Lando Norris suffers F1 title hammer blow with rare failure on horror day for Ferrari

Lando Norris suffered a late power unit failure to hand Dutch GP victory on a plate for Oscar Piastri, and his McLaren team-mate a sizeable advantage in the fight for this year's F1 drivers' title.

Piastri had controlled the race from the start, albeit with Norris almost always in his mirrors, managing two restarts after safety car periods following crashes for Ferrari duo Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc.

But seven laps from the finish, Norris' Mercedes PU let go, and instead of a likely 16-point deficit to Piastri going into next Sunday's Italian Grand Prix, the Australian now holds a major 34-point lead with nine races remaining.

Courtesy of Norris' retirement, Red Bull's Max Verstappen netted second, followed by a remarkable third for rookie Isack Hadjar in his Racing Bulls, with the Frenchman ahead of Mercedes' George Russell, Alex Albon in his Williams, and the Haas of Oliver Bearman, who had started from the pit lane.

For Hamilton, the seven-time F1 champion suffered another damaging blow to his maiden Ferrari campaign by crashing out on lap 23 at a time when very light rain was falling.

It was Hamilton's first DNF as a Ferrari driver, and his first since spinning off on the opening lap of last season's United States GP whilst driving for Mercedes.

Thirty laps later, it was a double DNF for Ferrari as Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli understeered into Charles Leclerc through the Turn 3 banking, sending the Monégasque into a barrier and out of the race.

Leclerc is also under investigation for an incident with Russell earlier in the race, which could lead to a penalty for the Scuderia's home race at Monza next weekend.

Norris loses out again

At the start, and for the second successive Dutch GP, Norris lost out to Verstappen on the run down into and out of the right-hand Turn 1 loop.

Last year, Norris lost pole position to the Dutchman; on this occasion, it was second position given that both were behind polesitter Piastri after the Australian nabbed top spot on the grid by 0.012s.

But it was a close-run thing for Verstappen, who had gambled by starting on soft tyres compared to the mediums for all of those around him, as out of the Turn 2 kink, Verstappen almost lost control of his Red Bull.

Somehow, Verstappen managed to hang on into the banked Turn 3, doing enough to prevent Norris from getting a run out of that corner.

It was a crucial early moment as it allowed Piastri to pull away. By the end of lap six, and with rain approaching, Piastri had opened up a cushion of 3.347s, with Norris a further 1.312s adrift.

Albon was the major winner at the start, making up five places from 15th to position himself behind team-mate Carlos Sainz in 10th.

On lap nine, and needing to clear Verstappen to attack Piastri, Norris delivered a superb overtake around the outside of the four-time F1 champion through Turn 1, leaving him 4.5s down on his team-mate at that stage.

Six laps later, and with Norris closing the gap to 3.1s, Piastri reported drops of rain on his visor.

It was at that stage that the stewards placed Gabriel Bortoleto under investigation for driving his Sauber in an unsafe condition due to front-wing damage sustained from a collision early on with Aston Martin's Lance Stroll.

After 19 laps, and despite very light rain falling, a handful of drivers, including Red Bull's Yuki Tsunoda from 11th, pitted to take on fresh rubber, all going to the hard compound.

Report continues below

Hamilton and Leclerc crash out

On lap 23, disaster struck Hamilton. Approaching the Turn 3 bank, he caught a slippery part of the track, forcing him off track and onto the painted area at the top of the bank.

As he tried to fight his way back onto the circuit, Hamilton hit the end of the barrier hard with the front-right of his car, forcing him into immediate retirement, sparking a safety car.

All but the Haas duo Esteban Ocon and Bearman pitted, and all but Verstappen switched to the hard tyre as Red Bull gambled again by switching to the medium.

After four laps behind the safety car, and at the restart, Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson and Sainz collided out of Turn 1, with the former sustaining a puncture and the latter damage to his front wing, necessitating a further pit stop and dropping them to the back of the 19-car pack after they were running seventh and eighth.

Just before the halfway stage of the 72-lap race, Leclerc pulled off an opportunistic move on Russell into Turn 12. How they failed to severely collide was remarkable before continuing their duel down the start-finish straight and through the first few corners.

Russell, however, sustained minor damage, leading to the stewards opting to investigate post-race, whilst he was also informed to relinquish sixth place to Antonelli to give the young Italian an opportunity to attack Leclerc.

Out front, after 45 laps, the gap between the leading duo was 1.257s, with Verstappen dropping to more than seven seconds off the back of Norris, whilst Hadjar continued to perform superbly in fourth.

On lap 53, after Antonelli had pitted for softs to try and place pressure on Ferrari, the Scuderia reacted by bringing in Leclerc a lap later.

As the Monégasque emerged from the pit lane, he immediately came under attack from Antonelli, who went for the low line through the banking, only to understeer into Leclerc, sending him spinning into a barrier, wrecking his Ferrari and out of the race.

The incident earned Antonelli a 10-second penalty for naturally causing a collision.

It prompted another safety car, and whilst Piastri and Norris switched to hard tyres, Verstappen took on softs, affording him a chance to make a move once racing resumed, although it was to no avail as the McLarens still had too much speed.

Antonelli earned an additional five-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane during the safety car period. The 15 seconds in total cost him a points finish as he was relegated to 16th at the chequered flag.

Seven laps from home, Norris' championship challenge suffered a bitter blow with the engine failure, forcing him to stop on track, and leading to a third safety car period.

And for the third successive time, Piastri handled the restart efficiently ahead of Verstappen, ensuring he would claim victory ahead of the home hero, with Hadjar taking his sensational third.

Behind Bearman, Aston Martin duo Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso were seventh and eighth. The former had started 19th and last on the grid.

Tsunoda grabbed ninth for his first points since the Emilia Romagna GP in Imola, with the second Haas of Esteban Ocon claiming 10th.