McLaren data suggests source of Lando Norris Dutch DNF

After looking through the data as Lando Norris was forced into retirement from the Dutch Grand Prix, McLaren has some indications, but not “full proof” of what caused his DNF.

Grinding to a halt in the closing stages of the race – having been running second to teammate Oscar Piastri – Norris suffered what may prove a hammer blow to his title chances, which makes it “even more inconvenient” as McLaren desperately wants to provide a fair platform for both of its title-challenging drivers.

Lando Norris Dutch GP DNF counters McLaren equality strategy

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

The Drivers’ Championship battle has become a two-horse race between the McLaren duo of Piastri and Norris. The situation firmly swung in Piastri’s favour after the Dutch Grand Prix, where he claimed a seventh win of the season, while Norris was forced to park the smoking sister McLaren.

Such an unfortunate event does not help McLaren one bit in trying to remain “neutral” in the Drivers’ title battle.

“Reliability has been a strong point at McLaren for a long time,” team principal Andrea Stella told the media, including PlanetF1.com, post-race.

“We have had today what looks like a technical reliability problem, which is always disappointing, but I would say that is even more inconvenient because it affects a situation in which we, as a team, we wanted to stay as neutral as possible in what is the drivers individual quest in the Drivers’ Championship.

“So it’s not ideal that we had a problem with the car, but that’s what it is. The whole team will process this, trying to take the learning, reviewing the problem, fixing it and making sure that this is not a factor anymore for the future, not only for the remainder of the championship, even if, obviously, this is the main focus for the moment.”

Stella guarded the initial data learnings on Norris’ DNF, stressing that it is not about pointing the finger at the chassis or engine side of the operation.

“So, we have some initial indication based on the data, but in fairness, we don’t have full proof of what has happened on Lando’s car,” Stella stated. “So I would refrain from making any speculation about it’s a problem on the chassis side or is a problem on the engine side.

“In fairness, it doesn’t make, in terms of the result, doesn’t make a big difference. Even in how this is perceived, let me say. I want to take the opportunity to remind ourselves that we just see chassis, engine, as a single, one team.

“So we will see technically where the problem is. We will fix it and we will go again. But at the moment, it’s unclear on which side the problem is.”

Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris head-to-head in F1 2025

👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head qualifying statistics between team-mates

👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head race statistics between team-mates

The events of Zandvoort mean Norris is now 34 points behind Piastri with nine rounds to go. Such is McLaren’s dominance that, bar a balancing of the retirement stats, Piastri is unlikely to drop many points between now and season’s end.

Norris believes the opening of this gap now allow him to “chill out” somewhat, knowing he simply must “win every race” if he wants to rescue his World Championship bid.

His stance was put to Stella, who was asked how McLaren will manage a Lando Norris who seemingly will now take more risks.

“Well, we talk about Lando. He’s one of the most fair, balanced, in a way I would want to say, like, you know, trustworthy individual, before being so as a driver,” Stella said.

“So when he says it’s going to be full commitment, or whatever he said, it just means that, if anything, he will try to extract out of himself even more from his incredible potential.

“Yeah, I look forward to seeing what Lando will be conditioned to express, because we know that his talent is immense, and I’m sure this situation in the championship will give him extra motivation to try and extract it.

“When it comes to the team, what’s important is that the team keeps racing in the same way we have gone racing so far. So staying as neutral as possible, facilitating the pursuit of their own aspirations for Lando and Oscar in a balanced way, in a fair way, in a sportsman like way, and that’s what we will continue to do.

“I don’t think there’s any change in the approach of the team that is triggered based on the fact that we have this situation in Zandvoort.”

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