If there were any fears after Saturday's mind-numbing sprint display that the Netherlands would send off its Formula 1 revival with a dud, then those fears were washed away in a sudden shower one hour before Sunday's race, around the time the starting grid started opening for business.
The rain didn't persist into the race itself, but caused just enough havoc to make Zandvoort's dune loop slippery, leading to carnage at the end of lap 1.
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Loser: Max Verstappen
Of all people, it was home hero Max Verstappen who tripped up in the conditions, making a rare mistake by being too eager with his right foot coming onto the main straight. The otherwise flat-out Luyendyk corner was particularly damp, with Verstappen veering straight into the outside wall after tapping the white line on the inside.
The end result was a huge crash, though the Dutchman was fortunate not to be collected by oncoming traffic. It's not the end result he or the army of orange clad fans were hoping for on the event's swansong, but both the four-time world champion and Zandvoort have had a good run, with Verstappen winning the first three editions. Verstappen's contract extension, which is supposed to keep him in F1 until 2030, should soften the blow too.
Photo by: John Thys / AFP via Getty Images
Winner: Lando Norris
Saturday's sprint didn't particularly fill McLaren with confidence, with the team's inferior race pace and tyre management on the medium compound making it unable to keep up with winner George Russell, while Ferrari also looked intrinsically quicker.
But in the hands of Norris, Sunday was a different story for the upgraded McLaren. While Norris was unable to hold off Antonelli on the standing restart, on Pirelli's hard tyre the reigning world champion was an absolute demon as he swept past the erstwhile leader and then picked off Lewis Hamilton on the same lap.
His team boss Andrea Stella credited the team's set-up adjustments after a much poorer sprint, but also reserved special praise for Norris as Oscar Piastri struggled much more aboard the other car.
"I think Lando had an extra [gear] in terms of understanding how to use this [hard] compound," Stella said. "These conditions, I think this is where he can express his natural driving style."
As his most recent grand prix wins in Budapest and Zandvoort have shown, Norris is arguably operating at his peak right now.
Photo by: Clive Mason / Getty Images
Winner: Liam Lawson
Different car, different role, different team leadership. The circumstances around Liam Lawson's one-off Red Bull return couldn't have been more different than his first calamitous adventure with the squad at the start of 2025, which lasted all of two rounds.
Speak to anyone who works or has worked with him, and it is clear Lawson has changed too - more mature for the character-building experience, and more well-rounded as a grand prix driver.
That's all very easy to say, but in the Netherlands Lawson was actually handed a surprise opportunity to back that up with facts. Subbing for the injured Isack Hadjar, he soldiered on through his one-off weekend with aplomb, despite driving what he experienced as an "entirely different" car other than the power unit.
A distant seventh-place was all that was on offer on Sunday as Red Bull was the fourth-fastest team by some distance. This is all Red Bull could have asked for from its stand-in.
Photo by: Simon Galloway / LAT Images via Getty Images
Loser: Ferrari
Yet another weekend goes by where Ferrari has a quick car but somehow manages not to bring it to the podium. Race weekend execution remains a sore topic for the Scuderia, between sub-optimal out-laps in qualifying to pitstops to race strategy.
Lewis Hamilton made an astute observation on Sunday, after getting fed up with Ferrari dilly-dallying on its decision to either swap positions with Charles Leclerc or pit his team-mate, as ended up happening. When George Russell was asked to swap with Kimi Antonelli, the Briton didn't particularly like it but immediately acted, with neither driver losing much time in the process.
"Mercedes execute like that," Hamilton said. "They've got the car that's fighting for the championship in the lead, and they did it straight away. Here I'm sitting back, losing seconds. Something that we need to discuss offline."
Things could have been different without the late virtual safety car, which likely saved Russell's podium spot from Hamilton. But all those little things are starting to add up as the seven-time world champion and Ferrari are trying to stay in the fight with an under-powered engine.
Photo by: Alastair Staley / LAT Images via Getty Images
Winner: Fernando Alonso
The Zandvoort weekend was shaping up to be quite bleak for Aston Martin on Friday when driveability issues with Honda's upgraded engine made it hard enough for Fernando Alonso and team-mate Lance Stroll to stay on the black stuff, never mind build on the team's Hungary progress.
There still weren't any miracles on Sunday, but there was enough performance in the AMR26 to make a bold one-stop strategy work for Alonso, getting one over Alpine's Pierre Gasly and the Racing Bulls drivers.
"Formula 1 is not a mysterious sport," said Alonso, the first driver aged 45 or older to score points since 1974. "You have to bring performance and outperform competitors to score points and it's what we are doing. So, congratulations everyone in Silverstone and hopefully we can bring more."
Photo by: Andy Hone/ LAT Images via Getty Images
Loser: Williams
You could make a big deal about the contact between Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon at the end of the race. But much more damning than the Williams-on-Williams violence itself is the fact that the collision, triggered by Sainz locking up his old hard tyres in Turn 1, was utterly meaningless, as the two drivers were racing nobody but themselves for 15th.
Williams is stuck in survival mode until its underdeveloped package receives some much-needed upgrades in Azerbaijan. But following Aston Martin's significant step forward, it's now just racing Cadillac and - on a good day - Haas.
The good news of this week is that both drivers have committed their future to the team for next year, removing some of the noise and distractions that were clouding the picture in recent weeks. But, as team principal James Vowles admitted on Friday, there won't be any short-term fixes for Williams.
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Formula 1 via Getty Images
Winner: Yuki Tsunoda
As Liam Lawson deserves praise for coming full circle on his successful Red Bull return, so does YukI Tsunoda. The Japanese driver was a spark plug on his one-off outing after spending 2026 on the sidelines, soaking it all in as he savoured an experience he wasn't sure he would ever be granted again.
A future in IndyCar may well await, through Yuki Tsunoda's carefully cultivated Honda connections. But last weekend, the 26-year-old could call himself an F1 driver again, and he did a decent job sticking close to regular driver Arvid Lindblad throughout the weekend.
"Honestly, I missed this kind of feeling, chasing those last few milliseconds," Tsunoda said after qualifying. "I am super enjoying it."
After just missing out on a point on Sunday, he added: "I know what I can do and I think I pretty much showed what I can do to most of the paddock.
"Now it's up to my manager and other teams, who haven't decided yet about next year's line-up, if they want to have me or not. Call me, please!" Tsunoda joked before being whisked away.
Photo by: Eric Le Galliot
Honourable mention: Nico Hulkenberg
How can you not give Nico Hulkenberg a shout-out for his outstanding reflexes at the end of lap 1, which saved his Audi team-mate Gabriel Bortoleto from an awful accident? You can't, so fair play.
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