Piastri dominates Dutch GP as Norris’ championship dreams take heavy hit

Bernadette Soriano

Oscar Piastri delivered a lights-to-flag masterclass at the Dutch Grand Prix in Zandvoort, Netherlands on Saturday, August 31 (9:00 PM Philippine time), tightening his grip on the championship as McLaren teammate Lando Norris retired with an oil leak just eight laps from the finish.

“It feels good, obviously,” Piastri said, helmet still under his arm after climbing out of the MCL38. “It was incredibly unfortunate for Lando at the end, but I felt like I was in control and just used the pace when I needed to. Very satisfied to come out on top.”

Norris, who had been locked in a tense intra-team pursuit, cut a lonely figure on the grassy banks after climbing from his stricken car — his 34-point deficit with nine rounds to go the steepest climb of his career.

Home hero Max Verstappen salvaged second under the roar of an orange army, while 20-year-old rookie Isack Hadjar lit up the paddock with a sensational maiden podium for Racing Bulls.

Hadjar, the youngest Frenchman ever to stand on the F1 rostrum, could hardly hide his disbelief: “It feels a bit unreal. What was most surprising to me is keeping that fourth place for the whole race.”

Ferrari’s weekend imploded when Charles Leclerc was punted into retirement by Mercedes prospect 

Kimi Antonelli at Turn 3, an incident that saw Antonelli slapped with penalties for both the collision and pit-lane speeding.

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella summed up the mixed emotions of the day: “I think today we experienced the two sides of motorsport. On one side, we have the joy, the satisfaction of another victory for McLaren, a deserved victory for Oscar. He ran a very strong and clean weekend.”

Oliver Bearman inherited a career-best sixth after Antonelli’s penalties, trailed by Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, Fernando Alonso, Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda, and Haas’ Esteban Ocon.

Williams’ Carlos Sainz and Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson saw top-10 finishes vanish in tyre smoke after tangling on a Safety Car restart.

Qualifying’s razor-thin 0.012s margin between the McLarens had hinted at a straight fight; Piastri nailed the launch, Verstappen mugged Norris on Lap 1, but the Brit regained P2 before Safety Car chaos twice reset the deck.

Even when Verstappen switched to softs for the final run, Piastri held firm and when Norris’ car bled its last, the Aussie kept Verstappen at bay to take his seventh win of the season, leaving Zandvoort as the clear favourite in this year’s title race.