'Now or NEVER for Norris' - GPFans' Dutch Grand Prix Hot Takes

The 2024 Dutch Grand Prix won't go down as a classic, but it does raise a lot of questions as we head towards the business end of the Formula 1 season.

Lando Norris strolled to victory at Zandvoort in front of home favourite Max Verstappen as McLaren continued from where they left off before the summer break.

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Verstappen did raise hopes of a home triumph after taking the lead at the start, only for Norris to blast back past him on the straight later on in the grand prix with ease - and that was pretty much it at the front of the pack for the rest of the race.

Nonetheless, GPFans have had their say on the action following the McLaren domination in Zandvoort.

Matt Hobkinson - Lead F1 Editor

The most boring race of the F1 season so far? Possibly. We all knew it was a matter of when, not if, Lando would lose his lead, but even by his previous poor standards – not even making it into Turn 1 was special.

Yet the McLaren roared into life as the race went on and it wasn’t long before Verstappen could only watch helplessly as a papaya blur came, and then went. The less said about the rest of the action on track the better, given that there was none.

The drivers’ championship might be a stretch too far for Norris this season, but McLaren are taking the fight to Red Bull. If Christian Horner wasn’t nervous before the summer break, he should be now.

Simmey Hannifin Donaldson - Deputy US Editor

Well well well, Lando Norris can win after starting on pole position after all!

Alright, admittedly, he did suffer a poor start yet again, but having done so, just as the Twitter warriors were sharpening their knives and preparing their memes, he showed fantastic composure to put that to the back of his mind and eventually re-take the lead. After that, there was no looking back.

Whilst Oscar Piastri had a solid but unspectacular weekend, Norris once again showed that he is the man to back for McLaren and that he should, even if not formal, have number one status within the team. Whilst McLaren look as though they will fight it out with Red Bull in the constructors’ standings, if the team feels there is even a slight sniff of the Brit challenging Verstappen for the drivers’ title, they must act accordingly.

It is the least that Norris deserves given the level he is performing at this season and the faith he has shown in the team in recent years.

Sheona Mountford - F1 Journalist

What is there to say about the Dutch Grand Prix? Not a lot as it happens with Zandvoort offering one of the more duller spectacles of the season. The most dramatic moment of the weekend arose in FP3 with Logan Sargeant’s fiery crash that rendered him unable to compete in qualifying.

Which leads to the question; will this be the American’s last race in F1? If rumours are to be believed we could see Mick Schumacher in the Williams soon, whilst the team waits for Carlos Sainz’s safe pair of gloves. But are Williams really any better off opting for Schumacher?

If his Haas career was anything to go by, James Vowles is taking a significant risk with Schumacher. Undoubtedly there may not be many options for a mid-season swap, but sacking Sargeant for another accident prone driver seems like a pretty pointless attempt to solve their problems.

Chris Deeley - US Editor

Lando Norris is the fastest man alive. That’s not the hot take, that’s not even a hot take, that’s just what we’ve learned over the last third of this season.

Does it help that McLaren have, pretty indisputably, the fastest car in Formula 1? It does. Did it help Max Verstappen when he used to have the fastest car? Also yes. But Norris put his car on pole by more than three tenths of a second. He beat his team-mate by four tenths over a single lap. His team-mate didn’t even make the podium, while he won by 20 seconds.

Now here’s the hot take: Lando Norris will be the best driver in the 21st century to never win an F1 title. He’s too far back this year, and Oscar Piastri is improving so quickly. Other teams are close. Rule changes are coming. It could be now or never. It could be never.

Kevin McKenna - F1 Journalist

After a four-week wait for Formula 1 to return from its summer snooze, the action in Zandvoort was pretty much all over and done with within the first four seconds. Verstappen’s quick start off the line was enough to surge past title rival Lando Norris, but it didn’t take too long for the Brit to reclaim the lead and disappoint the home fans hoping to celebrate another victory for their home hero.

Apart from that, there was little to capture the imagination on a painfully dull afternoon in the Dutch sunshine. Not that Norris will be caring too much about that. The McLaren star needed a big result to keep in the championship discussion, and to his credit, he delivered.

Special shout out to Alpine’s Pierre Gasly as well, who was a prominent feature throughout the TV coverage – which is perhaps indicative of the lack of action elsewhere - after producing a stellar drive in the middle of the field to clinch a couple of much-needed points.

Ronan Murphy - Social Media Editor

Who would have thought a race where Max Verstappen would be boring? Well, anyone who has watched the Dutch Grand Prix before, possibly. It is usually a procession for Verstappen in his home Grand Prix, but this time Lando Norris won comfortably, and boringly, at Zandvoort.

Many street circuits get criticised for lacking drama, but the 2024 Dutch GP may have outdone them all, providing negative drama for 70 of 72 laps. There has been a lot of talk this weekend about cutting drivers loose - I’m looking at you, Logan Sargeant - but is it time to cut the Dutch GP loose?

Aside from F1 fans in Holland, nobody else around the world would miss it. It doesn’t have the same intrigue or tradition as other tracks. Let’s just forget about it and move on, please.

Dan Ripley - Deputy Chief Editor

"McLaren is the car to beat now on all days." Martin Brundle summed it up nearly 50 laps into the Dutch Grand Prix, as Lando Norris almost effortlessly kept extending his lead over Max Verstappen's Red Bull.

Such was the advantage though as he galloped to victory, it leaves the question of can Red Bull beat their fast developing title rivals in the championship? It's hard to see where Verstappen can beat Norris anywhere now. And if Norris is going to go into total domination mode, it's not unrealistic that he could keep taking chunks out of Verstappen's overall lead.

The Red Bull just doesn't look fast anymore. Sergio Perez had arguably one of his better races in recent times in terms of not being amazingly off the pace of Verstappen and still he couldn't finish ahead of any of the McLarens or even Ferraris. Zandvoort may not have produced much drama but it has certainly reignited both championship battles.

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