How will Norris bounce back?

Oscar Piastri’s Dutch Grand Prix win and Lando Norris’ untimely DNF have pushed the Brit up against the wall in their thrilling title fight.

During a tense and wild race in the Zandvoort dunes, the McLarens looked destined to record an eighth one-two of the season. 

If they stayed the same, the Australian would grow his lead to 16 points, but that advantage has now exploded to 34 after Norris suffered some late-race heartbreak.

The Brit reported smoke in the cockpit before pulling over at Masterbocht due to an oil leak just eight laps from home.

After what could be the Malaysia 2016 moment of the title fight, Norris will have to dig deep to regain the ground lost against the ever-consistent and composed Piastri.

“It’s just a tough race,” said Norris when asked about his feelings.

“I was a bit disappointed, but there’s nothing I could really do about it in the end. Frustrating, but it’s out of my control, so nothing I could do.”

The DNF is a cruel blow for Norris as he has lost significant momentum.

When they entered the summer, things were going Norris’ way, having won three of the previous four races where Piastri had suffered some bad luck, but still secured podium finishes.

With F1 returning at Norris’ happy hunting ground of Zandvoort, having dominated last year, many thought things would continue to go to the #4.

It appeared this would be the case as Norris swept practice and looked to have the edge on Piastri.

But the Australian kept chipping away and rose when it mattered, snaring pole position by 0.012s.

Then when lights went out, Piastri converted pole as Norris found himself swamped by Max Verstappen and falling to third.

Norris quickly fought back to second and tried to challenge Piastri, but rarely got within DRS range until his McLaren was reduced to a crawl.

He thought victory was possible, but found it hard to follow the Aussie at the old-school and tight track.

“You can’t do a lot around here. I felt a bit quicker [than Oscar] but you have to be about eight-tenths quicker to overtake around here and I’m not eight-tenths quicker,” said Norris.

“To follow within two seconds for pretty much the whole race was a good drive. There was nothing more I could really ask. You start to get dirty air at around four seconds. To be around three or two, I wasn’t really expecting it today.

“I thought I did a good job, but it doesn’t help much, doesn’t mean much. It doesn’t mean I got more points or whatever, it’s just reassuring that the pace was strong, and I look ahead to the next one.”

Norris finds himself in a similar scenario to the fallout from Canada where he also lost significant ground to Piastri after crashing into him.

He responded by winning the next two races and would need to do something similar this weekend in Monza.

Image: McLaren

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.