Damon Hill reacts to Lando Norris' heartbreaking DNF in the F1 Dutch GP

McLaren star Lando Norris retired from the Dutch GP after an issue with the power unit. The Briton was chasing his teammate Oscar Piastri for the lead of the race when smoke started coming out of the rear of the McLaren. Former F1 champion Damon Hill came out and reacted to Norris' heartbreaking DNF from the F1 race at Zaandvoort.

Oscar Piastri started on pole position with Lando Norris starting alongside him. Max Verstappen passed Norris into Turn 1 as the Dutchman opted for the softer tire compound for the race start. However, as Verstappen's tires started to fade away, Norris passed the Red Bull driver and began chasing his teammate.

Both drivers made their pit stops under the two safety cars caused by Lewis Hamilton on Lap 23 and then Charles Leclerc on Lap 53. The McLarens were in a league of their own, sprinting away from the rest of the grid as Lando Norris battled Oscar Piastri for the race lead.

Unfortunately, on Lap 65, the battle came to a halt as smoke started coming out from the rear of Lando Norris' McLaren. The Briton reported, “Smoke in the cockpit”, before pulling to the side of the track and retiring the car. After getting out of the car, the #4 McLaren was spotted sitting on the other side of the barrier in despair.

Damon Hill took to the social media platform X and tweeted about the race at Zaandvoort while sharing his take on Norris’ DNF. He said,

“Shame for Lando. A rare mechanical Oops. Great drive from Oscar as we've come to expect. Odds on fav now. But that Hadjar is so solid, isn't he? 👏🏼👍🏻 If these cars were a bit smaller Zanvoort would be a really great race track. Love all the ups and downs and banked corners.”

Damon Hill

@HillF1

Shame for Lando. A rare mechanical Oops. Great drive from Oscar as we've come to expect. Odds on fav now. But that Hadjar is so solid, isn't he? 👏🏼👍🏻 If these cars were a bit smaller Zanvoort would be a really great race track. Love all the ups and downs and banked corners. #f1

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Implications of Lando Norris’ DNF on the F1 standings as Oscar Piastri extends his lead

Lando Norris won the last F1 race at the Hungarian GP and reduced the gap to Oscar Piastri in the championship to just 9 points. The 25-year-old looked to be the better of the two McLaren drivers as he topped all three practice sessions at the Dutch GP and was the favourite to take the pole position.

However, Piastri pipped his teammate to the pole by a hundredth of a second and commanded the race from Lap 1. With Norris retiring from the race and the Australian driver taking his 7th win of the season, Piastri has increased his lead to 34 points.

Norris, who won three of the last four races coming into Zaandvoort and closed the gap to Piastri, will now have to do it all over again with just 9 races left in the season.