'Out of my control' – Norris gives verdict on 'frustrating' Dutch Grand Prix retirement

Lando Norris was left to come to terms with a pivotal retirement from the Dutch Grand Prix, claiming it was "out of my control" as he now trails McLaren team mate and title rival Oscar Piastri by a substantial margin.

Having quickly moved back ahead of Max Verstappen after losing second position on the opening lap, Norris shadowed Piastri for much of 72-lap race.

On the cusp of DRS range – the one-second-or-under gap required to use the drag reduction system – Norris looked set to challenge his championship rival in the closing stages. But with eight laps remaining, the Briton reported over the radio he could smell smoke.

Shortly after, Norris was forced to come to a stop out on track and record his second retirement of the season, following contact with Piastri in Canada.

With Piastri taking his seventh win of the year at Zandvoort, Norris now sits 34 points adrift in the title battle having come into the first race weekend after the summer break just nine points behind.

“It’s just a tough race," said Norris when asked about his feelings.

"I was a bit disappointed, but there’s nothing I could really do about it in the end. Frustrating, but it’s out of my control, so nothing I could do.”

Norris had looked stronger than Piastri for much of the weekend, having also taken victory at the Zandvoort Circuit 12 months ago, but crucially missed out on pole position by 0.012s.

Despite having to chase his team mate, Norris often looked the quicker of the two in the race but believed being able to overtake for the lead would have been incredibly difficult.

"You can’t do a lot around here. I felt a bit quicker [than Oscar] but you have to be about eight-tenths quicker to overtake around here and I’m not eight-tenths quicker," said Norris.

“To follow within two seconds for pretty much the whole race was a good drive. There was nothing more I could really ask. You start to get dirty air at around four seconds. To be around three or two, I wasn’t really expecting it today.

“I thought I did a good job, but it doesn’t help much, doesn’t mean much. It doesn’t mean I got more points or whatever, it’s just reassuring that the pace was strong, and I look ahead to the next one.”