Piastri led home Verstappen for a vital win at this weekend's Dutch Grand Prix after an oil leak saw Norris retire from the race.
After leading from pole position, McLaren’s Oscar Piastri looked destined to take home a 1-2 for the papaya team. However, after smoke was seen from the back of Norris’ car on lap 65, the Brit pulled over to the side of the track. After the final safety car of the race, Piastri had just four laps to hold Verstappen to the flag.
From lights out, Verstappen jumped Lando Norris into the first banked turn, before the McLaren took him back just eight laps later.
Leclerc came in for hard tyres on lap 23, only for Hamilton to crash out of the race a few moments later. With a few drops of rain coming down, the seven-time champion lost the rear into turn three.
After the majority of the field pitted under the Safety Car, Piastri kept the lead from the restart. Further behind, George Russell and Isaac Hadjar fought hard for fourth place, yet some quick moves under braking by Hadjar left Russell frustrated on the radio.
Further down the grid, Lawson and Sainz came together in turn one, causing a puncture for both cars and resulting in a penalty for Sainz. With more debris now scattered on the track, the Virtual Safety Car was momentarily brought out.
After the second restart, Leclerc quickly put a dive on Russell into the third sector chicane. Leclerc was just able to slide through on Russell at a corner that offers rare opportunities for overtakes. While the Ferrari driver did manage to get past, Russell came out of the incident with sidepod damage and quickly called for a penalty against Leclerc.
Meanwhile, Mercedes' second driver, Antonelli, moved past Albon to get up to seventh place from 11th on the grid. After coming in for his final stint, Antonelli emerged from the pits just behind Leclerc. An opportunistic dive from Antonelli saw him clip Leclerc’s back left wheel, crashing the remaining Ferrari out of the race.
Soon after, Verstappen challenged Norris at the restart but was unable to make a move. However, only a few laps later, the championship contender reported smoke from the back of his papaya McLaren. With what was later discovered to be an oil leak, Norris pulled out of the race, conceding second to Verstappen and creating a massive blow to his championship hopes.
With Norris out, Racing Bulls’ Isaac Hadjar moved up to third place for what would become his first podium in Formula 1.
With four laps to go, Piastri led the field away for the final restart of the race. The Red Bull of Verstappen managed to get within a few tenths down the straight, but soon fell to just over a second at the flag.
Piastri crossed the line to take his seventh win of the season and extend his championship lead to 34 points.
Down the order, Albon finished an important fifth for Williams, solidifying their fight for fifth in the constructors' championship.
After receiving a penalty for his collision with Leclerc, Antonelli dropped down to 16th, moving the rest of the midfield up the order. Bearman finished sixth for Haas, with the two Aston Martins of Stroll and Alonso finishing seventh and eighth. Tsunoda secured points for Red Bull in ninth place, with Ocon rounding out the top 10 for Haas.
Formula 1 returns in just one week's time for the Italian Grand Prix at Monza’s Temple of Speed.
Photo Cred: Steffen Prößdorf / Wikimedia
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