Norris: "That move won me the race" as Zandvoort produces one of his best wins

Credit: Luca Martini / WHYOUT images

Lando Norris described his victory at the Dutch Grand Prix as "probably one of my better wins" after a dramatic Zandvoort weekend that saw him lose pole position at a red-flagged restart, only to hunt down championship leader Kimi Antonelli in the closing stages.

The race was thrown into chaos on the opening lap when Max Verstappen crashed heavily at the final corner on a damp track, bringing out the red flag and ending the home favourite's afternoon before it had really begun.

Antonelli capitalised at the standing restart that followed, passing Norris for the lead, and it looked for long stretches as though the Italian would hang on.

"Amazing, amazing. A tough race. I made it tough for myself, but a good race, well fought. Probably one of my better wins. Over the moon, very, very happy and nice to win the final race here in Zandvoort," Norris said, with Zandvoort dropping off the calendar at the end of the season.

Norris eventually made his move on lap 54 of 72, sweeping around the outside of Antonelli into Turn 1 as the Mercedes driver was preoccupied defending against Lewis Hamilton further up the road, before going on to pass the Ferrari as well to seize the overall lead within the same lap.

It was a decisive piece of opportunism that the Briton knew he had to seize the moment it appeared. "The move was good, I knew I wouldn't get many chances. I saw Lewis defending and I knew that was my moment. That move won me the race," he said.

Norris went on to cross the line 11.5 seconds clear of Antonelli, securing back-to-back victories following his win in Hungary and cutting his deficit in the drivers' championship to 83 points.

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella struck a similarly pleased but measured tone afterwards, pointing to the tight competitive order that has defined the season and crediting the team's tyre management for the win.

"I think Lando was right when he said it was not going to be straightforward. The race pace in Hungary was more convincing. All the teams are very close. It is good that McLaren is part of the cars that can fight for the win," Stella said. He also pointed to setup changes made after Norris was overtaken by Charles Leclerc in Saturday's Sprint, changes that appeared to unlock the car's pace over a race distance despite tricky, tyre-degrading conditions at Zandvoort.

"I have to say thanks the team for the tweaks after the Sprint. The tyres today were a little tricky, we saw with Antonelli and with Oscar, it is hard to switch them on but with Lando, it is his natural ground. At times the tyres could just go off completely. Lando just did a better job than anyone else."

Stella was nonetheless cautious about reading too much into a single result, with the constructors' fight still finely poised. "But we need to prove we are good in all conditions, as there is a long way to go."