Source : the age
Two-time world champion, and the oldest driver on the grid, Fernando Alonso has finished an impressive ninth to claim two points at Zandvoort.
Normally ninth isn’t anything to brag about, but it is when you think about just how bad those Aston Martins were to start the season…
Here are the top-10 finishers
Here’s what the top three said to Sky Sports after the Dutch Grand Prix…
Lando Norris (1st): “[That was an] amazing, amazing – a tough race. Yesterday I said we need to put on a bit of a show for everyone for the final race here … it’s probably one of my better wins. We had to fight for it well, but the pace was very strong … I’m over the moon, very, very happy and it’s nice to win the final race here in Zandvoort.
“The move [the race-winning overtake on Antonelli] was good – I knew I wasn’t going to get many chances, every lap I spent behind them my odds were getting lower and lower.
“I saw Lewis defended, and I knew that was my moment. I did a couple clicks of brake balance, I knew I was going to commit to the braking and that move won me the race. Just well played from my part. I knew I had to make it.
“I probably had one chance to make it happen and I made the most of it. Another win here, very happy.”
Kimi Antonelli (2nd): ”It was a very intense race.
“[I] managed to get the lead and stint one I felt actually OK, but from stint two onwards just didn’t have the feeling with the car.
“I was sliding a lot with the car and at the end Lando passed me and I knew I had no chance after that.
“But then, of course, George was a great team player and [I’m] really happy for him to hold on to P3 as well.”
George Russell (3rd): “It was a difficult start for me, obviously losing the position [to Antonelli].
“These two [Norris and Antonelli] were very quick at the beginning, [and] then Lando was exceptionally fast towards the end of the race.
“It was tough to hold on on those old tyres. [I’m] happy to be standing here on the podium because it could have gone either way.
“Kimi was ahead of me anyway [before team orders came], so he deserved to finish ahead. Of course when you’re in the race, you want to fight for every single position.”
Reigning world champion Lando Norris has won races either side of the Formula 1 mid-season break, claiming the last Dutch Grand Prix – at least for the forseeable future.
After starting on pole, he was jumped at the race restart following a horror smash from Max Verstappen at the end of the first lap.
But from there he calmly and surely made his way back to the top of the pack, claiming a hugely impressive win ahead of championship leader Kimi Antonelli and George Russell (just holding off Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc).
After a day of drama and frustration, Oscar Piastri finished a distant sixth.
As the checkered flag rapidly approaches, George Russell was just ordered by Mercedes to move aside (out of second) and let championship leader Kimi Antonelli past him.
It’s a slightly eyebrow-raising one, given Antonelli at this stage doesn’t seem to have any legitimate chance of catching Lando Norris for the win.
Meanwhile, Russell said over team radio those orders have cost Mercedes a double podium as Lewis Hamilton, on soft tyres, catches him for third.
There aren’t many better front-running drivers on this grid than Lando Norris, and he’s proving it – still maintaining a near 11-second advantage ahead of the pack despite being on hard tyres.
It’s stunning pace at this stage of the race, with only around eight laps left.
After the virtual safety car triggered a flurry of pit activity, Lando Norris and George Russell are No.1 and No.2 on the road with 13 laps left, but they’re both on hard tyres.
The chasing pack? All on soft tyres, and we know how strong an offset can be when on the same compound of tyres, let alone talking about hard tyres versus soft.
Norris should have enough up his sleeve to hold on, but Kimi Antonelli isn’t out of this one yet. He’s the best-placed of the soft-tyre runners, ahead of Lewis Hamilton, Charles Leclerc and, yes, Oscar Piastri.
Lando Norris has leapt back into the lead of the Dutch Grand Prix after losing his position after the re-start what feels like an eternity ago, while Oscar Piastri is battling down in sixth.
With 17 laps left, Norris leads Kimi Antonelli and Lewis Hamilton, who’s just about to pit for the final time for fresh rubber after a stranded Esteban Ocon triggered a virtual safety car.
The reigning world champion is closing unbelievably rapidly on Kimi Antonelli, who leads this year’s title race.
Antonelli is a sitting duck on tyres that have that much less life in them.
It’s a matter of when, not if, before Lando Norris vaults ahead.
Lewis Hamilton is leading the race just half a second ahead of Antonelli, but is out of sequence on lap 53.
After Lando Norris pitted and resumed down in third, Lewis Hamilton inherited the race lead, but on 22-lap-old, hard tyres.
The key is Kimi Antonelli – he’s in second and ahead of Norris for what is effectively the race lead, but on tyres that are seven laps older.
That could be massive by the end of the race as Norris pegs the margin back bit by bit. It’s currently 3.5 seconds between the pair.
You can tell Ferrari didn’t have this on their bingo card after the opening stages of the race – Lewis Hamilton rapidly catching teammate Charles Leclerc to the point where the Monégasque was holding up the seven-time world champion on track.
Hamilton was in no mood for pleasantries as he fumed on the team radio.
Instead of being able to make the most of his tyre situation, he was stuck behind his own teammate.
“[We’re] just losing time,” he pleaded over team radio, before adding, after Leclerc finally pitted, “Great way of wasting time, guys. Good job.”
Now on lap 45, Oscar Piastri has dropped to seventh after another nightmare in the pits.
