THE BIG PICTURE: Before we start talking about some unprecedented championship comeback, Piastri needs to help out Norris by finishing in front of Verstappen.

EVENT: Well, orange was still the color to cheer for.

TRACK: The in-car gyro-cam camera work really shows how much of a roller coaster feeling this place is.

QUALIFYING: Norris ends Verstappen's perfect pole record at Zandvoort, Albon's fine run is nullified by an illegal floor, Hamilton fails in Q2 again, Ricciardo disappears in Q1, and Sargeant never makes it out of the garage after destroying his car in FP3.

RACE: This was the type of race we saw early in the season, but this time with a different lead dominating car.

START: Once again, Norris pisses away a pole position with a piss poor start. Piastri didn't do much better either.

NORRIS: Even after Lando blew the start, you always had the feeling he would easily regain the lead and run away with the race. It was obvious how much faster he was than Verstappen.

PIASTRI: They tried a long shot strategy call after getting stuck behind Russell, but it didn't come close to working.

MCLAREN: It is fascinating how well the McLaren, and especially Norris, can get their tires to sing at the end of a stint instead of the beginning. And to top off that accomplishment, Norris got fastest lap on the last go around.

VERSTAPPEN: Pretty calm for someone who received a smackdown. At least outwardly.

PEREZ: Still not pulling his weight. Sure, Sergio beat the Mercedes drivers, but otherwise finished behind all the rest of the drivers from the top four teams.

RED BULL: Can someone check to see if Adrian Newey has truly left the house? That constructor's point lead keeps shrinking. Is he at least on speed dial?

LECLERC: That was a podium Charles never expected when the day began.

SAINZ: Carlos also had a fine drive.

MERCEDES: Still very inconsistent from race to race.

GASLY: Pierre was able to get something out of the car which his teammate felt was undriveable.

OCON: Esteban already seems to have a foot out the door.

ALONSO: Fernando is correct, concentrate on 2025's car, even if he did get a point.

MAGNUSSEN: Kevin was the unwilling catalyst for a wild cluster of five cars going every which way trying to make moves.

SAUBER: Still zero points. And this time they were the only two drivers two laps down.

SARGEANT: There's just no excuse for that type of practice crash.

WILLIAMS: Their upgrade might have been a bit too much, but it's clear they are thinking in the right direction. Will be very interesting to see how they modify that upgrade for Monza.

HAAS: Their trucks were finally allowed to leave.

F1 ACADEMY: Brit Abbi Pulling took the first race from pole, her fifth win in six races, which was shortened and moved to Sunday due to horrid weather on Saturday. Frenchwoman Doriane Pin returned the favor from pole in race 2, winning for the first time since her injury. Pulling leads the series by 71 points with three weekends left.

WORD OF THE WEEKEND: Gyro-Cam.

STAT OF THE WEEKEND: 45,000 -- The number of fans who cycled to the track each day.

HISTORICAL STAT OF THE WEEKEND: The last time McLaren won the Dutch GP was the last time it was held before the long hiatus -- 1985. Niki Lauda won after qualifing 10th. His teammate, Alain Prost, who won the previous year, took second in the other McLaren-TAG, 0.232-seconds behind after dicing for the last dozen laps. Ayrton Senna in a Lotus-Renault rounded out the podium. Sadly, it was Stefan Bellof's last F1 race, as he was killed a week later in the 1000 km of Spa World Sportscar race.

TWEET OF THE WEEKEND: Obviously not a Max Verstappen fan, @BradleyPhilpot posted:

It has now been 5 races since Red Bull won.

Every RT keeps the streak going!
Let's gooo!
#F1

QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND: After the checkered flag, Lando Norris emulating, and of course busting on, his friend after his own dominating race, "Simply lovely."

QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND RUNNERUP: After Lando Norris entered the cooldown room, Max Verstappen asks with a smile on his face, "Bit of wheelspin?"

SCHEDULE: Monza is all about speed and low downforce. But with so many upgrades to improve downforce, who has the low drag advantage this year?

Copyright © 2024 by Deep Throttle. All Rights Reserved.