ZANDVOORT, Netherlands (AP) 鈥� Lando Norris had a clear message for his rivals after a spectacular race-winning pass on standings leader Kimi Antonelli. Write off his title defense at your peril.
鈥淭his fight is still on,鈥� Norris said over team radio after winning the Dutch Grand Prix for F1 victories and a trophy presented by the King of the Netherlands.
Norris asked his McLaren team to 鈥渏ust keep bringing upgrades (to the car), just keep bringing performance please” as he eyes an 83-point gap to Antonelli.
Max Verstappen nearly reeled in a similarly vast lead last year as Norris held on by just two points. Now the British driver is the hunter.
鈥淭here鈥檚 still plenty of things we can do better and need to do better if we鈥檙e going to fight for a championship,” Norris added.
Norris seizes his chance
Norris started on pole but was overtaken by Antonelli’s Mercedes at a restart after the race was stopped for a heavy crash by home hero , who was unhurt, shortly after the start.
Norris reeled in Antonelli before passing him around the outside of the first corner in a daring move on lap 54 of 72, then took the lead from Ferrari’s Hamilton before the lap was over.
The defending champion held on with old tires to take the win. 鈥淭his fight is still on,” he said over team radio.
鈥淭he move (to pass Antonelli) was good. I knew I was not going to get many chances. Every lap I spent behind him my chances got lower and lower,鈥� Norris said. 鈥淲ell played from my part…I probably had one chance.鈥�
Antonelli was second after his Mercedes teammate George Russell was ordered to move out of his way, following a failed gamble on a tire change by Antonelli. Russell clung on to finish third ahead of Hamilton.
Antonelli’s standings lead grew to 59 points over Russell and Hamilton, who are now level. Norris moved ahead of Charles Leclerc for fourth.
Antonelli and Russell question Mercedes strategy
There was tension at Mercedes as both Antonelli and Russell criticized the team’s decisions over the radio.
Antonelli called his team’s strategy 鈥渢oo risky鈥� when the team congratulated him on second place, while Russell earlier seemed to object to being asked to give way to his teammate.
鈥淚s he fighting for the win? Or is he planning to catch Norris?鈥� Russell questioned, at a point where Norris was far ahead of both.
Russell relented after the race and said he felt Mercedes had made the right decision to avoid the two battling for position as Hamilton closed in behind.
Antonelli 鈥渨ould have overtaken anyway so it was the right decision,鈥� said Russell, who Saturday. “It鈥檚 been a strong weekend overall so I鈥檒l take the positives.鈥�
Verstappen’s big crash and H眉lkenberg’s big save
There was a half-hour delay after Verstappen slammed into the wall on a damp first lap, stopping the race and ensuring a nightmare end to his last home race in the Netherlands for the foreseeable future.
Just a couple of seconds later, there would have been another huge collision if not for lightning reactions by Nico H眉lkenberg. As his Audi teammate Gabriel Bortoleto span across the track, the German swerved around him through a cloud of tire smoke.
鈥淚t was crazy with Gabi, I almost T-boned him,鈥� H眉lkenberg said over team radio.
The Dutch Grand Prix is after this season and the many orange-clad Dutch fans who turned up to support Verstappen instead saw Norris and his orange McLaren take the win.
Verstappen said he simply misjudged his speed on the damp track after pre-race rain.
Charles Leclerc was fifth on another disappointing day for Ferrari ahead of its home race in Italy in two weeks鈥� time. Norris鈥� teammate Oscar Piastri was sixth after running in the top three early on, and Liam Lawson salvaged seventh for Red Bull after being called in to replace the injured Isack Hadjar.
Hulkenberg was eighth for Audi, with Fernando Alonso ninth in the best result of an otherwise-disastrous 2026 for Aston Martin. Alpine鈥檚 Pierre Gasly rounded out the top ten.
___
Copyright © 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
