Verstappen’s house has fallen, Lando Norris is the new king of Holland while Ferrari gets back up after a terrible Saturday and smiles thanks to Charles Leclerc’s podium and Carlos Sainz’s fifth place. The Zandvoort GP marks a passing of the baton in terms of performance: after a long chase that began at the dawn of 2022 – when the current regulation debuted with the return of ground effect single-seaters – there is someone who is clearly faster than Red Bull. It is team principal Andrea Stella’s McLaren, back to world honor after years of disappointments and humiliations, also having passed through Fernando Alonso’s team radios at the beginning of the hybrid era (“We have a GP2 engine”) before finally managing to get closer to the old coat of arms. The way Norris first took pole (with three and a half tenths of an advantage) and then the victory on the shores of the North Sea, where Verstappen had always strolled comfortably in three seasons, leaves no room for doubt. “If the updates we brought here work, we will open a gap,” they said on Friday in the Woking team’s garage. They worked perfectly. And McLaren is now the benchmark.
Fast lap to the checkered flag
Norris won overwhelmingly, in the end with a margin of almost 23 seconds, being able to afford – in addition to the fastest lap right on the finish line – also the usual, disastrous start. Even today, starting from pole, he was unable to finish the first lap in the lead. We are at six out of six in his career, including the Sprints. Verstappen burned him without problems at the start, igniting the tide orange in the stands. The Englishman didn’t lose his cool though, he managed the pace by letting his rival vent for 18 laps, then left him no chance at the end of the straight. “The car gave me incredible sensations – Lando said -, it wasn’t a perfect race once again because of the first lap, but I managed to get back in the lead and that was the most important thing”. Never seen Super Max so passive in defending himself, probably he knew that today there was no chance and he would see Lando again only at the finish line. “We weren’t fast enough – explains the Dutchman -, after the good start I could only have finished second”. The three-time world champion hasn’t won in five races, now forced to deal with how to manage his considerable advantage – 70 points with 9 races to go, with 3 Sprints – on the road to his fourth consecutive title. McLaren is in full swing, both in the drivers’ and constructors’ championship, who knows, maybe in a few months it will have to regret a few too many mistakes or a couple of incomprehensible strategies (for example the victory left to Oscar Piastri in Hungary).
The “miracle” of Charles
Speaking of the Australian, after the bad start (fooled by George Russell), the timing of his pit stop was not great today either, having completed a handful of laps compared to the others, which forced him to make a difficult comeback that remained unfinished at the foot of the podium. This does not take anything away from Leclerc, who started sixth and was extraordinary at squeezing everything possible out of his Ferrari. Starting from the start, when he surprised Sergio Perez on the outside of the first corner. But the masterpiece came at the pit stop, a double undercut that forced him to fool both Russell (who was third) and Piastri and put his feet on the podium. “A miracle is needed,” the Monegasque had said 24 hours ago. He achieved it. “I am very, very surprised – his satisfaction -, usually I am never too happy about a third place but this time I have to be because we had struggled all weekend. I would never have said I would get on the podium. Instead, in the race we found a better pace and a perfect strategy, which allowed us to leave our opponents behind us and keep them behind». Behind him, Carlos Sainz also found the pace he had been looking for in vain for two days, until he overtook Sergio Perez, which keeps the Reds afloat – although McLaren is now flying – in the constructors’ championship. With the hope of a better future: next Sunday there is Monza, where the long-awaited updates are coming that should bring Ferrari closer to the top. Circuits considered favorable will follow, Baku and Singapore. We will still see some great things.
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