Oscar Piastri Finished P1, Ahead Of Max Verstappen & Isack Hadjar
Oscar Piastri won the 2025 Dutch Grand Prix dominantly. The Australian driver was quickest in all practice and qualifying sessions and led every lap of the race, making it his first grand slam. However, it was disappointing to see championship rival Lando Norris suffer a mechanical retirement.
Race Start
Max Verstappen finished P2 after a consistent performance at his home race. Isack Hadjar scored a monumental P3 after qualifying P4 and keeping the faster cars of George Russell and Charles Leclerc behind him. This podium finish is also the first podium for the Racing Bulls team.
Oscar Piastri made a good start, whilst Lando Norris lost a position to Max Verstappen. However, the British driver boldly overtook the Redbull and started to put pressure on Piastri throughout the two Safety Car periods. However, the hope for the battle between the race lead diminished on Lap 65 as Norris’ Mclaren as smoke started to emerge from the racecar.
Top 10
Alex Albon was quite disappointed to start P15 but made an excellent recovery to P5. Oliver Bearman, who used a one-stop strategy to his advantage and finished P6. Both Aston Martins of Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso scored points.
Notably, Alonso wanted to do something different and get ahead of the DRS train and was successful. Verstappen’s teammate, Yuki Tsunoda, finished P9, scoring a respectable result. Esteban Ocon scored the final and rounded off the top 10.
Disappointments
Ferrari had a disappointing race weekend with Lewis Hamilton making a mistake at turn 3 when it was drizzling. The 7-time world champion is also handed a 5-place grid penalty due to failing to slow down during yellow flags on his way to the starting grid.
Charles Leclerc also retired from the race due to a collision with Andrea Kimi Antonelli. The Monegasque made a bold move to overtake George Russell to get to P4, but pitted to cover Antonelli’s undercut. Notably, Leclerc decided to watch the rest of the race from the dunes.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli got a 10-second penalty with an additional 5-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane.
Championship Battle
It is important to note that Piastri has extended the lead over Norris to 34 points. The challenge may seem a big one, but it is possible, as the Mclaren is the class of the field and needs to beat Piastri on a few more occasions. There are 9 rounds left, and it remains to be seen if Lando can catch up to Piastri as we race to the final round in Yas Marina!
