F1 Dutch GP live commentary and updates - Race

Hello, and welcome to live coverage of today's Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort! Piastri starts on pole in a McLaren 1-2, with home favourite Verstappen in third. 

Zandvoort is a tight and twisty track meaning overtaking is rather difficult. This makes nailing the strategy even more important and our man Codders from the track says the options are variable. There is even the prospect of rain...

The pre-race grid is always one of the loudest on the F1 calendar and that is no different this year, with what's clearly a party atmosphere led by a DJ! It leaves a somewhat sour note that this race is leaving F1 at the end of 2026.

Is McLaren nailed on for victory today? Team boss Andrea Stella certainly doesn't think so, though of course he would say that...

It will be a dry start at Zandvoort for today's 72-lap race. Track temperature is a windy 28.8C, while air temp is 20.6C. 

The formation lap is go! All drivers are on the medium tyre except for Verstappen, Tsunoda, Colapinto and Hulkenberg on softs. Haas drivers Ocon and Bearman, meanwhile, start on the hard compound.

Early drama already, as Hamilton is under investigation for not lifting under yellow flags at pit entry. It will be investigated after the grand prix. 

Lap 1/72

It is a great start from Piastri, who keeps his lead! Change behind, meanwhile, as Norris has dropped behind Verstappen.

The Red Bull driver initially got him around the outside of T1, but then went wide at the exit allowing Norris to briefly regain second before Verstappen overtook him again at the following corner.

Lap 2/72

Looking further back, what a great opening lap from Albon who is 10th after starting 15th for Williams. 

Lap 3/72

Let's not jump to conclusions that that's the race win for Piastri given Norris's poor start. Remember Hungary? Norris dropped back on lap one, but superb tyre management meant he converted a one-stop race into victory. 

Looking back at race start, what a save that was from Verstappen at Turn 2! He out-braked Norris around the outside, but then had a snap of oversteer at the exit.

He controlled the car at the entry of the Turn 3 banking and Verstappen stayed ahead of Norris. 

Lap 9/72

There we go, Norris has just overtaken Verstappen with a daring move around the outside of Turn 1. The camera then pans to Stroll, who becomes the first driver to pit with a set of hard rubber going on the Aston. 

Lap 12/72

Norris is on a charge! He is the fastest man on track at the moment, having already pulled three-seconds clear of Verstappen and is 4s off leader Piastri. 

Lap 15/72

This race is starting to become a bit of a procession, but the chance of rain is growing! Will that spice up the action?

Lap 15/72

Piastri, who leads second-placed Norris by 3.1s, has said: "I've got drops of rain on my visor."

Lap 19/72

This race has very much become a procession. It just feels like teams and drivers are now waiting for the pitstop window, or for rain to potentially fall.

Everything is on a knife-edge.

Lap 20/72

Norris: "Starting to struggle a little bit more now with the rears."

In the aftermath of overtaking Verstappen for second, Norris became the fastest man on track and cut his deficit to Piastri to 3.2s. But that gap has somewhat stalled now, with the McLaren drivers as quick as each other. 

Lap 21/72

The chance of rain is looming, yet that's still not stopping teams from pitting for hard tyres. Alonso, Stroll, Tsunoda, Colapinto and Hulkenberg have all made a pitstop. 

Lap 24/72

Drivers have arrived in the pitlane as expected and Norris has lost out. The mechanics were slows on the front right, costing him 2-3 seconds to Piastri! 

Lap 25/72

Interesting choice from Red Bull, which has put third-placed Verstappen on the medium tyre compared to hards for everybody else.

The world champion already started on different tyres to those around him, opting for softs and not mediums. 

Lap 30/72

Solid restart from Piastri, who is already 2.1s ahead of Norris. But it wasn't a good lap for Sainz and Lawson, who touched at the exit of Turn 1 causing damage to their tyres. Both then pitted again at the end of the tour. 

"He's just so stupid," said Sainz.

Lap 33/72

Wow, what a fight for fifth. Russell's failure to overtake Hadjar for fourth in the laps before the VSC has cost him, as Leclerc has taken fifth with a daring move on the inside of Turn 3. 

Leclerc outbraked him on the outside heading into Turn 2, before squeezing through with two wheels on the gravel at the following corner. 

Lap 35/72

Just 1.7s separate Piastri and Norris. The championship leader clearly could have done without the VSC. 

Lap 41/72

Losing out to Leclerc has really cost Russell! It caused damage on his car, meaning he struggled to keep up with the Ferrari leading to Mercedes asking him to swap positions with team-mate Antonelli in seventh.

Russell was shocked to hear the request, but nevertheless complied. 

Lap 44/72

Norris is gradually closing on Piastri, with just 1.2s separating the McLaren pair. The team isn't interfering, strategy is seemingly no longer at play here, so will Norris beat the championship leader on track? 

Lap 51/72

That gap is remaining stationary at the front, as Piastri leads Norris by around 1.3/4s. What can the Briton conjure up in the latter stages of this contest?

Lap 52/72

Interesting idea from Mercedes, who has pitted Antonelli for a pair of soft tyres. It drops him from sixth to eighth.

Lap 53/72

Ferrari reacts to that by pitting Leclerc, also for softs. So Russell does get past Leclerc after all! 

Lap 54/72

Everybody is now pitting under this safety car. "That was unnecessary," said Leclerc.

It has continued a scrappy weekend for Antonelli, who beached his car in the gravel during FP1. He said that was the key factor in his poor qualifying result, where he suffered a Q2 elimination.