David Coulthard thinks McLaren might now have a serious ‘regret’ after Lando Norris victory

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Lando Norris may have needed a well-timed safety car to win his first Formula 1 race, but at Zandvoort, he dominated Max Verstappen and the rest of the field to double his wins tally in an emphatic fashion.

The McLaren pit wall would have immediately been concerned after the red lights went out when they saw Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri lose places going into the first corner.

Piastri was left surprised by Ferrari’s pace and that denied him what should have been a straightforward podium for the young Australian.

READ MORE: McLaren driver Oscar Piastri’s life outside F1 from height to girlfriend

Norris once again failed to lead a Grand Prix after starting on pole position but Verstappen never stood a chance once his tyres started to degrade as his Red Bull was no match for the MCL38.

Former McLaren driver David Coulthard was reflecting on the race for Channel 4 from Zandvoort and was very pleased for his old team and Norris.

However, Coulthard admitted that McLaren may now regret their decision-making at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Norris was denied seven points when he handed the lead of the race back to Piastri in the closing stages, but those points might end up making all the difference in the Drivers’ Championship.

READ MORE: McLaren driver Lando Norris’ life outside F1 from height and parents to celebration

David Coulthard wonders if McLaren will regret Hungarian Grand Prix decision

The Hungaroring was the site of McLaren’s first one-two in years but not everything went to plan for Andrea Stella’s team.

Norris had another poor start and lost out to Verstappen and Piastri going into the first corner, however, the Dutch driver had to hand the place back eventually.

During the last round of pit stops, Norris was pitted before his teammate and undercut him before demonstrating his ability by pulling out a significant gap over the Australian.

After some begging from McLaren, Norris handed the place back but those points may end up costing Norris a magnificent title with the gap down to 70 points with nine race weekends to go.

Asked whether McLaren will rue the decision to switch Norris and Piastri in Hungary, Coulthard said: “Yeah, at that point they were just thinking that they’ll take what wins they can along the way.

“They weren’t thinking about becoming world champions. They’ve now realised that they can win both the drivers and the constructors this year, so that may well be a regret later in the year.

“But, we’ll have to wait and see.”

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McLaren left surprised by Lando Norris’s decision at the Dutch Grand Prix

Norris was superb at Zandvoort and once he was in clean air ahead of Verstappen, he opened up an eye-catching gap over the Dutch driver.

Martin Brundle has a theory as to why Verstappen was so slow and wonders if the triple world champion might be holding his cards close to his chest in a title race that could go down to the wire.

On the final lap, the 24-year-old demonstrated just how much potential was still available in his McLaren.

The Brit set the fastest lap of the race as he crossed the finish line, but McLaren had no idea that Norris was going to attempt to earn the extra point available.

They would have warned against him taking that additional risk but he looked so in control of the car that it never looked in doubt that he come away from the Dutch Grand Prix with maximum points.