McLaren left the Dutch Grand Prix Sprint with a less encouraging verdict than expected after Lando Norris slipped from second to third and struggled with race pace and energy management in the MCL40. Norris was the only driver to lose a position during the Sprint, with Charles Leclerc exploiting the McLaren’s difficulties to move ahead on the Zandvoort main straight.
George Russell won the Dutch GP Sprint ahead of Charles Leclerc, who was one of only two drivers to use the soft tyres alongside Oliver Bearman. Lando Norris, having started second, crossed the line third, while team-mate Oscar Piastri finished fifth.
McLaren race pace disappoints in Dutch GP Sprint
Third and fifth places were not, in themselves, the worrying part of McLaren’s result. More significant was the disappointing race pace that emerged after the halfway point and the fact that Lando Norris was the only driver to surrender a position during an otherwise largely uneventful race.
The result provided a very different picture from the pace McLaren had shown recently and came despite further MCL40 rear-end developments for the Dutch Grand Prix.
Lando Norris: “We need to do more”
“Not a bad result, not the best. It would have been better to be a little bit quicker. Charles was too fast. I don’t think it was because of the tyres; we simply weren’t quick enough in terms of race pace,” Lando Norris said after the Sprint.
Those were the initial conclusions of the 2025 world champion. The British driver was not particularly disappointed with his own race, but the overall picture for McLaren was objectively less encouraging.
Both Lando Norris and, even more noticeably, Oscar Piastri struggled with energy management. Charles Leclerc was able to take full advantage of that weakness when he passed Norris.
“We’re very good at high speed, but the car isn’t performing at the level we need in the low-speed corners,” Lando Norris added. “We’re optimising a lot of things. It’s a good result and we need to be happy with the progress we’re making. But we need to do more.”
McLaren struggles contrast with dominant Hungary performance
Regardless of how Lando Norris’s assessment is interpreted, McLaren’s Zandvoort performance contrasts sharply with the impressive result achieved in Hungary, a circuit that has several similarities with Zandvoort, particularly through the second sector.
The upgrades introduced for this weekend have undoubtedly changed aspects of the car’s behaviour. McLaren has also been experimenting with different aerodynamic concepts for Zandvoort, including its unusual MCL40 rear-wing solution.
Charles Leclerc highlights Lando Norris battery deployment problem
The only overtake of the Sprint was completed against Formula 1’s number one car on the main straight. Charles Leclerc revealed afterwards that he had noticed Lando Norris was struggling with the amount of electrical energy available to him.
“Lando didn’t have much energy deployment on the straight; I’m happy with my result,” Charles Leclerc said.
That makes energy management an important factor heading into tomorrow’s Grand Prix. McLaren remains extremely strong over a single lap and is therefore likely to be competitive in qualifying, but its Sprint race pace was less convincing.
If the MCL40 again struggles to deploy enough energy effectively during the Grand Prix, McLaren could find itself vulnerable to cars behind despite its qualifying speed.
Oscar Piastri also struggles as rivals close in
McLaren’s difficulties were also reflected in Oscar Piastri’s performance. Towards the end of the Sprint, the Australian came under pressure from both Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton, despite both drivers having experienced clear difficulties of their own during the Zandvoort weekend.
McLaren therefore needs to find something more if it is to achieve the result it expected in the Netherlands. Zandvoort should suit the papaya car and is a circuit enjoyed by both of its drivers, meaning the ingredients for victory remain in place.
But after the warning signs seen during the Sprint, McLaren needs to make another step immediately if it wants to convert its underlying potential into a Dutch Grand Prix win.
