Lando Norris aims cheeky radio message at Max Verstappen after crushing Dutch GP win

Lando Norris took a dominant victory at the Dutch Grand Prix on Sunday, and used Max Verstappen’s catchphrase on team radio to boot.

Verstappen had taken pole and the race win at all three previous visits to Zandvoort since Formula 1’s return to the circuit in 2021, but Norris ended that streak in crushing fashion.

Lando Norris uses Max Verstappen’s ‘simply lovely’ catchphrase after Dutch GP victory

Verstappen had the better start of the two drivers on the front row, leapfrogging McLaren driver Norris into the first corner and taking the early lead at Zandvoort.

But Norris stayed on the tail of the World Championship leader, keeping the Red Bull driver within DRS range and repassing him on lap 18 with a dart to the inside of Turn 1, making his way clear and eventually going on to win by 22.8 seconds come the chequered flag.

In celebrating victory on Verstappen’s home turf, Norris was told by race engineer Will Joseph: “Well done, well done – mega drive.”

Norris then responded, using the famous phrase as used by the Dutch driver after his own race wins: “Simply lovely, huh?

“Thank you, well done, boys. Incredible job, the car was unbelievable, thank you so much. Let’s keep pushing.”

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Speaking in parc fermé soon afterwards, the McLaren driver, who has narrowed the gap to Verstappen at the top of the World Championship to 70 points, added that while he did not execute the race start as he had hoped, he was over the moon with the rest of the race performance.

“It feels amazing,” he said.

“Once again, I wouldn’t say a perfect race, because of lap 1 again. But afterwards, that 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 I just got it from there.

“So honestly, [it was] quite a straightforward race, still tough, but very enjoyable.”

Norris added that, while the majority of fans in attendance will have been there in support of Verstappen, he has a solid contingent of his own support in the country, thanking those who backed him this weekend.

“I have a lot of Dutch fans and Dutch supporters, so I thank them very much,” he said.

“I mean, I’m sure some are a little upset, but I hope it was a good race. There are a lot of them supporting me, so I appreciate it a lot.”

On when he believed a race win was possible, despite being beaten off the line by the Red Bull driver, he added: “I think from from quite early on, actually, from probably lap 5, 6, 7.

“I expected Max to start pushing and then get a bit of a gap, but he never did. So from that point, I knew we were in with a good fight, but he seemed to just keep dropping off, and then my pace was getting better.

“So as I said, 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.”

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