Lando Norris beats Kimi Antonelli to win Dutch Grand Prix after Max Verstappen crash
Lando Norris beat Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli to win the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort on 23 August 2026, retaking the lead late in the race after a sustained challenge. The meeting was disrupted on the opening lap when Red Bull’s Max Verstappen crashed at high speed; he emerged unhurt but the incident forced a 40-minute stoppage and a restart.
Antonelli had led for the majority of the 72-lap race, taking advantage of a restart to move ahead before Norris mounted a late recovery. McLaren elected to run their defending world champion long before his final stop, a strategy that left Norris on fresher tyres in the closing stages. Track conditions were affected by rain before the start, which played a part in the dramatic opening-lap sequence.
The race began on a damp track and Norris held the lead into turn one, but George Russell was slow away and Antonelli moved into second. At the end of the opening lap Verstappen ran wide on the damp white line at the final corner, lost the rear, and struck the barriers hard; his car was left in pieces and the race was stopped. Verstappen was able to walk away from his wrecked car, and racing resumed 40 minutes later with a standing start.
On the restart Antonelli made a strong getaway and squeezed past Norris for the lead, having earlier overtaken Russell to take second. Norris remained within striking distance and McLaren’s decision to extend his stint proved decisive. When Norris finally pitted he emerged on much fresher rubber and quickly closed on the Mercedes.
Norris moved decisively on lap 54, passing Antonelli around the outside of turn one while both were approaching Lewis Hamilton, who had yet to stop. A late virtual safety car prompted Antonelli to pit again for soft tyres in an attempt to attack, and Russell yielded track position to his quicker teammate. Norris then opened a gap he did not relinquish over the remaining laps.
The podium was Norris first, Antonelli second and Russell third. Hamilton finished fourth after expressing frustration with his team’s strategy, with Charles Leclerc fifth and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri sixth.
Antonelli now leads the world championship by 59 points to teammate Russell and Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton, with Norris 83 points in arrears. The victory was Norris’s second in the Netherlands, the 13th of his career and his second consecutive win this season; he previously won at Zandvoort in 2024 and suffered a DNF at the venue last year that preceded his title-winning comeback.
The Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort concluded with Norris’s triumph and the event will leave the calendar after this running, while the championship battle proceeds with Antonelli maintaining a points lead.