F1 Dutch GP Live Commentary and Updates - Race
Minute-by-minute updates for the 2024 Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix.
Lando Norris starts on pole for McLaren ahead of home favourite Max Verstappen who joins him on the front row for Red Bull.
Alex Albon was disqualified from qualifying after his Williams car failed scrutineering for a technical infringement on the floor. The Anglo-Thai driver will start from the back of the grid.
Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton was given a three-place grid penalty for blocking Sergio Perez during qualifying – but only drops two spots due to Albon’s disqualification – and he will start from 14th.
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Summary
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Norris remains half a second quicker than Verstappen per lap on the hard tyres, as his lead grows to 9.5s.
Piastri corrects us by posting a fastest lap of the race of 1m14.237s. The Australian driver has the youngest hard tyres out of the frontrunners so will aim to fight back to the podium places over the second half of the race.
Norris is the fastest driver on the track in the mid 1m14s, while the four drivers directly behind him are all running in the high 1m14s.
For the incident, Gasly has been noted for an unsafe release.
A second stop for Tsunoda onto hards drops him to second last. It's hard to see where a two-stop plan would have factored in here, with one-stop the only plan talked about all weekend.
A near miss for Gasly in the pits as the mechanic on the front right tyre had to act fast to remove his hand from the tyre as the car began to move quicker than expected. All ok!
So, Norris is back in the lead and his advantage over Verstappen on lap 35 is 7.4s. Leclerc has shuffled up to third following the pitstops ahead of Russell and Piastri.
Temporary leader Piastri pits at the end of lap 33, it is a smart 2.4s pitstop, and he comes out in fifth behind Russell.
Magnussen is the lowest-placed driver yet to stop. Starting on hard tyres from the pitlane, he has just been passed by team-mate Hulkenberg and is possibly holding out for a safety car now.
Norris puts in a statement 1m14.391s fastest lap to go nearly eight-tenths of a lap quicker than Verstappen last time around. This is looking very good for the Miami GP winner.
So, Piastri leads but is yet to stop, as Sainz comes in from a promoted second place to make his pitstop. The Ferrari is serviced in a zippy 2.6s and he comes out right behind Perez in ninth.
And there goes the other Haas into Hamilton's mirrors. A copybook move at Turn 1 as he passes Magnussen for 11th.
The pitstop cycle continues, with Perez in next, but he also has a slow stop of 4.4s and he comes out in ninth between the two Aston Martins.
For the second time today, Hamilton passes Hulkenberg. This time, it's for 13th. He'll gain further places as other drivers ahead of him stop.
And Norris comes in a lap later to react to Verstappen's stop. It is an OK-ish stop despite a slow front-left change at 3.1s, and the British driver comes out ahead of Verstappen.
At the end of lap 27, Verstappen pits for Red Bull, taking on the hard tyres and comes out in fifth place. Will McLaren respond?
Piastri, with clean air, ups his pace as he aims to extend his opening stint by "plus five" - so going five laps longer than planned.
Russell pits from third, but it is a slow pitstop and he comes out behind Leclerc, and Alonso - who hasn't stopped yet - into ninth.
Norris continues to push clear almost at will, with the gap up to 5s over Verstappen on lap 26.
Leclerc pits from fifth, taking on hard tyres, and comes out in ninth place.
After 23 laps on the soft tyres, Hamilton finally pits for fresh hards. He could make the one stop work here.
"I can't go faster, the car doesn't respond to my inputs," Verstappen complains on team radio. The RB20 is not proving a match to the McLaren MCL38 at Zandvoort.
Behind the front two it is as you were but Piastri is coming under more pressure from Leclerc for fourth. The Ferrari driver is in his DRS range.
Still progressing, Hamilton has now closed up on Gasly. Within DRS range, the Mercedes driver is trying moves everywhere.
Norris is turning the screw on Verstappen. He posts a 1m15.729s to go seven-tenths quicker than the Red Bull driver last time around. His lead is up to 2.2s.
"It felt like my brakes are going long, but I feel like there is a lot more wind all of a sudden," Norris says. The flags are cracking on the main straight, and McLaren confirms it is the wind picking up.
Norris is straight on the radio to check in on his race strategy. Joseph tells him Plan A is still on but expects Red Bull will aim to undercut him by calling in Verstappen earlier for his pitstop.
As Botas stops for hard tyres, Tsunoda's medium decision looks more peculiar given the number of laps remaining.
Next time around Verstappen remains in Norris's DRS but cannot repay the favour into Turn 1.
At the start of lap 18 Norris, with DRS, darts by Verstappen to take the lead of the race! Verstappen doesn't put up too much of a defence to that.
Stops now for Hulkenberg and Tsunoda, the former fitting hard tyres and the latter, mediums.
Norris, with DRS, closes up to the rear wing of Verstappen's car. "My tyres are just numb, there is no grip," the Dutch driver reports. He is in trouble here.
Russell, in third, isn't able to match the pace of the front two consistently and has dropped 3.8s back, but still has the same margin over Piastri behind him.
"Probably Plan A, Plan B might be a way to beat Max," Norris is told over team radio. "Yeah I think the pace is strong," the McLaren driver replies, as he closes to within a second of Verstappen. Game on.
Into the points for Hamilton on lap 14 as his tyres appear to be holding on just fine. A move at Turn 1 on Stroll does the trick just nicely.
Albon is the first driver to pit for a set of hard tyres. Quite a long way to get to the end of the race, possibly too far...
Plan A is the order of the day, as both Leclerc and Piastri confirm they will stick to that on their respective team radios.
Piastri has dropped out of DRS range from Russell, but just like his team-mate, he is floating just over a second off the car ahead. Leclerc remains in touch in fifth and Perez in sixth.
Turn 1 again for Sainz. He throws it down the inside of Gasly, braves out a side-by-side run to Turn 2 and hangs onto the line into Turn 3. That was as close as you like with millimetres separating the front axles at times.
At the start of lap 11, Verstappen leads by 1.3s from Norris with another 3.3s splitting him to Russell in third.
By: Autosport Staff
