Lando Norris marched to a commanding 2024 Dutch Grand Prix victory over Max Verstappen, staying calm after losing the lead at the start and making the winning move with three-quarters of the race still to go, but who were the Dutch GP winners and losers?
In the process Norris closed the F1 drivers’ championship gap between the pair to 70 points with nine races to go, while McLaren are now just 30 behind Red Bull in the constructors’ standings.
But it wasn’t just about the front at Zandvoort – there was action up and down the field, so who were the Dutch GP winners and losers?
2024 Dutch GP Winners and Losers
Check out our picks of the winners and losers from the 2024 Dutch GP below!
Winner: Pierre Gasly
Three races at Zandvoort and finishes of fourth, third and ninth. In an AlphaTauri and Alpine.
Pierre Gasly clearly loves it on the Dutch coast and was a class above Esteban Ocon all weekend, just 0.004 seconds behind Verstappen in Q2.
Even though his defence against Lewis Hamilton was always set to be fruitless, it was heartening to see Gasly try and succeed to hold the champion off for as long as he could, not that it hampered his final result either.
He handled the five-way Indy500esque battle down the main straight perfectly and still managed to catch and pass Hulkenberg, completing a pretty flawless all-round performance by Gasly.
Loser: Red BullVerstappen had a good race, by Red Bull‘s new standards. He perhaps could’ve got closer to Norris in qualifying in terms of laptime but realistically it was a one-man battle for pole position, and the Dutchman never looked seriously under pressure ins second place.
However, that’s the point – this is Red Bull‘s new standar
The kicker is that Sergio Perez actually had a decent race at least by his 2024 standards. He defended effectively against Carlos Sainz for as long as could’ve been expected and it’s the first time he’s qualified and finished in the top six since Miam
But sixth now appears to be about Perez‘s ceiling in a straightforward race, while after easing to so many wins, Verstappen will surely have to fight much harder for number 6
Winner: Lando Norr
Is this really just Lando Norris‘ second grand prix win? He crushed Verstappen and the rest of the field to romp home by 22.9 seconds – and had more in the tank judging by his fastest lap to take the chequered flag
For context, the combined winning margin of Verstappen, Hamilton, Charles Leclerc and Daniel Ricciardo‘s second victories was 20.2 second
It’s a performance that will live long in the memory regardless of what happens next, but could it also be a useful springboard to a championship challenge.
Loser: Oscar Piastri
The only possible conclusion we can draw from the last few races is that Oscar Piastri races better with a broken rib.
The Australian broke for summer in a rich vein of form after that maiden victory and arguably an even better performance a week later in Belgium, with Piastri just a few seconds away from making it two from two.
Piastri didn’t have a stinker by any means but he was just a tick off the pace in qualifying and the grand prix. Given the inflated one-lap gap between Norris and Verstappen, a front-row start was eminently possible but he then compounded the situation at lights out by losing a place to Russell.
Piastri‘s race never really recovered from there, as his offset strategy initially seemed to have paid off when he rocketed up to the rear wing of Charles Leclerc. However, that was as good as it got as the podium that seemed almost certain halfway through the race somehow slipped away
Winner: Charles Leclerc
It’s just Ferrari‘s third podium since Monaco, as the Scuderia were virtually written off in Zandvoort.
After a so-so qualifying, Leclerc was almost perfect come race day particularly around his first pit stop to fire ahead of George Russell and gain the initiative over Piastri.
Just as impressive was Leclerc‘s staunch defence against the Australian in the third quarter of the race, though it may be more difficult to repeat that feat at in front of the tifosi at Monza next week.
Loser: Williams
Has a team had a worse grand prix Saturday this century? Logan Sargeant smashing his newly upgraded FW46 into as many pieces as his F1 future was catastrophic, but Alex Albon appeared to have restored some hope and belief in the team with his unlikely run to Q3.
Even that quickly backfired though, with Albon‘s illegal floor relegating him to the last-placed starter while Sargeant somehow started 18th despite not even having a car to qualify in.
Despite both drivers actually enjoying a decent race – making up seven places between them – starting 18th and 19th rendered that irrelevant. Still, it could ultimately be good news for someone like Liam Lawson.
Winner: Jack Doohan
Starting with one Alpine star and finishing with another. Drivers like Jack Doohan haven’t been promoted to F1 over the last five years (with one exception named Nyck de Vries), and it’s heartwarming to see someone get rewarded for taking the road less travelled.
Already he seemed more authoritative in the Sky commentary box, and there’s a genuine possibility that Doohan could forge a new way teams scout and prepare drivers if he’s successful with Alpine.
Without a feeder title to his name, Doohan has instead racked up plenty of testing mileage in the simulator and on-track, and is one of if not the best-prepared driver to enter the sport in years.
All of that is in the future though, right now is Doohan‘s time to enjoy his promotion properly.
