Dutch GP data revealed: Can anyone stop Lando Norris?

After the first two windy free practice sessions in the Netherlands, McLaren drivers are once again at the top of the timing charts without any serious competition heading into Saturday of the Dutch Grand Prix weekend.

Lando Norris topped the timesheets in both FP1 and FP2, and it seems the advantage currently leans slightly in his favor. So where exactly is Norris building his lead, and how big is it? Let’s dive into the telemetry data to find out.

Can Norris win again for McLaren in the Netherlands

The trend we’ve seen throughout the season seems to be repeating this weekend: Lando Norris is more comfortable in low-speed corners, and on a track like Zandvoort, that translates into better lap times. At least on Friday.

Conditions during the first two practice sessions weren’t ideal; strong winds, dust, and shifting temperatures created inconsistencies that made data analysis trickier. While rain was forecasted for FP2, we ended up with a full dry hour on track.

Another factor we always need to consider when analyzing telemetry is that we don’t know the power unit modes or the exact fuel levels being run.

Still, one thing is clear: Norris was the driver who stood out on Friday, topping the timesheets in both FP1 and FP2. His teammate Piastri was just under 0.3s behind in FP1, and the delta dropped to just 0.089s in FP2.

So where exactly was Norris faster?

Looking at both sessions, we see a recurring pattern. Oscar Piastri is quicker in Sector 1, while Norris has the edge in the middle and final sectors. Norris struggled with Turn 2, where positioning the car well is crucial for Turn 3 — famous for its steep 19-degree banking.

In addition to Turn 3, Turn 14 also features banking, and interestingly, Norris was faster in this corner than his teammate in both FP1 and FP2. These banked turns place additional vertical and lateral loads on the tyres, and as we’ve seen, it’s very easy to lose grip here.

From the images above, we can see the speed differences at Turn 2 between Lando and Oscar in FP1. Further along the lap, all the way to Turn 10, their times are nearly identical.

At Turn 10, Norris consistently found more grip and managed understeer better — particularly important in this section. A better exit through this 180-degree corner also means a higher top speed on the straight leading to Turn 11.

That’s also where the heaviest braking zone is, and again, Norris had better control of the car than his McLaren teammate. Analysis of the fast laps shows that this is precisely where the Briton gains a definitive edge, both in FP1 and FP2.

While Norris has the advantage, the FP2 gaps are too small to make any bold predictions just yet. What’s most interesting is that both drivers have their own strengths and weaknesses across the lap, which sets up a thrilling head-to-head for Saturday.

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Pole position will be crucial — as usual

Securing pole position will give any driver a significant advantage in the race, as has been the case throughout the season. Like Hungary, Zandvoort offers very limited overtaking opportunities due to its narrow layout and lack of straights, shifting the focus toward strategy.

To spice up strategy options, the FIA and Pirelli have introduced a few changes that may push teams to consider two-stop races more seriously.

The first change: the pit lane speed limit has been increased from 60 km/h to 80 km/h, cutting pit stop loss time by roughly two to three seconds.

Additionally, Pirelli has brought tyres one step softer than last year. Zandvoort is a high-load circuit when it comes to tyres, so this change will be clearly felt.

Let’s take a look at the FP2 long-run simulations, where both McLaren drivers ran medium tyres.

In this segment, the difference was much more notable: Norris had significantly better pace.

Despite using similarly fresh tyres and running a comparable number of laps, Lando was on average six-tenths faster per lap than the competition, which is a substantial margin. He was also more consistent throughout his run.

While these results should be taken with caution — again, we don’t know fuel loads or engine modes — they do echo what we saw during the last race in Hungary.

Let’s not forget Norris’ incredible ability to manage tyres and find victory through alternate strategies.

But we also shouldn’t forget how well Piastri can bounce back from Friday to deliver on Saturday. One thing is certain: we’re in for an exciting fight — both in qualifying and on race day.

Read next: Dutch GP: Norris sees off Alonso threat as Stroll crashes hard in FP2