F1’s return after the summer break could not have gone better for McLaren’s Lando Norris. The #4 driver, who took pole position for the 2024 Dutch GP, stormed to a comprehensive win against Max Verstappen on the latter’s home ground.
Norris won the race at Circuit Zandvoort in dominant fashion, beating Verstappen by a whopping margin of 22.9 seconds. Not only was it the Briton’s second Grand Prix win, but it also earned him three incredible milestones — one of which puts him alongside the late three-time world champion, Niki Lauda.
Norris became the first non-Red Bull driver to win the Dutch GP since Zandvoort returned to the F1 calendar in 2021 for the first time since the 1985 season. Verstappen won all the previous three editions of the Dutch GP.
LANDOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Let’s go Lando, Lando is okay
Let’s go Lando, he is here to stay
Let’s go Lando, he is one of us
He’s racing like a lion pic.twitter.com/DUAMlewFP0— McLaren Shadow (@McLarenShadow) August 25, 2024
The McLaren driver also bucked the trend of pole-sitters not winning a race since the 2024 Canadian GP. The last driver to have won from pole position before Norris at the Dutch GP was Charles Leclerc at the Monaco GP.
Norris’ Dutch GP win also puts him in some elite company when it comes to McLaren drivers. The Briton’s triumph was the first time in 39 years that a McLaren driver has won the Dutch Grand Prix.
The last McLaren driver to win the Dutch GP was Niki Lauda in 1985. Lauda, who started the race in tenth place, went on to register one of the most iconic drives of his career. Meanwhile, his teammate, Alain Prost finished just two-tenths behind him. And a young Ayrton Senna — in just his second season of F1 — driving for the famed Lotus team completed the podium.
