‘Cheeky’ Lando Norris takes a dig at Max Verstappen immediately after beating him in front of his home fans

Lando Norris won the Dutch Grand Prix in front of Max Verstappen's home fans at the Zandvoort racing circuit.

‘Cheeky’ Lando Norris takes a dig at Max Verstappen immediately after beating him in front of his home fans

Lando Norris and Max Verstappen (via IMAGO)

The Dutch GP weekend was anticipated to set the precedent for the next half of the season. The race delivered on its promise as Lando Norris secured pole with a hefty margin and was the prime candidate for the win. Subsequently, after triumphing in the race at Max Verstappen‘s home ground, Norris took an indirect jibe at the Dutchman by using his catchphrase.

Lando Norris bottled his start and conceded the lead to Max Verstappen heading into turn one. Moreover, people expected the home race factor to aid the Dutchman in his pursuit of his fourth victory around Zandvoort and match Jim Clark‘s record around the track. However, the McLaren driver portrayed impressive performance and leaped past the 26-year-old on lap 18, and never looked back in his mirrors since then.

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The 24-year-old won the race with a margin of 22 seconds ahead of Verstappen, a feat that was recreated for the first time after the 2021 season. Subsequently, to rub salt in the Dutchman’s wounds, Norris used the catchline “simply lovely” on the radio.

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Great job. The car was unbelievable. Let's keep pushing. Thank you all...Simply lovely that.
Lando Norris said over the radio

The Englishman was ecstatic to win his second-ever race in F1. He claimed the MCL38 to have been unbelievable with its pace. Furthermore, he concluded his radio celebration by claiming the win to be simply lovely, which was understood as Norris’ way of asserting his dominance in the 2024 championship fight.

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Lando Norris expected Max Verstappen to disappear into the distance

After losing the lead into turn one, the McLaren driver expected a return of what happened in the race in Spain. On the other hand, when he saw Verstappen take the lead, he was dejected and reckoned that the chance of winning had vanished.

Max Verstappen and Lando Norris
Max Verstappen and Lando Norris (via IMAGO)

However, this soon changed as Norris explained in the post-race interview.

I think from quite early on from Lap 5, 6, 7. I expected Max[Verstappen] to start pushing on and he never did. His pace was dropping off and mine was improving. It was a nice feeling!
Lando Norris said

The 24-year-old revealed he was weary about Verstappen disappearing into the distance, as he anticipated the Red Bull driver to push away from him. Anyhow, this situation never occurred as the reigning champion was unable to break the DRS window as his pace dropped significantly. This gave Norris enough motivation to push through and take the lead from his rival.

Apart from this, the 24-year-old also set the fastest lap on his final attempt. This has caused the balance to swing in the favor of Norris by eight points. Thus, despite having a 70-point lead over his nearest rival, Verstappen would be biting his nails off, as the McLaren drivers would be snubbing away points from him.

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