McLaren's ominous pace warning for Verstappen and Red Bull
Max Verstappen is looking over his shoulder after Lando Norris’ dominant win at the Dutch Grand Prix threw the 2024 championship race into dispute.
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Hide AdThe Red Bull Racing man’s early-season dominance threatened to make it another one-sided year in the sport, but with just two podiums in the last five races, the end of the season looks set to be a more competitive affair.
Norris’ second win of the season came in dominant fashion. Not only did he beat Verstappen for the first time on Dutch soil since the race returned to the calendar in 2021, but he also claimed victory by the biggest margin of the season too, crossing the line 22.9 seconds clear of the Red Bull man, emphasising McLaren’s recent form as the strongest on the grid.
While Verstappen’s championship lead remains 70 points with nine races to go, Red Bull’s gap in the constructor’s championship was reduced to 30 points to McLaren, with Sergio Perez coming home sixth at Zandvoort.
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Hide Ad“I know I didn’t have the pace to catch Lando,” admitted Verstappen after the race. “The car balance has been difficult this weekend, we just didn’t have the pace and we struggled with our tyres.
“I tried my best but it just didn’t work today and we had quite a big gap to Lando. We didn’t have our best weekend and we will go back and analyse what we can do better.”
Perez added: “In the beginning things were looking really good, but we just didn’t have the pace to keep up, as the other cars started to pull ahead. We were struggling with the grip on the hard tyre and balance all race. We have a lot of work to do.”
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