Zandvoort Says Goodbye With Norris in Front and Verstappen in the Barriers
Lando Norris won the final Dutch Grand Prix, and he had to take it twice. He started from the front, lost the lead to Kimi Antonelli at the restart, and reclaimed it in the last third to finish more than eleven seconds clear of the Mercedes. It is his second win in a row and McLaren's second in three races, on a weekend the team arrived with an upgrade and left looking like a problem for everyone else. Norris declined the invitation to call it a title run: "We have to keep working hard. There are still plenty of races, plenty of opportunities for everyone."
Max Verstappen did not complete a lap. Starting seventh on a damp track, he put a wheel on the white line at the final corner, the rear of the RB22 snapped away, and the car went into the barriers hard enough to red-flag the race. He was out and on the radio confirming he was fine within seconds; Liam Lawson, standing in for the injured Isack Hadjar, threaded the wreckage and went on to finish seventh. Verstappen's verdict on the weekend was one word: "disappointing." Four days earlier he had signed with Red Bull through 2030, at the circuit his crowd built.
The other argument of the afternoon belonged to Mercedes, who inverted their own drivers under a late virtual safety car — Antonelli, on the fresher set, went back ahead of George Russell, who then spent the closing laps holding off Ferrari. Antonelli, who called the move "risky," leaves Zandvoort on 242 points and 59 clear. Behind him Russell and Lewis Hamilton are dead level on 183, separated only by countback, after another Ferrari strategy call that had Hamilton asking on the radio whether he was the team's guinea pig.
Blaney Makes It Two Straight at New Hampshire, and Daytona Gets the Last Word
Ryan Blaney led 115 laps at New Hampshire and took the lead for the final time on lap 241, holding off Bubba Wallace through lapped traffic across a long green run to close it out. Eight cautions and a rain delay stretched the afternoon; the No. 12 was the class of it anyway. "It was a long run to the end," Blaney said. "Just tried to manage my stuff. I knew those four tire guys would probably pressure me eventually."
That leaves the regular-season finale at Daytona to sort the rest. Wallace needs two points to be safe. Austin Cindric sits 44 clear of the cut line. Ryan Preece, 31 back, is the last realistic threat and needs a haul plus help; Brad Keselowski, 66 adrift, is down to winning. All of which assumes Daytona behaves like a points race, which Daytona has never once agreed to do.
Around the Paddock
Kirkwood dominates the National Mall debut as Palou crashes out
The Andretti driver led 128 of 147 laps and won by three seconds; Palou hit a rival's tyre in the pits, took a drive-through and crashed on lap 123 to finish 20th. The title gap is down from 133 points to 91 with three races left.
Forty-one points cover five riders as MotoGP reaches Márquez's best track
Jorge Martín still leads by 31, but Round 13 lands at MotorLand, where the reigning champion has won seven times and arrives needing a reply to a bad Silverstone. Seven different winners already this year, matching all of 2025.
Hamilton asks on the radio whether he is the guinea pig
Another split strategy at Zandvoort left him fourth and Charles Leclerc fifth, and left Hamilton tied on points with Russell for second in the championship. Ferrari have now lost ground in three of the last four races.
The inverted VSC stop Antonelli called "risky" — and why it held
Swapping their drivers under a late virtual safety car put the fresher tyres on the championship leader and handed Russell the job of defending from Ferrari. It cost nothing, gained a place, and will be argued about anyway.
Round 11 heads to Encarnación with Evans 30 points clear
Elfyn Evans arrives leading Sami Pajari after the Finn's second Finland win in a row, with Takamoto Katsuta third. The rally runs August 27-30 on gravel in the country's south.
BMW take a five-point deficit to Austin with the title genuinely in reach
Two seasons ago the Munich programme was making up the numbers; it goes to the Lone Star Le Mans at COTA on September 6 within touching distance of Toyota at the top of the table.