Max Verstappen’s winning streak at home is over, Red Bull’s long-standing lead in the Formula 1 constructors’ championship now looks very fragile and only the large lead from earlier in the season ensures that Verstappen remains the favourite in the battle for the drivers’ title.

Some of Zandvoort’s winners and losers are easy to guess. Here’s our selection of them in the field.

Loser: Red Bull

Second place is probably the best result Red Bull could have hoped for today, as McLaren were well ahead in qualifying.

But the situation is now grim: there is now just 30 points between chaser McLaren and leader Red Bull in the constructors’ standings.

A major reason the deficit has narrowed is McLaren’s continued development, but Sergio Perez’s problems continue to cost Red Bull money. McLaren has now outperformed it for five consecutive races.

Although Zandvoort was Perez’s best performance since Miami in May, he has not finished in the top five since then, finishing only sixth today.

Red Bull is doing everything it can to give Perez more confidence, including extra coaching of the drivers in the run-up to this race. But how long can they maintain this position?

Verstappen also didn’t enjoy his time in the car today. Despite finishing second, he complained throughout the race about balance issues with the RB20.

If McLaren continues to surpass Red Bull’s score in this manner, it will take the lead in the constructors’ championship from Singapore in just three races. – Samarth Canal

Winner: Lando Norris

McLaren have won races this season, but this felt like a real breakthrough. Norris even surpassed Red Bull’s early-year dominance with the biggest margin of victory of the season.

Norris lost the lead with another poor start – something he and the team will need to fix if Red Bull are to bounce back in future races – but ultimately it didn’t matter here. Norris’ pace was so high that he flew past Verstappen, while other encounters in previous races felt like life-and-death wars lap after lap.

One dive into Turn 1 with DRS and Norris was gone, never to be seen again by his rival.

The starting problem needed to be resolved, but Norris then recovered incredibly and was able to test his McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri – who had been hot on his heels this year and at times matched or even surpassed him – with what looked like relative ease.

The lead in the Constructors’ Championship now looks to be quickly within reach for McLaren. And Verstappen’s lead in the Drivers’ Championship also looks to be getting closer for Norris. -Jack Benyon

Loser: Oscar Piastri

Piastri simply couldn’t match the level of McLaren team-mate Norris all weekend.

On Saturday he underperformed by failing to make a major improvement in his second run in Q3, allowing Max Verstappen to take a front row spot in a slower Red Bull.

And on Sunday Piastri was stuck behind other cars for far too long, meaning McLaren only managed a one-four when it should have been a one-two.

It disrupts the momentum after a very strong end to the first half of the 2024 season for Piastri and leaves him with a lot of headaches ahead of the Monza race. -Josh Suttill

Winner: Pierre Gasly

No repeat of his heroic performance on the Zandvoort podium in 2023, but an equally well-deserved ninth place for Pierre Gasly.

Although he emerged victorious in Formula 1’s ‘Class B’ battle this weekend, behind the top four teams, things did not go so smoothly.

He made a great start, passing Fernando Alonso on the first lap to finish seventh, before closing the 10-second gap to Nico Hulkenberg, which was caused by a block from Kevin Magnussen and a slow pit stop at Alpine.

Gasly held a comfortable lead over struggling team-mate Esteban Ocon all weekend and gave his new team boss Oliver Oakes a solid debut. -JS

Loser: Mercedes

After winning three of the last four races before the break, Mercedes came back down to earth on Sunday at Zandvoort.

The race started strongly, with George Russell moving up to third at the start, but then he started to fall behind both Leclerc and Piastri.

Then Russell made a second, rather confusing stop, causing Sainz and Sergio Perez to lose their positions on the track.

Russell said he felt like he was driving on ice as he finished seventh, just one place ahead of teammate Lewis Hamilton, who started nine places behind him.

Both drivers were astonished by Why The Mercedes was so ineffective on Sunday that we hope this is an exceptional weekend. -JS

Winner: Charles Leclerc

On any other day, Charles Leclerc would probably take home the award for best driver of the day for his performance at Zandvoort. Shame about that pesky McLaren up front, huh?

But that’s besides the point. Leclerc kept one car honest where the Ferrari is now not in the same class (Verstappen’s Red Bull) and beat another he shouldn’t have beaten (Piastri’s McLaren).

This was certainly more impressive than his third place in the Belgian GP four weeks ago, given the combination of attacking (the undercut to stay ahead of Russell and Piastri) and defending (holding back Piastri in the closing laps).

The quality of his drive was underlined by his admission in the post-race press conference that Ferrari is currently aiming for ‘damage limitation’ until the next upgrade, scheduled for the Italian GP next weekend.

If this is what he can do without it, and the upgrade is a significant step forward, Leclerc will definitely be a contender for a third consecutive podium finish in 2024 at Ferrari’s home race. -Jack Cozens

Loser: Alex Albon

A weekend of two halves for Williams and Alex Albon.

Stop it after qualifying and it would be a triumphant debut for the improved Williams.

But 24 hours later, Albon loses his eighth starting position due to an illegal floor and his comeback in the race is difficult.

He took the brunt of the Magnussen blockade, which he called “very dangerous”. It cooked his tyres and any hint of a points finish was completely gone. He crossed the finish line in 14th place.

The positive is that Williams’ new upgrade – the first real update of the season – is working well performance-wise and the team is expected to challenge for points more often.

But it missed a major opportunity to capitalise on this directly and instead of closing the gap to Alpine, it has only lost more ground. -JS

Winner: Ferrari

Is this where Ferrari wants to be now? Absolutely not.

Was third and fifth the maximum achievable at Zandvoort? Absolutely.

There is understandably a lot of attention on McLaren’s pursuit of Red Bull, now that it is an established contender for victory. But Ferrari is just 34 points behind in the constructors’ championship – and that’s after an erratic run in which its upgrade strategy has been in the spotlight.

That means we should take the optimism that the Monza upgrade will get the team out of ‘damage limitation mode’ with a pinch of salt. But results like this do keep the team in the race as it tries to compete with Red Bull and McLaren again. – JC

Loser: Aston Martin

Seventh and eighth place on the grid seemed to indicate that Aston Martin is back on track in Formula 1, but Fernando Alonso’s lone point on Sunday was a stark reminder that Aston Martin is now firmly in the midfield.

It was also a reminder of how far off the radar this team has fallen at a circuit where Alonso took his third second place of the 2023 season 12 months ago.

If this is the reality for Aston Martin for the remainder of the season, there is one consolation: the team will probably not be able to score enough points, given its current level of performance, to make up any significant deficit and threaten fifth place in the Constructors’ Championship. – JC