 degrees.

They head off on the formation lap.

The grid forms.

They're away!

Norris and Verstappen are evens-Stevens at first but the Red Bull begins to pull away as the McLaren suffers excessive wheelspin. Indeed, behind Piastri has a similar issue and as they head into Turn 1 the Mercedes goes through on the inside of the McLaren as Verstappen leads Norris.

Elsewhere, Perez has lost out to Leclerc, who already putting Piastri under intense pressure.

At the end of Lap 1, it's: Verstappen, Norris, Russell, Piastri, Leclerc, Perez, Gasly, Alonso, Sainz and Stroll. Hamilton is 13th.

Like Leclerc on Piastri a lap earlier, on Lap 2, Alonso tries to go down the inside of Gasly as they enter the banking.

Verstappen builds a lead of 1.08s putting himself out of DRS range, as Hamilton passes Tsunoda for 12th. Bottas also makes a move on the RB driver, but the Japanese has it covered.

Russell is under pressure from Piastri, as Verstappen builds a 1.5s lead.

"A lot of understeer, help me on D-rate," asks Sargeant.

The soft runners are running in 12th, 13th and 14th, not taking full advantage of the red-banded rubber.

Russell is now heading a DRS train, with Piastri now joined by Leclerc and Perez behind.

In seventh, Gasly heads another DRS train, with Alonso, Sainz, Stroll, Hulkenberg and Hamilton forming the carriages.

Replay shows Magnussen running wide in Turn 1 as he made a move on Zhou, the Haas pair suffering brake issues all weekend.

"Good Max, keep it up, just watch that rear-left sliding."

Magnussen finally passes Zhou to claim 19th.

Sainz is all over Gasly who has passed Alonso with a class move.

"Who are we racing," Norris is asked. "I think the car ahead," he replies, clearly as baffled as the rest of us.

Hamilton makes a bold move on Hulkenberg to claim 11th.

On Lap 11, Sainz and Gasly are wheel-to-wheel, the Spaniard eventually getting the better of the Alpine driver.

Verstappen maintains a 1.3s gap to Norris who is now 3.2s clear of Russell who is 1.3s ahead of Piastri.

Hamilton closes on Stroll who is shadowing his Aston Martin teammate.

"Thoughts on Plan A versus Plan B," Piastri is asked. "I think Plan A," he replies.

Albon pits at the end of Lap 12, rejoining in 20th on hards. Might he try to go the distance?

"Probably Plan A, Plan B might be a way to beat Max," Norris is told. "The pace is strong," reports the Briton.

"The car doesn't turn in at all in Turn 10," complains Verstappen.

As Hulkenberg and Tsunoda pit, Hamilton passes Stroll for tenth, the seven-time world champion subsequently making short work of Alonso.

On those hards Albon posts a new fastest lap (15.520), which will be of interest to the rest of the field.

Suddenly, Norris is just 0.633s down on Verstappen.

"My tyres are numb, they just don't grip," complains Verstappen.

At the start of Lap 18, Norris, courtesy of DRS and the sheer pace of the McLaren, sweeps past Verstappen on the pit straight, the McLaren leaving the Red Bull for dead.

"What's the plan from here," asks Norris. "Plan A, though he might try the undercut," he is told.

Zhou pits at the end of Lap 18.

"It felt like my brakes are going long," reports Norris, "but I think there's a lot more wind all of a sudden."

"Brakes wise, everything is fine from our side," Norris is assured.

Seemingly the wind is catching out the drivers in Turn 10.

After 21 laps, Verstappen has dropped 2.2s behind Norris but remains 5.2s ahead of Russell.

Check out our Sunday gallery from Zandvoort here.

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READERS COMMENTS

 

1. Posted by Spindoctor, 26/08/2024 9:33

"In many respects a fairly dull affair, with RBR still a bit off the pace of McLaren. Verstappen was grumpy again at not having the outright fastest car. He had to work just to get 2nd & unless RBR can pull a rabbit out of the hat, he'd better get used to it. As things stand, I can see Piastri & maybe Leclerc, Sainz, Hamilton or Russell taking a good few places from him as the season unfolds.

I was pleased to see Perez doing a bit better.
The pace of the Ferrari was faster than recently, though it still looked a bit unsettled at times. Good drives from both Leclerc & Sainz, who clearly extracted the maximum from the package.
The biggest disappointment for me, in terms of outright "Racing", was the Mercedes, which clearly lacked speed compared to the top 3 cars. Neither Hamilton (who got the better out of it) nor Russell seemed able to make any progress compared to the 6 drivers ahead of them with Russell dropping out of contention & Hamilton's run "stalling" as soon as he caught Russell.

Hopefully the underperformers will gain something for Monza & we'll have a more interesting race."

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2. Posted by kenji, 25/08/2024 23:31

"The race was not what I expected/hoped for and was quite boring at times. Dirty air wrecked so many possible outcomes! Norris drove a very good race and demonstrated just how much pace the car has when racing in fresh air. Once he'd built up a lead it was relatively easy for him to maintain and build even further , the RB could not do anything about it. Impressive. Following Piastri's pit stop and on fresh tyres the rate at which he closed down Leclerc was also mighty. It certainly looks as though MacLaren can take out the WCC but the WDC is highly unlikely unless RB have a couple of DNF's...which could happen! Hopefully Monza will be more open to close racing without quite so many DRS trains."

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3. Posted by Tardis40, 25/08/2024 22:47

"Verstappen still has a healthy lead with 9 races remaining. Norris would have to win them all with fastest lap points to close him out."

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