Dutch GP: Norris NIGHTMARE as McLaren suffer double disaster

Max Verstappen took the lead from Lando Norris into Turn 1 as the McLaren star once again suffered from a poor start.

Norris' start reaction time of 0.28 seconds was identical to Verstappen's, however the Brit lost 0.41 seconds to his rival going from 0-200 km/h.

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The champion was already a second ahead as they started lap two, with the threat looming from behind for Norris.

George Russell managed to get ahead of Oscar Piastri as he proceeded to hunt the second McLaren.

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McLaren have a disastrous Dutch GP start

Piastri soon came under pressure from Charles Leclerc who flew past Sergio Perez into fifth but managed to hold onto his position.

At the other end of the grid, penalty stricken Lewis Hamilton moved up into P12 as he benefitted by starting on the soft tyres with an advantage over the other medium runners.

Another early winner was the Alpine of Pierre Gasly, who had an incredible start and overtook the Aston Martins of Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso.

However, as Carlos Sainz made his way up through the top ten Gasly lost his hard earned P7 to the faster Ferrari, following a fair but intriguing battle on-track.

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Whilst Norris' race appeared to be over as soon as the lights went out, he slowly gained on Verstappen, and pulled off a stunning overtake down the inside of Turn 1 to claim the lead on lap 18.

The Dutchman attempted to stick with Norris, but the McLaren star looked increasingly comfortable as he pulled out a five second lead ahead of the Red Bull before their round of pit stops.

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