Oscar Piastri took a crucial Dutch Grand Prix win, opening up a 34-point championship lead over McLaren team-mate Lando Norris after the British driver exited the race from second place after a power unit failure. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen inherited P2 while Racing Bulls driver Isack Hadjar took a memorable first podium at Zandvoort. 

When the lights went out at the start, Piastri took the lead from pole. Behind Verstappen, on Soft tyres, attacked Norris and despite a wild slide in Turn 2 the Dutchman managed to muscle his way past to take second place. 

After settling in to allow his Medium tyres to come up to operating temperature, Norris began to close up to the Red Bull driver and on lap 9 the McLaren driver powered around the outside in Turn 1 to retake P2. Verstappen, clearly aware of the pace differential, sensible offered little resistance. 

The Safety Car appeared for the first time on lap 23. With drops of rain falling and the track becoming slippery in places, Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton lost control on Turn 3 and slid off into the barriers.

Behind the SC, a steady stream of cars headed to the pit lane. McLaren stacked their drivers for Hard tyres, while Verstappen moved to Medium tyres in the hope of attacking the McLarens on the restart. 

When the action resumed on lap 27, Piastri controlled the restart well to hold the lead ahead of Norris, and though Verstappen tried to pressure the duo but the Dutchman couldn’t muster the pace from his car and once again the gap reopened.

On lap 53, however, Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli, who had risen to sixth went for a move past Leclerc. The Italian rookie tried to take a low line through Turn 3 but got understeer and slid up the banking and into Leclerc’s Ferrari, bouncing the Monegasque driver into the barriers and out of the race. Antonelli lost a wheel and the safety Car came out once again. 

Most drivers headed to the pits with the McLarens both making slow stops for fresh Hard tyres. Verstappen again went aggressive fitting Soft tyres , as did Hadjar and fifth-placed Russell. 

The Safety Car left the track on lap 58 and Verstappen immediately lit up his soft tyres and went on the offensive. He tried to attack Norris on the inside, but the McLaren driver resisted and Max once again settled into third. 

At the front, Piastri began to eke out a slim gap and with 10 laps to go the Australian was 1.6s clear of his team-mate, with Verstappen a further four seconds back in P3. With those gaps steadily spreading, it seemed like the order at the front would freeze, but on lap 65, Norris suddenly slowed and pulled over the side of the track with an apparent engine failure. 

That brought out the Safety Car and when the race resumed the final four laps Piastri again controlled the restart well to hold the lead ahead of Verstappen and Hadjar. Piastri duly took victory ahead of Verstappen, first-time podium finisher Hadjar and Russell. Hit with tie penalties for his class with Leclerc and then for speeding in the pit lane, Antonelli plunged to 16th at the flag. His drop meant that behind Russell, Albon finished fifth ahead of Haas’ Ollie Bearman, the Aston Martins of Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso and Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda, who scored his first points since the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix in ninth place. The final point went to Haas’ Esteban Ocon. 

FIA Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix – Race 
1 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 72 1:38'29.849 
2 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 72 1:38'31.120 1.271
3 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 72 1:38'33.082 3.233
4 George Russell Mercedes 72 1:38'35.503 5.654
5 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 72 1:38'36.176 6.327
6 Oliver Bearman Haas/Ferrari 72 1:38'38.893 9.044
7 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 72 1:38'39.346 9.497
8 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 72 1:38'41.558 11.709
9 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull/Honda RBPT 72 1:38'43.446 13.597
10 Esteban Ocon Haas/Ferrari 72 1:38'43.912 14.063
11 Franco Colapinto Alpine/Renault 72 1:38'44.360 14.511
12 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 72 1:38'46.912 17.063
13 Carlos Sainz Williams/Mercedes 72 1:38'47.225 17.376
14 Nico Hülkenberg Sauber/Ferrari 72 1:38'49.574 19.725
15 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber/Ferrari 72 1:38'51.414 21.565
16 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 72 1:38'51.878 22.029
17 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 72 1:38'53.478 23.629
18 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 64 1:26'08.487 Not running
     Charles Leclerc Ferrari 52 1:08'17.018 Accident
     Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 22 28'05.478 Accident