2026 F1 Round 12, Dutch Grand Prix Race: Norris Wins as Verstappen Retires on Opening Lap at Home in Tearful Zandvoort Farewell

The race at Round 12 of the 2026 F1 season, the Dutch Grand Prix, took place at Zandvoort on the evening of August 23, China Standard Time (UTC+8). Home hero Max Verstappen (Red Bull) suffered a heavy crash on the opening lap, silencing the nearly 100,000 spectators who had gathered for Zandvoort’s final race. Polesitter Lando Norris (McLaren) ultimately took victory, converting pole into his second win of the season.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) finished second, with George Russell (Mercedes) third, securing a double podium for Mercedes.

Yuki Tsunoda (Racing Bulls) started 12th and briefly broke into the points, but was overtaken by Pierre Gasly (Alpine) late on and finished 11th. He missed the points by just 4.682 seconds, leaving his comeback race empty-handed.

At Aston Martin, running Honda’s upgraded power unit (PU), Fernando Alonso held off a determined pursuit from Gasly to finish ninth and claim two points for ninth place.

Rain fell before the race, and the field lined up for the start with parts of the track still damp. An intricate mix of strategies, a safety car (SC) and two virtual safety car (VSC) periods produced a chaotic contest, with six cars failing to take the chequered flag.

For Verstappen, his final home race ended on the opening lap. Starting seventh, he lost control at the high-speed final corner, and slammed into the barrier.

Verstappen escaped serious injury and offered a brief apology over the radio: “It’s over… Sorry.” Race control brought out an early red flag to deal with the incident, with the race suspended for more than 28 minutes.

Behind the crash, Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi) also spun at the same corner but avoided hitting the barrier.

His teammate Nico Hülkenberg, following behind, narrowly avoided colliding with the sister car. He recalled afterwards: “That moment with Gabi was really dangerous. I almost hit him side-on.”

During the formation lap for the restart, Oliver Bearman (Haas) reported, “Everything’s gone, the power’s gone,” and stopped between Turns 10 and 11. Race control therefore added another formation lap.

Tsunoda, who had started 12th on soft tyres, gained one place on the opening lap and was running 11th when the red flag came out. Although Hülkenberg passed him after the restart, teammate Arvid Lindblad received a drive-through penalty for failing to respect yellow flags, allowing Tsunoda to retain 11th.

Franco Colapinto (Alpine) also received a drive-through penalty for failing to respect yellow flags, allowing Tsunoda to move up to 10th on lap 9. Colapinto was handed another 10-second penalty late in the race for a further yellow-flag infringement and ultimately finished 14th.

Tsunoda briefly dropped towards the back after switching to hard tyres. In the middle phase of the race, he fought an intense battle with Gasly, producing an impressive move at Turn 7, where overtaking is far from easy, to complete the pass on lap 29. He then passed Carlos Sainz (Williams) to move into the points, running as high as ninth.

On lap 46, Tsunoda made his second pit stop, returning to the track on soft tyres and renewing his battle for position with Gasly behind him in the closing stages.

He held the position for a long time, but Esteban Ocon (Haas) stopped on track on lap 55, triggering a VSC. Gasly passed Tsunoda the moment the VSC ended, dropping him to 11th, where he remained at the chequered flag.

Meanwhile, Lawson (Red Bull), also racing as a substitute, finished seventh to score his first points for Red Bull. Hülkenberg was eighth.

With parts of the track damp at the start, every car opted for slick tyres: both Cadillacs started on hards, most drivers chose softs, and the remainder, including the top four, used mediums.

Despite converting pole into victory, Norris had anything but a straightforward route to the win. After the restart following Verstappen’s crash, Antonelli overtook him, costing him the lead early on.

The turning point came on lap 54: Antonelli, who had dropped back after pitting, attacked Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari), who was leading on a long-stint strategy. Norris, following behind, seized the opportunity to pass Antonelli and then Hamilton in quick succession to reclaim the lead. Antonelli then also overtook Hamilton.

Immediately afterwards, Ocon’s stoppage triggered a VSC. Antonelli briefly dropped behind Russell while changing tyres, but team orders restored him to second with six laps remaining.

With three laps to go, race control deployed the day’s second VSC to recover debris from a collision between the two Williams cars. Norris navigated this succession of chaotic incidents and held the lead to the finish, securing his second win of the season.

In contrast to Norris, teammate Oscar Piastri (McLaren) endured a difficult race.

He overtook Russell at the first restart and briefly moved into a podium position in third. However, he pitted on lap 18 to cover a potential undercut from Russell, only for a slow tyre change to cost him the position.

He was then overtaken by Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) on lap 34 and Hamilton on lap 35, dropping to sixth and finishing two places below his starting position.

From the middle of the race onwards, both Ferraris had the podium in their sights as they chased Mercedes, but strategic decisions in the closing stages created tension between the cockpits and the pit wall.

Running behind Leclerc, Hamilton requested a position swap, saying, “I’m faster than Charles, and my tyres are in better shape.” Leclerc was subsequently instructed to pit but did not immediately comply, prompting an impatient Hamilton to say as he waited: “We’re just wasting time.”

When Leclerc finally pitted, Hamilton responded sarcastically over the radio: “What a great way to waste time. Well done, well done.”

Hamilton then extended his stint and briefly led late in the race, but Norris and Antonelli passed him in succession on lap 54. He eventually finished fourth, with Leclerc fifth.

For Aston Martin-Honda, Alonso began climbing the order early after starting 18th, quickly reaching 15th. He extended his opening stint on soft tyres and rose as high as eighth.

After his pit stop, he also held his own in the midfield battles, overtaking Alexander Albon (Williams) for 11th on lap 39 before moving up to ninth as cars ahead pitted.

He came under intense pressure from Gasly in the closing stages but held his position to claim two points for ninth place. What was effectively the field’s only one-stop strategy had paid off.

Meanwhile, teammate Lance Stroll was unable to make significant progress and retired on lap 48.