Lando Norris won the Dutch GP on Sunday in dominant fashion, finishing more than 22 seconds ahead of second-placed Max Verstappen. Upgrades brought to Zandvoort made the MCL38 faster, allowing Norris to comfortably emerge victorious. However, he felt he didn’t need them.
In the post-race press conference, Norris said,
“I still feel like we probably would have won without the upgrades this weekend. The upgrades didn’t make us certainly a lot quicker here, you know, but the upgrades we’ve been putting on the car, they’ve helped us every time.”
Simply unstoppable #F1 #DutchGP @LandoNorris pic.twitter.com/WwB1nY8R1f
— Formula 1 (@F1) August 25, 2024
McLaren brought six major upgrades to the Dutch GP: a new brake scoop, a revised front suspension, a new floor edge, a new rear suspension, a new high-downforce rear wing, and a new beam wing.
It was their biggest development package since the Miami GP, where Norris secured his first win of the season (and his F1 career). McLaren then made significant improvements in subsequent races, regularly competing at the front and narrowly missing out on wins multiple times. This is why Norris stated they did not need the new upgrades to win in the Netherlands
Regardless, even though Norris did not win because of the changes made to the MCL38, those upgrades certainly contributed to the performance. McLaren’s efficient development process has been key to closing the gap to the championship leaders. In the remaining nine races, they will be looking to continue this upward trajectory.
McLaren outshines Red Bull in development
Red Bull introduced new performance-based parts to the RB20 at Zandvoort, but they were not effective in helping Verstappen match Norris’ pace. McLaren’s upgrades proved too powerful for the reigning champions to overcome.
It proved the Woking-based team’s superiority in development, yet again. They have convincingly overtaken Red Bull in terms of pure pace, and are now closing the gap on the championship table. Norris is just 70 points behind Verstappen and McLaren 30 behind Red Bull.
While Verstappen still holds a strong lead over Norris and is likely to maintain it, Red Bull’s overall position is less secure. With only nine races remaining and both McLaren drivers — Norris and Oscar Piastri — performing at a high level, the gap to Red Bull is not too large to close.
