Lando Norris' chances of beating Oscar Piastri to victory in the Dutch Grand Prix went up in smoke. His title chances are at risk too.
Piastri won the Dutch Grand Prix after teammate Norris' McLaren broke down in what could prove a turning point in the title race.
Norris was chasing Piastri late in the race when the British driver reported a “funny” smell in his cockpit.
“I don't know if I'm on fire or not,” Norris said. Smoke poured from the back of the car and he had to stop.
Norris ended the race standing behind a barrier at the side of the track with race marshals and his broken-down car.
Norris’ race engineer had tried to console him by telling him how good his pace had been.
“Doesn’t matter,” Norris responded. It was the second time this season he's failed to finish after colliding with Piastri at the Canadian Grand Prix in June.
Red Bull's Max Verstappen passed the stricken Norris to cheers from the crowd for second place at his home Grand Prix, while Isack Hadjar of Racing Bulls took his first-ever podium finish in third.
Liam Lawson was 12th. He had been on track for a points finish but following a safety car restart he was clipped by Williams' Carlos Sainz.
He had to pit and dropped out of the top 10. Sainz later received a penalty.
"It just sucks, sucks for both of us," said Lawson.
"It's obviously not my intention, but it's lap one on a restart.
"The rules are written as they are, we all know how they're written. So as much as we sometimes don't agree with it - I've been on the receiving end of it this year, I don't agree with it as well - that's how they are.
"For it to be his corner, he has to be ahead at the apex. He wasn't anywhere near that today, that's why he got a penalty for it, I'm guessing."
Piastri in control
Piastri’s lead over second-placed Norris increased from nine points to 34 with nine races remaining.
The Australian's win required him to manage three safety car restarts, holding off Norris twice and then keeping Verstappen behind him after Norris' breakdown.
“Obviously it was incredibly unfortunate for Lando at the end,” Piastri said. “But it felt like I was in control of that (race) and used the pace that I needed to.”
Verstappen had received a hug from King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands before the race and his second place was popular with the orange-clad Dutch fans. It was Red Bull's first podium finish in a Grand Prix, rather than a sprint race, under new team principal Laurent Mekies following the firing of Christian Horner.
Hadjar was lifted off the ground and slapped on the back by a crowd of jubilant team members as they celebrated Racing Bulls' first podium result in four years.
“That was always the target since I was a kid, so this is the first step,” Hadjar said. “My first podium and hopefully much more.”
Both Ferraris crash
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Both Ferraris ended up in the barriers in the same spot. Lewis Hamilton hit the wall during a rain shower in another disappointing race for Ferrari.
Hamilton was later given a five-place grid penalty for the next race — the Italian Grand Prix — for failing to slow down enough while driving to the grid before the race.
Teammate Charles Leclerc’s race ended when he was hit by Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli and spun into the same barrier. Like Norris, Leclerc ended up watching the race trackside, in his case from atop a sand dune.
George Russell was fourth for Mercedes following an earlier coming together with Leclerc.
Alex Albon was fifth for Williams and Oliver Bearman a career-best sixth for Haas after benefiting from the chaos ahead and two time penalties for Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli. Lance Stroll took seventh for Aston Martin ahead of teammate Fernando Alonso.
Yuki Tsunoda was ninth for the embattled Red Bull driver’s first points since May, with Esteban Ocon 10th in the other Haas.
Additional reporting by 1News
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