Dutch GP
The Formula 1 World Championship campaign is made up of 24 race weekends, and given that they all count it’s always hard to pinpoint exactly when a driver won or lost the title.
However if Lando Norris does eventually concede the 2025 crown to his McLaren team mate Oscar Piastri by a margin of fewer than 18 points then his mechanical retirement while running second in Zandvoort will be remembered as the unluckiest break of his season.
Down the years the destination of many World Championships has swung on the basis of engine failures and the like.
However these days cars are usually bulletproof, and indeed the last season where one particular failure made a huge difference was 2016, when Lewis Hamilton ultimately lost out to team mate Nico Rosberg after a blow-up in Malaysia cost him precious points.
In Zandvoort Piastri was leading and already set to gain seven points on Norris when the later came to a smoky halt with what looked like an engine failure, but which the team later confirmed was a result of an issue on the car side.
Piastri is looking more and more like a World Champion. The Australian now has a lead of 34 points, and while there are still nine races to go (plus a few sprint events) it will be hard for Norris to reel that back in on pure performance.
Indeed he would have to win the next five races with Piastri second to gain back 35 points and get ahead.
The second best team in Holland was Red Bull, with a little Max Verstappen magic allowing the local hero to qualify third and briefly get ahead of Norris in the early laps, until normal order was restored. The McLaren driver’s retirement moved him up a step on the podium to take third place. His team mate Yuki Tsunoda had another flat weekend, earning a humble ninth place. The Japanese driver has to raise his game in order to keep his place.
The Milton Keynes team continues to regroup in the post-Christian Horner era under Laurent Mekies – now formally named as a director of Red Bull Racing and its associated companies – but the sister team that the Frenchman just left is providing plenty of food for thought.
Racing Bulls has been a regular top 10 contender of late, and in Zandvoort rookie Isack Hadjar qualified a surprise fourth, right behind Verstappen. He then put in a faultless drive to stay ahead of the likes of Mercedes and Ferrari to what was going to be fourth place until Norris gifted him the final podium spot. It was a remarkable performance by driver and team, and Hadjar now looks set to be promoted to RBR in 2026. Inevitably his performance also set people thinking about what Verstappen might be able to do with the same car.
Zandvoort was a tricky weekend for Mercedes. George Russell started fifth and finished fourth after a tangle with Charles Leclerc, while team mate Kimi Antonelli compromised his weekend after going off early in Friday practice and then also hit Leclerc in the race. That got him a penalty that dropped him out of the points. Antonelli continues to face a difficult learning curve in the full glare of the spotlight, and he needs to start putting in some eye-catching performances.
Mercedes has yet to officially confirm that both drivers are staying on in 2026, but after the race Toto Wolff insisted that it’s a formality and it’s now just a question of agreeing a few contract details with Russell – in essence the Brit wants to be tied to fewer marketing commitments.
Ahead of the team’s home race in Monza the Dutch event could hardly be worse for Ferrari. After his recent struggles Lewis Hamilton changed his approach to the weekend, and while he qualified only seventh, he was much happier. Unfortunately in the race he crashed out – his first such retirement in years – during a brief shower. Leclerc was set for some solid points until he was punted off by Antonelli, leaving the Italian team with two damaged cars. A solid weekend in Monza would be most welcome, especially for Hamilton.
A race impacted by safety cars saw drivers from several midfield teams ride their luck and move up the field. Alex Albon went from 15th to fifth for Williams, Oliver Bearman from a pitlane start to sixth for Haas, and Lance Stroll from 19th to seventh for Aston Martin. All of that showed how close the whole field is at the moment, and how important it is to get everything just right.
The midfield championship battle, essentially for fifth place and below, remains tight- and each place is worth millions in prize fund income. Williams earned some useful breathing space, but Aston Martin and Racing Bulls scored well and are not far behind.
The losers on this occasion were Sauber, whose recent run of good form and points logging fizzled out, and Alpine, the Enstone team once again failing to score. Flavio Briatore’s frustration is clear to see, and 2026 – and the move to Mercedes power – cannot come soon enough.
It was at least a better weekend for Franco Colapinto, who bounced back after a huge testing crash in Hungary to have a solid weekend on the way to 11th place. Nevertheless doubts about his longer-term future with the team remain.
Off-track the big story ahead of the weekend was the confirmation that the new Cadillac team has signed race winners Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas for its initial campaign in 2026. Both men having something to prove.
Perez’s reputation took a knock last year as he fought with a difficult Red Bull RB20 that only Verstappen could tame, and while the struggles of Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda this year have shown how difficult that second seat is to occupy, the Mexican has to show the world that he’s still hungry.
Meanwhile after a low-key spell at the back of the field with Sauber many have forgotten that Bottas could on his day beat Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton. It will be fascinating to see how the two perform next season.
