The Biggest Winners and Losers of the Dutch Grand Prix

After a four-week summer break, cars finally returned onto the racetrack for an eventful Formula 1 Heineken Dutch Grand Prix in Zandvoort, Netherlands. Oscar Piastri claimed victory, extending his lead over teammate Lando Norris in the World Driver’s Championship by 34 points. Home favorite Max Verstappen delivered a second-place finish, and rookie Isack Hadjar drove an astounding race to find himself on the podium for the first time. However, there was much more action and drama that went down in the 72 laps. Here are the biggest winners and losers of the 2025 Dutch Grand Prix. 

Winner: Isack Hadjar

Rookie Isack Hadjar achieved his first podium of his F1 career, landing third place and scoring 15 points for the Racing Bulls. His weekend started quite strongly in qualifying, with an outstanding lap time of 1:09.483, just 0.821 seconds off the fastest lap from Oscar Piastri. Hadjar earned an impressive fourth-place starting position for Sunday's race, a strong spot for a rookie. The race itself was intense from the start. Rain began on lap five, causing the track to become slick. Overtakes and contact between drivers occurred throughout the grid, and three drivers were forced to retire from the race. Amid the chaos, Hadjar remained calm and kept his composure. For nearly the entirety of the race, Hadjar stayed in fourth position, avoiding mistakes, keeping a consistent pace, and fending off pressure from the higher-tiered cars of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Mercedes’ George Russell.

Later in the race, on lap 65, a bit of luck came into play. Lando Norris, running in second place, suffered an engine problem that forced him to retire from the race, subsequently allowing Verstappen to move into second and Hadjar into third. With seven laps to go and a 2.765-second lead on Russell, Hadjar only needed to avoid mistakes and keep his pace to become the youngest French driver to achieve a Formula One podium. That of which he did, post-race, he was met with cheering fans, his team jumping for joy, the Driver of the Day award, and a third-place trophy. 

Loser: Lando Norris

After strong performances in free practice, qualifying, and the first 65 laps of the race, Lando Norris was forced to retire due to an engine problem, leaving him without points for the weekend and widening the gap to the championship leader to 34 points. The weekend started strongly for Norris, who topped all three free practice sessions, showing that he had a strong pace for this track, and he barely missed out on pole position by just 0.012 seconds. Norris was in a good spot for a possible sixth win of the season. As the race began, he was off to a strong start, with announcers David Croft and Martin Brundle claiming he had a better reaction time than pole starter Oscar Piastri. However, in the first lap, Norris was passed by Verstappen, as Verstappen went around the outside, locked up a bit, and managed to squeeze in between the two McLaren drivers. Nevertheless, Norris fought and kept his fast race pace to later easily pass Verstappen on lap nine.

From there, Norris’s race had little drama. On lap 23, Lewis Hamilton crashed into the barriers, allowing both McLarens to pit for new tires. However, a pit crew error caused Norris’ pit time to be nearly two seconds longer than Piastri’s. On lap 54, a safety car once again allowed both McLarens to pit, letting Norris close in on Piastri. By lap 65, with the gap narrowed to just 1.667 seconds, Norris reported smoke and a funny smell coming from his car. An engine problem forced him to retire with only seven laps to go. Norris’s largest competition and teammate, Oscar Piastri, went on to win the race with Max Verstappen finishing in second, and Isack Hadjar in third. Though there were no major mistakes on his end, car trouble left Norris without points this weekend, widening the gap in the World Driver’s Championship to 34 points from leader Oscar Piastri. 

Winner: Haas

Despite a rough qualifying session for both Haas drivers, resulting in Oliver Bearman starting from the pit lane in 20th and Esteban Ocon in 18th, they both managed to score points over the weekend. The team's strategy played a large role in the double points finish for the ninth-place-ranked team. Both drivers managed the whole 72 laps with only one pit stop each, occurring under a safety car, allowing them to pit without losing any significant time or positioning. On lap 38, announcers David Croft and Martin Brundle noted that both Bearman and Ocon had yet to change their tires, although almost all the other drivers had already entered and exited the pit lane. They discussed how long Bearman and Ocon could stay out on the hard-compound tires and the strategy to follow when a pit stop became necessary. Then, a safety car appeared, allowing them to maintain their positions and continue climbing through the field as the race progressed. In the end, Oliver Bearman achieved a sixth-place finish after starting in 20th from the pit lane, and Esteban Ocon achieved 10th place after starting 18th on the grid. The two drivers ended the race scoring nine points for the Haas team. 

Loser: Ferrari

With a decent qualifying session for both Ferrari drivers, showing a strong pace and the ability to fight for points, no one expected that both Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton would not finish the race. Hamilton started the race in seventh, and continued in the position with a good pace that ensured he would likely end in the points. However, as the rain hit on lap five, parts of the track became quite slick. On the third turn of lap 23, Hamilton went a bit wide, slid onto the part of the track with paint, and lost his rear tires to end up in the barrier. He was forced to retire and end the race with no points.

Leclerc showed a strong start to the race, beginning in sixth position and muscling his way past Russel for fifth on lap 32. He, too, was in strong contention for good points this weekend. However, an error from rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli changed Leclerc's race. On lap 53 of the race, as Leclerc exited the pit lane narrowly ahead of Antonelli, the young driver's front right wheel turned into Leclerc’s car, causing the Ferrari to spin into the wall and retire from the race. With 19 laps to go, both Ferraris had ended up in the barriers, meaning that neither received any points for the weekend. This has allowed the gap to first-place constructor, McLaren, to grow by 25 points, and the gap to third-place Mercedes to shrink by 12 points.