Lando Norris faces a tough challenge in his quest for the Formula 1 world title, after being forced to retire from the Dutch Grand Prix, where his teammate and rival achieved victory.
Norris, who started second on the grid at Zandvoort, was only 1.5 seconds behind Oscar Piastri before being forced to retire on lap 53 of 72, after reporting smoke coming from his car.
Piastri, for his part, achieved a victory from start to finish, despite the two safety car interventions, increasing the difference between the McLaren drivers to 34 points in the drivers’ championship, with nine races remaining.
It was a bit of bad luck. It’s not my weekend. It’s frustrating and it hurts a bit, especially in terms of the championship. It’s a lot of points lost so quickly and easily.
Lando NorrisNorris praised his teammate, but acknowledges that it will be difficult to close the gap in the championship.
The only thing I can do is try to win every race. It will be difficult, but I will make sure to give it my all.
Lando Norris
Norris lost second position to Max Verstappen on the first lap, but managed to regain it on lap 9. However, he couldn’t threaten Piastri in any of the restarts after the safety car.
McLaren seemed on track to achieve a historic fifth consecutive one-two finish before an unusual reliability issue.
Regarding the engine issue, Norris commented:
I don’t know what the problem was. The engine just switched off and that was it. The engine reliability has been pretty good in recent years.
Lando Norris
Formula 1 heads to Monza for the Italian Grand Prix next weekend.
