Lando Norris tightened the gap of the top of the World Championship after a phenomenal drive at Zandvoort as he took the chequered flag over 22 seconds ahead of Max Verstappen.
Norris’ teammate Oscar Piastri missed out on a podium to Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc who grabbed an unexpected third for the scuderia.
It was a disappointing weekend for the Mercedes after the Silver Arrows’ renaissance prior to the summer break, as George Russell and Lewis Hamilton finished in seventh and eighth.
Elsewhere in the points, Pierre Gasly finished ninth and Fernando Alonso bagged a point for Aston Martin in tenth.
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Lando Norris - 10
Norris has been questioned over recent months due to his record of converting pole positions into victories.
The Englishman’s starts have also been put under the microscope, and once again he was beat to the first corner, as Verstappen pulled away perfectly and was comfortably ahead going into the long right-hander.
However, by lap 12, the McLaren man pulled a comfortable move of his own at the same corner, cutting towards the inside and breezing past, to the displeasure of the home crowd.
Norris handled the pit windows superbly and pulled consistently away from the rest of the field before taking the chequered flag over 22 seconds ahead of the Dutchman.
A supreme performance, one that showed Norris’ composure and speed, and one that showed his ability to challenge in the World Championship battle.
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Max Verstappen - 8
In previous years, you could almost pencil in Zandvoort as a Grand Prix win for Verstappen before the weekend started.
However, Red Bull have been caught, and there was no more obvious example of that than this contest, in which the Milton Keynes outfit just did not have the car to compete for victory.
Despite this, Verstappen did not put a foot wrong all race, and his start to take the lead was exceptional.
Five races without a Max victory would have been unthinkable just a few months ago, but it has happened, and Red Bull have a problem.
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Charles Leclerc - 9
Having qualified in sixth, a podium for Charles Leclerc represents a brilliant performance from the Monegasque driver, and one that not many saw coming, including Leclerc himself.
“I am very, very surprised,” the 26-year-old said.
“I'm not very often happy with a P3 but I think with today's race, we can be extremely happy with the job we've done on a difficult weekend for the team.”
It was a fantastic performance from Leclerc as he claimed his second podium in successive races.
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Oscar Piastri - 5
Starting from P3 in the fastest car, Piastri has to be disappointed to have missed out on a podium finish, especially when his teammate sailed up the road so effortlessly out front.
The Australian was undercut on lap 24 by Leclerc, and despite his overtake on George Russell to take back the place he lost on the first lap, he could not pass the Ferrari and had to settle for fourth.
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Carlos Sainz - 7
From eleventh to a comfortable fifth, Sainz delivered ten points after a difficult qualifying.
The Spaniard swept aside Fernando Alonso and Pierre Gasly in swift fashion, before a late run at the struggling Sergio Perez delivered a successful result.
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Sergio Perez - 5
Despite his two-year contract at Red Bull, the paddock remains full of speculation regarding Perez’s future with the team, after his poor points return over recent months.
It was another tough afternoon for the 34-year-old, as he lost out to both Ferrari’s, whom he had qualified ahead of, coming home in sixth ahead of the two Mercedes’.
As McLaren move ever-closer to Red Bull in the Constructors Championship, Perez’s performances over future races will be heavily scrutinised, as he fights for his seat.
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George Russell - 5
It was a disappointing day for Mercedes, as their improved results before the summer break did not translate into a positive performance in the Netherlands.
Despite a great start from Russell, passing Piastri at turn one, he lost out during the pit window, and eventually was boxed a second time for softs on Lap 56.
The new rubber did not help the Silver Arrows, and Russell had to settle for six points.
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Lewis Hamilton - 6
A solid, if not sensational, recovery drive from Lewis, as he moved up from 14th on the grid to pick up some useful points.
Hamilton passed five cars in the first 16 laps, highlighting the gap between the from four teams and the midfield, but he could not move any further through the field on his two-stop strategy.
After the race, Lewis said: “We knew today was all about damage limitation. We managed to work our way back into the points but ultimately, we did not have the pace to fight for much more today.”
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Pierre Gasly - 8
It has been a challenging year for the French outfit, but Gasly managed to grab two useful points at Zandfoort with a clever and consistent drive after an impressive qualifying.
After surviving an early battle with Alonso, Pierre overtook Alex Albion and Nico Hulkenberg to claim a hard-fought result.
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Fernando Alonso - 7
Despite dropping back from seventh on the starting grid, the veteran Spaniard will be pleased to have claimed a point after a tough period for Aston Martin.
Alonso battled past Hulkenberg with ten laps to go after a race in which he described as challenging.
“It was a challenging race and we need to do more to understand the car to find where we can improve,” he said.
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Nico Hulkenberg - 7
A huge stint on the hard tyres from Hulkenberg almost earned Haas a point but it was not to be.
However, starting from 13th it was a good drive from the man who is leaving for Kick Sauber at the end of the season.
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Daniel Ricciardo - 6
Started 15th and finished 12th, it was a decent drive from Danny Ric, who is still looking to prove to team bosses at either Red Bull or RB that he deserves a seat for 2025.
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Lance Stroll - 4
The Canadian dropped back five spots from his grid position, with both the Aston Martin’s struggling with race pace.
A five-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane did not help Stroll’s chances of points but team principal Mike Krack insisted that this did not effect the end result.
He said: “Lance locked up entering the pit lane which meant he exceeded the pit lane speed limit triggering a five-second penalty but that did not change the result.
“After a positive qualifying we were still not quick enough today especially against the midfield challenger.”
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Alex Albon - 6
Albon battled in the early stages in an attempt to join the conversation for the lower points positions, but the Williams, like in many previous races, did not had the pace to compete with other midfield runners.
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Esteban Ocon - 4
A weekend of very little excitement for Ocon, as he struggled to find similar pace to his teammate, who picked up two points for Alpine.
The Frenchman will soon be preparing for life away from the Enstone-based team for the first time since 2020 as he moves to Haas for 2025.
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Logan Sargeant - 4
A dramatic crash in FP3 clouded over Logan’s weekend, stopping him from competing in qualifying, meaning he automatically started from the back.
The Williams is lacking pace and it was a tough task for the American, but he brought the car home without any drama and moved up to 16th.
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Yuki Tsunoda - 4
After grid penalties were handed out Yuki lined up at Zandvoort in P11, but a mixture of strategy and lack of general pace meant that he dropped to P17.
A bit of a non-event for Tsunoda, who will go again in Monza looking to build on his strong first half of the season.
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Kevin Magnussen - 5
K-Mag started from the pit lane after a battery change which made his task almost impossible to get into points contention without a plethora of retirements.
The 31-year-old is still looking for a drive for next year after Haas confirmed a new line-up of Ollie Bearman and Esteban Ocon for 2025.
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Valterri Bottas - 5
Unfortunately for both the Kick Sauber drivers, currently the car cannot challenge with the midfield and it looks highly unlikely that either driver will get points on the board before the end of the season.
The team will be hoping for a turnaround before it becomes Audi in 2026.
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Guanyu Zhou - 5
The exact same issue is hampering Zhou, the car does not have the speed and therefore both drivers fell back pretty quickly after lights out.
It looks as if Zhou will be out of the sport at the end of this campaign, with very few seats for next year still being available after the summer break.
