McLaren is “an humiliation for everyone”: for Ferrari a weekend that started and ended badly
Zandvoort once again delivered drama, with a chaotic Dutch Grand Prix reminiscent of the 2022 edition. Only a power unit failure for Lando Norris stopped McLaren from claiming a fifth consecutive one-two finish, an incident that allowed Oscar Piastri to strengthen his lead in the championship. The Australian stood on the podium alongside two Red Bull family cars, one of which was the surprising Racing Bulls of Isack Hadjar. For Ferrari and the Italian contingent it was a weekend to forget, although despite the crashes for Hamilton and Antonelli, not everything was entirely negative.
The strength of McLaren
Despite a race full of twists and three Safety Cars, the papaya orange car once again stood on the top step of the podium. The neutralisations may have slowed the pace, but they could not hide McLaren’s technical superiority. Even on the harder tyre compound while rivals ran fresh softs, the Woking team managed the race with ease. “You could see it at the end, the McLarens were on hards while all of us were on new softs. This is an humiliation, for everyone,” said Mercedes boss Toto Wolff.
Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur agreed with Toto Wolff, even if his words were less harsh: “It wasn’t just in the final stint. I don’t know if they were pushing or not, but halfway through the second stint they were much quicker than us. I think they just managed the first ten laps, then when they pushed they were miles ahead. They’re clearly one step ahead in qualifying, but even more so in the race.” McLaren’s dominance comes from a car with high downforce, stability and balance, able to protect its tyres from overheating while maintaining speed.
What makes the humiliation even greater is the context. McLaren has built a technical advantage in one of the most competitive eras of Formula 1, at a time when it seemed almost impossible to find major gains. In the final year of the ground-effect regulations, Woking stunned the paddock with an ambitious concept and strengthened its edge through relentless development. Securing both titles now looks like just a formality.
Balance broken
The only cloud over McLaren’s dominant Dutch GP was Norris’ retirement due to a technical issue, leaving him 34 points behind Piastri in the standings. It came on a weekend where Lando was already losing out to his teammate, a gap traced back to just 0.012s in qualifying. The McLaren pair continue to be extremely close in performance, both over one lap and in race trim, which makes a comeback difficult for the Briton. That said, since Canada Norris has shown a calmer, more balanced approach, avoiding the excessive self-criticism that often weighed him down earlier in his career. Closing the gap will be tough, but not impossible.
On the other side of the garage, fate’s gift doesn’t change how Piastri earned his win. “I’d say it was a typical Oscar weekend,” said McLaren team principal Andrea Stella. “We saw his usual characteristic of improving across the sessions, learning and putting it into practice to deliver when it matters most, in qualifying.” Piastri also handled the Safety Car restarts perfectly, catching his rivals off guard every time. Now his mission is to manage his championship advantage with the same control he showed at Zandvoort.
Max responds, Hadjar shines
Max Verstappen returned to the podium in front of his home crowd. The track layout gave Red Bull little hope on paper, given the RB21’s weakness in medium-speed corners, but the team turned things around by overhauling the setup overnight on Friday. Verstappen then maximised his qualifying effort, putting the tyres into the right window and even saving a set of softs that proved crucial in the race. Starting on them and switching back late, he managed to fend off rivals and secure a strong finish.
The biggest surprise came from Isack Hadjar. One of the least hyped rookies this season, the Frenchman thrived at Zandvoort to deliver a brilliant podium for Racing Bulls. The car, designed to be more forgiving and suited to young drivers, proved perfect for the technical Dutch circuit, especially with tricky winds. Other standout results included Alex Albon in fifth and Ollie Bearman in sixth. Williams and Haas both nailed their strategies, but tactics only work if car and driver can execute them — and both did.
Antonelli and Ferrari look to Monza
It was a day to forget for Hamilton and Antonelli, both of whom showed signs of recovery only to throw it all away. Antonelli was just a tenth off Russell in qualifying despite having one fewer practice session, and his race pace in clean air was praised by Wolff as second only to the McLarens. But his Friday crash and race-ending contact with Leclerc were costly errors, extending his run of poor results. Hamilton suffered similarly, crashing at Turn 3 and picking up a five-place grid penalty for Monza after an issue on the formation lap. Still, the Briton felt better in the Ferrari SF-25 thanks to a refreshed approach with the team, which offers hope moving forward.
For Ferrari, the weekend ended just as badly as it began. “We had one of the worst Fridays of the last three years. If you look at our pace in free practice, we were in huge trouble. Nothing was working,” admitted Vasseur. The team arrived in Zandvoort with a poor baseline setup and started immediately on the back foot, something even overnight changes couldn’t fully fix. The priority now is to put the Dutch GP behind them quickly and focus on Monza, where the SF-25 should be more suited to the circuit’s characteristics. Ferrari will hope for a very different Italian Grand Prix compared to what they endured in Zandvoort.
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