2026 Dutch Grand Prix: Winners and losers
25 August 2026The Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort saw many an intriguing narrative play out, with the likes of Norris announcing McLaren’s Hungary success wasn’t just a one-time thing, to comeback stories for Aston Martin and Liam Lawson. Here are our winners and losers from Round 12 of the 2026 F1 World Championship.
Winners
Lando Norris
Zandvoort proved the Hungaroring wasn’t just a fluke for Lando Norris and McLaren, and that they are now the package to beat, and perhaps even a distant title threat.
Although the Sprint might not have gone to plan for Lando, he wouldn’t be denied in the Grand Prix, even when Antonelli got ahead into Turn 1. Deploying shrewd strategy and driving a mature, patient race, Norris was able to get the better of the points leader and romp away into the distance.
Aston Martin
2026 has undoubtedly been tougher on Aston Martin than any other team on the grid, with more retirements (11) than newcomers Cadillac (10).
But the updates the team brought to Hungary worked and confirmed the Silverstone-based squad is on a path back to competitiveness. Through a mixture of luck – with the Lap 1 incident at Zandvoort and well-timed pit stops – combined with the newfound pace, Aston Martin earned its first points of the season.
Liam Lawson
Subbing in for a second time with a team that let you go after two races is a high-risk strategy by anyone’s standards, but Liam Lawson took it in his stride and delivered a respectable result at a crucial time in his F1 career.
The Sprint might not have gone his way, qualifying 11th and finishing there too, but in the Grand Prix, a race in which Max Verstappen spectacularly crashed out, Lawson was only a tenth off in Qualifying and drove a composed race to finish seventh.
Losers
Ferrari
After taking two wins in three races at Barcelona and Silverstone, the Scuderia has since slipped to the third-best team, taking just one Grand Prix podium in the last three rounds.
Despite a decent showing from Leclerc in the Sprint, qualifying third and finishing second on the Softs, Ferrari’s strategy let its drivers down in Zandvoort, meaning neither one could capitalise late in the Grand Prix to snatch third from George Russell.
George Russell
Despite Russell having had his best weekend in a couple of rounds, it still felt like the latest in a long line of blows to his title hopes.
Not only did Mercedes ask Russell to make way for Antonelli’s alternate strategy in the late stages of the race, but Norris and McLaren have also come on song as the combination to beat, which will make it even more difficult for Russell to make inroads into Antonelli’s points lead.
Oscar Piastri
With McLaren’s upgrades working a treat for Norris, you might expect Piastri to be performing at a similarly high level, but compared to the Brit’s 56 points scored over the last two races, the Aussie has recorded just 12.
The deficit seemed closer during the Sprint, where Piastri was only half a tenth away in qualifying and fifth to Norris’ third in the race, but the gap was more pronounced in the Grand Prix, with a total of 32 seconds separating them.
