Dutch GP 2026, finishing order: a superb Norris beats Antonelli. Ferrari loses time and podium, Hamilton is furious

F1 Netherlands, the GP standings

F1 Netherlands, the GP report

In the fight for the World Championship, the reigning champion is also in the mix. Lando Norris reminds everyone that he didn’t win the 2025 title by chance and wins the Dutch GP with a masterful performance. The Englishman, with his second consecutive victory after Hungary, puts on a stunning finale, overtaking Kimi Antonelli on the outside of Tarzan corner on lap 54. In the standings, the world champion now overtakes Charles Leclerc and moves to -83 from the Mercedes driver. A still large gap, but with this McLaren and especially this Norris, nothing is off limits.

Read more Mercedes, after the team order diplomacy reigns: “Kimi deserved to finish ahead”, “Happy that George is third”

Norris and Antonelli are undoubtedly the two best drivers of the day, among the top. The Bolognese overtakes Russell at the start and throughout the GP shows (once again) a clearly superior pace to his teammate. Norris does the same, dominating Oscar Piastri in the internal comparison. It is therefore a showdown between the two, with Antonelli surprising Norris in the second start (due to Max Verstappen‘s accident on the first lap), but the world champion always stays 1-2 seconds behind. In the second part of the race, Norris’s show begins on a hard tire seven laps fresher than Antonelli’s: the decisive overtake comes behind a Lewis Hamilton who is a passive spectator. The Ferrari driver chooses a one-stop strategy that pays dividends, moving him from P6 to the podium zone. Passed by Norris and Antonelli, number 44 eventually loses third place to George Russell by tenths and… debris. Some pieces brought onto the track by the collision between the two Williams drivers three laps from the end cause a Virtual Safety Car and suspend the fight for the podium for one lap.

Eight tenths and 1.3 seconds: these are Hamilton and Leclerc’s gaps from the podium. And at Ferrari they can only be kicking themselves. With an incomprehensible choice, after Russell stops for the second time, the Scuderia pit wall does not order Leclerc to let Hamilton pass (who is attacking, faster and on a different strategy) nor does it stop him the following lap. Result: both lose time for two laps. For Ferrari, it could have been a podium and fourth place with a haul of 27 points, but the Dutch GP ends instead with P4 and P5 with a loss of five points. And, after the Hungaroring, it is the second consecutive race outside the top-3. Hamilton, during the race, lashes out sarcastically at the pit wall: “Great way to lose time, great job guys“. Now that he has lost P3 and points to both Antonelli and Russell because of this choice, a very heated debriefing is expected at Ferrari.

Read more Verstappen, bitter farewell Zandvoort: major crash in the parabolic curve

(updating)

F1 Netherlands, the live GP

You can relive the emotions of the Zandvoort race with our live report.

The next appointment

F1 returns to the track in two weeks for our home event, Monza. It starts Friday, September 4 with FP1 at 12:30, then FP2 at 16:00. Saturday 5, at the same times, respectively FP3 and Qualifying. Sunday at 15:00 the GP.

Read more Pirelli Strategy: Ferrari and Verstappen with the option of new softs