Lando Norris wins Zandvoort’s farewell F1 race as Max Verstappen crashes out on lap one

Lando Norris won the 2026 Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort, a race defined almost as much by what happened before the racing really started as by the strategy battle that followed. A first lap incident ended Max Verstappen’s home race before it had barely begun, triggering a red flag and setting up a tyre strategy puzzle that shaped the rest of the afternoon. Norris crossed the line ahead of Kimi Antonelli and George Russell, in what turned out to be Zandvoort’s final appearance on the calendar after six consecutive years hosting the race.

Verstappen crash Zandvoort ends the home race in an instant

The drama started immediately. A first lap contact took Max Verstappen out of contention right in front of his home crowd, forcing race control to throw the red flag and stop the session entirely, a brutally early end to the day for Dutch motorsport’s biggest name.

Once the race resumed, things turned into a genuine strategy puzzle, with pace swinging noticeably depending on which tyre compound each driver had fitted. Norris handled the key phases better than anyone else on track, keeping both Mercedes drivers behind him to secure a genuinely significant win in Zandvoort’s farewell Formula 1 appearance.

Ferrari close but not quite on the podium

Kimi Antonelli backed up his strong recent form with second place, ahead of George Russell in third. The two Ferraris followed close behind, with Lewis Hamilton fourth and Charles Leclerc fifth, while Oscar Piastri limited the damage in the second McLaren with sixth.

Liam Lawson had a solid run to seventh in the Red Bull, just ahead of Nico Hülkenberg’s Audi. Fernando Alonso delivered Aston Martin’s best result of the season in ninth, adding to the points he scored in Monaco, with Pierre Gasly rounding out the points paying positions. Beyond Verstappen, four other drivers failed to see the chequered flag: Valtteri Bottas, Esteban Ocon, Lance Stroll and Oliver Bearman.

F1 drivers championship standings tighten up front

Second place stretches Kimi Antonelli’s championship lead further still. The Mercedes driver moves to 242 points, pushing his advantage over his closest rivals out to 59 points at a pivotal stage of the season.

Behind him, the fight is much tighter. George Russell and Lewis Hamilton are now level on 183 points, with the Mercedes driver holding the tiebreaker over the Ferrari man. The win lifts Lando Norris up to fourth on 159 points, just ahead of Charles Leclerc in fifth on 155, keeping the battle for the runner up positions wide open.

Dutch Grand Prix 2026 full results

F1 2026 drivers’ championship standings