Piastri wins on a day of highs and heartbreak in Holland

The Dutch Grand Prix delivered a full spectrum of drama, with Oscar Piastri taking victory as Lando Norris and both Ferraris fell to heartbreak, while rookie Isack Hadjar lit up Zandvoort with a universally celebrated maiden podium on Sunday.

With a straightforward win not on the cards for a reality-checked Max Verstappen, the home hero called upon his aggressive nature to edge one place closer to a dream win in Zandvoort.

As the five lights went out at the Dutch Grand Prix, Piastri committed to defending Norris’ brilliant launch, which brought the Dutchman into contention as the field rounded the first turn, with Verstappen side-by-side with Norris before running too wide.

It was another scrappy approach to the banked Turn 3 as Verstappen lost grip on the dusty line, however, as he exited the sweeping turn, it was one position higher than he entered after clearing Norris on the exit. 

The order also shifted in the top three’s mirrors as well, with Charles Leclerc getting the jump on George Russell to start his attack on the out-of-place Racing Bulls car, who held onto fourth place across the opening lap. 

Hadjar was unwilling to give up his P4 reward for his hard work during Qualifying on Saturday, quickly becoming a roadblock for Leclerc and the rest of the chasing pack as the race began taking shape.

It took Norris eight laps to reinstate his McLaren to second place, with the Brit gradually closing in on Verstappen before completing a move around the outside of the first corner to begin his chase down of Piastri 4.4 seconds down the road — a mission he kick-started by setting repeated fastest lap times. 

As for the battles unfolding behind the top three, the overtaking limitations of the Circuit Zandvoort were highlighted as the race settled into its rhythm, making the threat of rain the only incentive for the likes of Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, who were both running frustratingly close to the cars ahead of them.

On Lap 15, the race leader issued the first detection of wet weather arriving when he made notice of raindrops hitting his visor, however, it wasn’t for another five laps until what McLaren deemed ‘Class A’ rain arrived in Zandvoort. 

Bringing up the discussion for a possible undercut on his former teammate, Hamilton’s request to pit on Lap 22 was denied in favour of his teammate who was called in on the following tour, however, it was a decision that would soon prove fatal for Hamilton’s race and painful for Leclerc’s.

As the Monegasque attempted to breathe life into his fresh slick tyres during his out-lap, the seven-time world champion had a “very unusual” accident where a snap of oversteer mid-corner at Turn 3 saw him unable to recover as he headed straight for the barrier at the exit of the banked corner.  

With his Ferrari crumpled, Hamilton was forced to retire from the race while the rest of the field reaped the benefits of a well-timed safety car, jumping an unlucky Leclerc as they made their first pitstops — all opting for the hard compound tyre barring Verstappen who continued an alternate strategy on the medium compound.

At the restart, Piastri picked up where he left off, catching Norris out as the Safety Car reentered the pitlane to quickly build a margin of over one second while setting a new fastest lap as the top three settled into a rhythm.

With Leclerc still reeling from his misfortune, the Ferrari driver was driving angry — a fact that was reflected in his borderline overtake on Russell across the apex at Turn 12, where he pushed his way by the Mercedes driver, who was equally unwilling to give Leclerc the necessary space on the inside. 

The Ferrari driver ultimately pushed his way past, gaining the stewards’ attention before defending an attack from Russell into the first turn as the #63 littered debris across the circuit.

Despite Leclerc hunting a solid Hadjar and Norris being given the green light to race his teammate, the greatest action on track soon became the battle for P11 before a second Ferrari-induced Safety Car was enacted.

The catalyst for the Lap 52 neutralisation was Kimi Antonelli’s attempted undercut on Leclerc, with Mercedes pitting the scrappy rookie on Lap 51 in a bid to jump the Ferrari over the following laps, however, his inexperience got the better of him as the #16 exited the pitlane.

Reacting just in time, Leclerc emerged from the pitlane just metres clear of the Italian, who stuck by the rear of the SF25 through to Turn 3. 

It was at Turn 3 where the rookie stepped out of line, with his Mercedes oversteering into the Ferrari as he attempted to pass Leclerc down the inside of the banked corner, sending the #16 spinning heavily into the barriers to end his race at the same corner as his teammate.

Antonelli picked up a 10-second penalty for causing the collision, while the rest of the field gained an advantage by pitting under the reduced conditions. 

The race restarted for a second time with 15 laps remaining, with the top three sticking together before Verstappen, running a soft tyre as opposed to McLaren’s hard tyre choice, honed his focus on Norris once again before reporting his RB21’s “ride is completely ******”.

As a result, Norris cleared Verstappen, though Piastri cleared Norris at the same time, breaking free of DRS threat before heartbreak struck the #4’s side of the garage just a few laps later. 

Reporting of “smoke coming from inside the cockpit”, Norris’ hopes of a late Dutch Grand Prix triumph were brought to a nightmare end as his MCL39 started billowing smoke and leaking oil on the circuit. 

A deflated Norris was forced to pull over to the side of the track and jump clear of his challenger as the marshals stepped in, ending his Sunday mirroring a sad Leclerc, who remained out on the Zandvoort sand dunes for the remainder of the race after his earlier collision. 

Looking for the light in a time of darkness, Norris’ retirement miraculously promoted a buzzing Hadjar into the podium positions as the Safety Car was deployed, with the rookie, who had held onto fourth place in the face of great competition and experience, on track for his maiden top three-finish in The Netherlands. 

The race restarted for one final time on Lap 69, with just three laps standing between Piastri equalling his manager Mark Webber’s race win tally, Hadjar and Bearman scoring their career-best finishing results, and Racing Bulls scoring its sixth podium in the team’s history.

Come the chequered flag, all of that came true, making the 2025 Dutch Grand Prix one to remember as Piastri further extends his legacy in the Australian and global motorsport books, increasing his championship lead to 34 points with just nine races remaining this season.

Piastri, and equally Hadjar and RB, who weren’t shy in celebrating the momentous result, won’t have long to bask in Sunday’s joy with the Italian Grand Prix kicking off on Friday. 

It will be an event Ferrari will need to bounce back from it’s first double DNF since Canada 2024, with the eyes of the Tifosi watching on from the very first practice session, which takes place at the iconic Autodromo Nazionale Monza on Friday, September 5.

Image: Clive Rose/Getty Images // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool.

2025 Dutch Grand Prix Results:

Read the new issue of Auto Action Digital HERE

Buy the new issue of Auto Action Premium HERE

Don’t forget the print edition of Auto Action available via subscription here or you can purchase a copy of the latest issue from one of our outlets here.