Oscar Piastri extended his F1 championship lead with victory at the 2025 Dutch Grand Prix.
Piastri led from lights to flag largely unchallenged to claim his seventh win of the season and extended his championship lead to 34 points, after his teammate and title rival, Lando Norris suffered a power unit failure on lap 65.
The Australian post-race reflected on his improved performance compared to 2024 which saw him undercut by Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc for third place.
“I felt like I was in control in that one and felt like I used the pace when I needed to, it was a bit of a different race to 12 months ago.”
Max Verstappen finished second ahead of Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar as the 20-year-old rookie claimed his maiden F1 podium with third place, owing to Norris’ late power unit failure.
Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton and Leclerc both crashed out at Hugenholtzbocht on laps 23 and 53 respectively in a difficult race for the Scuderia.

At lights out, Piastri fought off Norris who got jumped by Verstappen on the outside of Tarzanbocht but the Brit momentarily repassed into Gerlachbocht, only for Verstappen to brake late and repass him albeit with a brief slide off track for second.
Charles Leclerc meanwhile jumped Russell for fifth but found himself stuck behind Hadjar for the opening stint as rain began to lightly fall from lap eight onwards for around 20 laps.
Up front, Piastri used his medium tyres to fend off Verstappen after the Dutchman had opted for the soft tyre which left him in Norris’ clutches, and the Brit cleared him round the outside of Tarzanbocht on lap nine to set up a charge towards Piastri.
After Stroll’s Q1 crash left him at the back of the field, Aston Martin and the Canadian gambled on a pit stop for hard tyres on lap nine, whilst others followed suit in hope of the undercut.
Hamilton however spun out at Hugenholtzbocht after he got wide on the high line in damp conditions on lap 23 to bring out the safety car, just as Leclerc stopped which saw the Monegasque undercut by Russell as those who hadn’t pitted made a stop on the next lap.
On the restart on lap 27, Sainz swept round the outside of Lawson at Tarzanbocht only for the Kiwi to collide with him on the exit which earned Sainz a ten-second penalty, after stewards apportioned blame in his direction for the incident which left debris on track.
The Virtual Safety Car was deployed on lap 31 to allow marshals to remove the debris and when withdrawn a lap later, Leclerc got a run on Russell out of Bocht 10 and late braked into Hans Ernst Bocht to take fifth despite running briefly beyond the asphalt on the inside kerb.
Antonelli meanwhile benefitted from the safety car and overtakes on Ocon plus Albon to put himself seventh and earned a tactical swap with Russell on lap 41, before he pitted at the end of lap 51 for soft tyres which prompted Leclerc to pit at the end of the next lap to cover off Antonelli.
Antonelli however had done a rapid outlap and caught up to Leclerc into Hugenholtzbocht with the Monegasque on the high line, whilst Antonelli took the low line but lost grip mid corner and slid up into Leclerc which ended the Ferrari driver’s race with a spin facing the wrong direction.
Stewards handed Antonelli a ten-second time penalty for his error, which was followed by a five-second penalty after he sped in the pit lane as he returned to his box.
The safety car subsequently was immediately deployed as Piastri and Norris pitted for hard tyres, whilst Verstappen, Hadjar, Russell and Albon opted for the soft tyres to the finish as did Antonelli who made a third stop for fresh soft tyres.
Racing resumed on lap 57 as Piastri and Norris fended off the immediate threat of Verstappen for two laps before Norris got within one second of his teammate on lap 59, but the Aussie quickly reopened the gap to over one second.
Norris’ power unit however blew on lap 65 and forced him to stop between Masterbocht and Bocht 9 on the inside which triggered a safety car.
Racing resumed on lap 69 and Piastri cruised to his ninth win of his F1 career as Verstappen settled for second at his home race as Hadjar rounded out the podium with his best F1 result in his maiden season in the category, which earned him the fans’ driver of the day award.
Piastri’s victory also marked his first Grand Slam in F1 which comprised of; pole position, victory, having led every lap and set fastest lap, and made him the first Australian to achieve that feat since Jack Brabham at 1966 British GP.
Russell finished fourth ahead of Albon whilst Bearman claimed a F1 career-best sixth-placed finish from the pit lane due to Antonelli’s time penalty, whilst Stroll, Fernando Alonso, Yuki Tsunoda and Esteban Ocon rounded out the top ten as Antonelli fell to 16th in the classification.
| Position | Driver | Team | Laps | Time |
| 1 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 72 | 1h ..m .. |
| 2 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 72 | + 1.271 |
| 3 | Isack Hadjar | Racing Bulls | 72 | + 3.233 |
| 4 | George Russell | Mercedes | 72 | + 5.654 |
| 5 | Alex Albon | Williams | 72 | + 6.327 |
| 6 | Oliver Bearman | Haas | 72 | + 9.044 |
| 7 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 72 | + 9.497 |
| 8 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | 72 | + 11.709 |
| 9 | Yuki Tsunoda | Red Bull | 72 | + 13.597 |
| 10 | Esteban Ocon | Haas | 72 | + 14.063 |
| 11 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine | 72 | + 14.511 |
| 12 | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls | 72 | + 17.063 |
| 13 | Carlos Sainz | Williams | 72 | + 17.376 |
| 14 | Nico Hulkenberg | Sauber | 72 | + 19.725 |
| 15 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Sauber | 72 | + 21.565 |
| 16 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes2 | 72 | + 22.029 |
| 17 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | 72 | + 23.629 |
| RET | Lando Norris | McLaren | 64 | Power |
| RET | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 52 | Collision |
| RET | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | 22 | Crash |

Leave a Reply