McLaren driver Lando Norris of Britain celebrates after winning the Formula One Dutch Grand Prix race at the Zandvoort racetrack, Netherlands. (AP)

NETHERLANDS, Aug 25, (Xinhua): McLaren's Lando Norris recovered from a bad start to overtake Red Bull's Max Verstappen and win Sunday's Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix dominantly. Starting from pole position, Norris lost the lead to Verstappen at the first corner, with the Dutchman soon establishing a lead of over one second to take himself out of DRS detection range.

However, as the stint wore on, Norris appeared to be a quicker driver, and the Briton took the lead as the pair crossed the start-finish line to begin lap 18. With the McLaren proving to be the fastest car in clear air, Norris was never subsequently threatened, crossing the line 23 seconds ahead of Verstappen, who struggled more with tire degradation in the second half of the race. "It feels amazing. I wouldn't say a perfect race because of [losing the lead on] lap 1, but it was still beautiful.

The pace was strong, the car was unbelievable," said Norris, who also took the bonus point for fastest lap on the race's final tour, further underlining McLaren's dominance around the twisty Zandvoort circuit. "I could push and get past Max. It was a straightforward race. Tough but enjoyable." "From quite early on, from lap six or seven, I expected Max to start pushing and open up a gap and he never did. "From that point, I felt we were in the fight. He seemed to keep dropping off and my pace was getting better. I could get comfortable and push."

This was the first time that Verstappen had not won his home Grand Prix, and after having won seven of the first ten Grands Prix of 2024, the Dutchman has now gone five races without a win. Rounding out the top three was Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, who rose from sixth on the grid and successfully fended off a late challenge from Norris' teammate Oscar Piastri, who finished fourth.

Carlos Sainz took fifth for Ferrari, ahead of Verstappen's teammate Sergio Perez. Then came the two Mercedes of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton, both of whom made two pit stops at their rivals' one. Pierre Gasly equaled Alpine's best result of the season with ninth place, and Fernando Alonso rounded out the top ten for Aston Martin. For the fourth time this season, all 20 drivers were classified finishers, and unusually, there were no yellow caution flags waved throughout the race. Verstappen still leads the Drivers' Championship with 295 points, but Norris now has 225 after having taken eight points out of the Dutchman's lead.

With nine Grands Prix and three Sprint events remaining in the 2024 season, Norris can overhaul Verstappen if he scores an average of eight points more per weekend than the Dutchman. In the Constructors' Championship, things are much closer, with McLaren now just 30 points behind Red Bull's leading total of 434, and on current form, the Woking squad appears likely to overtake the drinks-backed concern over the coming weekends. The 16th round of the 2024 Formula 1 World Championship is next weekend's Italian Grand Prix at Monza.