Norris was confident of beating Verstappen despite losing lead at start· RaceFans

Dutch Grand Prix winner Lando Norris says he was confident he could beat Max Verstappen from early in the race despite losing the lead at the start.

The McLaren driver started from pole position at Zandvoort but was beaten by Verstappen into the first corner off the line.

However, Norris stuck with the Red Bull driver in the opening stint, eventually overtaking Verstappen for the lead at the start of the 18th lap. Norris pulled away from Verstappen over the second half of the race to win by over 20 seconds by the chequered flag.

Speaking after the race, Norris said he was confident of being able to beat Verstappen for the victory “from quite early on, actually.”

“Probably from about lap five, six, seven,” he said. “I expected Max to start pushing and get a bit of a gap, but he never did. So from that point, I knew we were in for a good fight. But he just seemed to keep dropping off and my face was getting better.

“It’s a nice feeling inside the car and especially when I got past, I could just get comfortable, I could push, I had clean air and that’s always a big help.”

After winning the first race after the summer break, Norris says he is delighted with the strong pace shown by McLaren in Zandvoort.

“It feels amazing,” Norris said. “Once again, I wouldn’t say a perfect race because of lap one again. But, afterwards it was beautiful.

“The pace was very strong. The car was unbelievable today. So I could get comfortable, I could push and get past Max, which was the main thing, and just go from there. So honestly quite a straightforward race. Still tough, but very enjoyable.”

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