Lando Norris won the Formula 1 Dutch GP this Sunday (23), in Zandvoort. The McLaren driver regained the lead in the final part of the race and secured his second consecutive victory of the season. Kimi Antonelli finished second and George Russell completed the podium. Gabriel Bortoleto crossed the finish line in 13th position.
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Lando Norris won the Dutch GP, the 12th round of the 2026 Formula 1 season, held this Sunday (23), in Zandvoort. After starting from pole position, losing the lead at the start, and needing to rebuild his race, the current world champion regained first place in the final part of the race to claim his second consecutive victory in the championship.
Kimi Antonelli finished in second place and maintained the lead in the Drivers’ World Championship, while George Russell completed the Mercedes podium. Lewis Hamilton was fourth, followed by Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri. Liam Lawson, Nico Hulkenberg, Fernando Alonso, and Pierre Gasly completed the points zone.
Gabriel Bortoleto had a complicated race after starting ninth. The Brazilian lost several positions at the start, spun in the first laps amid the treacherous track conditions, and was also under investigation for leaving the pits with the red light on. After trying to recover ground throughout the race, he crossed the finish line in 13th position, just behind Arvid Lindblad.
Race
The rain that hovered over Zandvoort before the start made tire choice especially complicated. Despite the track being wet in some spots, everyone started on slicks. Norris, Russell, Antonelli, Piastri, Gasly, Colapinto, and Ocon chose medium tires; Bottas and Pérez started on hards, while the others used softs.
When the lights went out, Russell had a poor start and immediately lost position to Antonelli. Norris also failed to turn pole position into a comfortable race control. Bortoleto had an even worse start: starting ninth, he dropped to 14th, although he recovered one position over Hulkenberg still on the first lap.
The race was interrupted almost immediately. On the second lap, Max Verstappen lost control of the Red Bull at Turn 14, slipped on the wet part, and hit the outer barrier hard. The Dutchman retired but left the car without apparent physical injuries.
Bortoleto also lost control of the Audi at almost the same spot. The Brazilian spun completely but was lucky not to hit the wall and also not to be hit by cars behind. With Verstappen’s accident, the race direction showed the red flag and everyone returned to the pit lane.
The race was resumed with a standing start. After the restart, Bortoleto tried to rebuild his race and passed Alonso to take 14th position. Up front, Antonelli initially managed to open more than a second gap to Norris, while Leclerc pressured Russell and Hamilton closed in on the battle.
On lap 12, Bortoleto made his first stop and put on medium tires. Shortly after, however, the race direction informed that the Brazilian would be investigated after the race for leaving the pits with the red light on. Oliver Bearman was also penalized for the same reason.
The first important round of pit stops began to reorganize the classification. Russell stopped on lap 18 and put on hard tires. Piastri came in a lap later and Hulkenberg made his change on lap 20. Antonelli, Norris, and Leclerc pitted on lap 22, leaving Hamilton temporarily in the lead.
Bortoleto passed Colapinto, Pérez, and Bottas during this stretch, but his recovery faced another obstacle. On lap 24, the Brazilian reported over the radio a possible problem with the car, apparently related to lack of power. Audi responded that they found no abnormalities in the data at that moment.
Hamilton made his stop on lap 26 and returned in sixth. Meanwhile, Hulkenberg advanced and reached tenth position after taking advantage of a battle between Gasly and Lindblad.
Up front, the battle intensified. Leclerc attacked Piastri at Turn 1 and managed to take fourth position on lap 34. Hamilton also caught up to the Australian and overtook him on the following lap. The race direction even analyzed Piastri’s driving during the battle with Hamilton and showed the McLaren driver a black and white flag for erratic driving.
Bortoleto made another stop on lap 36, this time to put on hard tires. With other pit movements, he returned again to 13th position and later overtook Albon to move up to 12th.
Read more F1: Verstappen crashes hard and causes red flag at the start of the Dutch GP
The decisive phase began on lap 48, when Norris made his stop. The McLaren driver returned about four seconds behind Antonelli, then virtual leader, but immediately started an impressive sequence of fast laps.
The gap disappeared quickly. Norris was 1.5 seconds faster on lap 50 and took another 1.6 seconds on the next lap. Shortly after, he was glued to Antonelli’s Mercedes.
Hamilton, who was still ahead of the two, ended up becoming a key part of the battle. On lap 54, Antonelli threatened to attack the Ferrari driver but had to back off. Norris took advantage of the movement, went outside, and overtook the Italian. Soon after, he passed Hamilton and took the lead of the Dutch GP.
Antonelli also passed Hamilton and returned to second position, but a new neutralization changed the strategic possibilities.
The Virtual Safety Car was deployed on lap 55 to remove Esteban Ocon’s car. Bortoleto immediately took the opportunity to make another stop without losing position. Hamilton and Leclerc also pitted, while Antonelli stopped on lap 57 and put on soft tires.
When the track was cleared, Norris was leading on hard tires and Antonelli had the chance to chase him with newer softs. The gap was about 12 seconds, with Russell still appearing between the two on the track.
However, the tire advantage was not enough to create the expected closing. Norris increased his pace and, even with the hard compounds, managed to manage the lead. With 14 laps to go, the gap to Antonelli was 12.5 seconds.
In the final laps, the race still had new incidents and penalties. Franco Colapinto received ten seconds for an infraction under yellow flag, while Liam Lawson also received ten seconds for the same type of irregularity.
On lap 70, a touch between Alexander Albon and Carlos Sainz scattered debris at Turn 1 and caused another Virtual Safety Car. The race direction held Sainz responsible for the collision and applied a ten-second penalty to the Spaniard.
The track was cleared for the last laps, but Norris maintained control. Hamilton still attacked Russell in the battle for third place, while Leclerc caught up to his Ferrari teammate and attempted a move on the last lap, with the two almost touching.
None of this changed the lead.
Norris crossed the finish line to win the Dutch GP and secure his second consecutive victory, after the triumph at the Hungarian GP before the summer break. The current world champion had started from pole, lost control of the race at the start, and regained the lead only in the final phase, ending a busy Sunday in Zandvoort with another win.
Antonelli finished second and Russell completed the podium. Hamilton was fourth, ahead of Leclerc and Piastri. Lawson finished seventh, Hulkenberg eighth, Alonso ninth, and Gasly closed the top 10.
Bortoleto came very close to Lindblad in the final laps but found no space to make the overtake. After a race marked by a poor start, spin, different strategies, and recovery, the Brazilian finished in 13th position.
2026 Dutch GP Results:
1) Lando Norris (McLaren)
2) Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)
3) George Russell (Mercedes)
4) Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari)
5) Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
6) Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
7) Liam Lawson (Red Bull Racing)
8) Nico Hulkenberg (Audi)
9) Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
10) Pierre Gasly (Alpine)
11) Yuki Tsunoda (Racing Bulls)
12) Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls)
13) Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi)
14) Franco Colapinto (Alpine)
15) Sergio Perez (Cadillac)
16) Carlos Sainz (Williams)
17) Alexander Albon (Williams)
18) Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac)
19) Esteban Ocon (Haas F1 Team)
20) Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
21) Oliver Bearman (Haas F1 Team)
22) Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing)
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