Five things we learned from the 2024 Dutch Grand Prix as Lando Norris beat Max Verstappen

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Lando Norris converted pole position to victory as he beat title rival Max Verstappen to win the latter’s home Grand Prix in Zandvoort.

Despite Norris losing the lead to the Dutchman before the first corner, the Red Bull struggled with grip in the early stages. The McLaren sawed past on lap 18 and was able to comfortably hold on to victory.

Norris’ second win of the season and his Formula 1 career sees him close the gap to Verstappen in the drivers’ standings to 70 points. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc locked out the top three as he beat Norris’ teammate Oscar Piastri to the podium.

Following the action, F1 Oversteer has taken a look at five things we have learned from the 2024 Dutch Grand Prix.

McLaren have a clear gap over Red Bull

After such a dominant 2023 season, many anticipated 2024 to be much of the same with Red Bull clearly having the edge over their competitors. The opening races seemed to prove that with three one-two finishes for the defending champions in the first four races.

However, Red Bull’s rivals McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes have closed the gap and are gaining in terms of raw pace and cornering speeds. McLaren hare widely consderied to be the Milton Keynes-based squad’s closest competitors, with some arguing they now have the fastest package.

The race at Zandvoort will certainly prove that argument correct. After Norris passed Verstappen on lap 18, the hometown hero could not get anywhere near the Brit.

Norris managed to extend his lead to just under 23 seconds to the championship leader come the chequered flag as Red Bull just did not have the pace to claim victory.

The result will no doubt be raising concerns for the defending champions. Verstappen has only secured one pole position since the opening seven races – all of which he started on pole – and has finished on the podium only once since his last victory in Spain.

It is clear that McLaren have a gap over Red Bull as the best package on the grid and both championships are now very much in reach for the former. Norris is now 70 points behind Verstappen and McLaren have closed the gap to just 30 points as F1 heads to Monza.

Did we see the full extend of McLaren’s package with Lando Norris’ fastest lap?

McLaren and Lando Norris are proving to be an electrifying combination in 2024, with Zandvoort being a prime example of how good they can be.

Norris secured maximum points in the race by winning and setting the fastest lap of the race; that lap coming on his last one before taking the chequered flag.

With a huge gap already built over Verstappen, the last lap of the race is not typically one a leader would push on for the fastest lap. But Norris displayed what the MCL38 can be capable of with a time of 1:13:817.

The sheer pace of the McLaren in the final moments sends a clear statement to their rivals that they are the ones to keep up with at this point in time.

Lando Norris outclassed McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri

With Norris’ dominance, it is also evident as to who the superior McLaren driver is, as his teammate Oscar Piastri was left in the distance in a difficult race for the Australian.

Piastri lost out on the start like Norris after he suffered wheelspin and was overtaken by George Russell. The 22-year-old fought hard to the end with Leclerc for third place but had to settle for fourth.

While the Australian registers a good 12 points for the drivers’ standings, they are 14 inferior to his teammate as Piastri languished over 27 seconds behind Norris come the end of the race.

Piastri has displayed some solid performances in 2024 as he sits fourth in the standings with one victory in Hungary, but Norris clearly has the edge over the Australian with his ability on race days.

Red Bull made the right call about Sergio Perez after RB drivers struggled

Sergio Perez is a driver under pressure to keep his seat in F1 beyond 2024 after a string of disappointing results.

The Mexican finished sixth in Zandvoort as he was left miles behind his teammate, the McLarens and the Ferraris. Speculation has been rife as to who could replace Perez come season’s end, with RB drivers Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo rumoured to be potential candidates.

However, Red Bull may have made the right call to favour Perez with a new deal after the RB team struggled dramatically in Zandvoort.

Ricciardo gained one place to finish in 12th and score no points, while it was a dismal weekend for Tsunoda who finish six places worse than his grid position in 17th.

To make matter worse for the Japanese driver, he struggled to make his way past the Williams of Logan Sargeant. The American also endured a difficult weekend after destroying his car in FP3.

Sargeant has failed to perform in 2024, and the fact that Tsunoda could not get past in a better package does not do him any favours in his bid to secure a seat at Red Bull.

Sauber’s woes continue as both cars finish two laps down

The 2024 Dutch Grand Prix saw normality resume with the usual suspects at the front and the back of the field, with the latter being emphatically the case.

Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu brought up the rear for Sauber, finishing two laps down on the winner Norris.

The result means Sauber still remain the only team on the grid not to score a point in 2024. With this latest disaster, it does not look like that is going to change anytime soon.

The Swiss team are set to become Audi in 2026 and they will be hoping their fortunes will improve long before the German manufacturer takes over the reigns.