Formula 1. In the Netherlands, the start of a battle at the top between Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris?

After three weeks of vacation, Formula 1 resumes this weekend in the Netherlands where Australian Oscar Piastri , leading the championship since April, will try to maintain his position against his closest pursuer and McLaren teammate Lando Norris .

On the Zandvoort coastal circuit, the scene of the ^15th round of the 24 this season, the advantage seems to lie with Norris: winner of three of the last four Grands Prix, the Briton is also the last to have won on the North Sea coast, last year.

The reigning runner-up, who started the season at the top of the championship, is currently only nine points behind Piastri. With 25 points to be distributed this weekend, he can mathematically overtake his teammate, who finished only fourth at Zandvoort last year.

At the forefront since the first race of the season, McLaren continues to disgust the competition and already has eleven Grand Prix victories out of a possible 14 - including seven one-twos. Behind, the rest of the field shares the crumbs. Third in the championship, relegated 97 points behind Piastri, the four-time reigning champion Max Verstappen is also suffering the McLaren law.

In front of his Orange army this weekend, the Dutchman still hopes to get back to winning ways - for honor more than for the title race, which seems promised to the "papaya" team. The drought has lasted too long for "Mad Max": winner of only two GPs this year, the Red Bull driver's last victory dates back to May, at the Emilia-Romagna GP .

"It's still going to be a tough race," he predicts, having won three of the four editions of the Dutch GP since its return to the calendar in 2021. "The weather could complicate things." Indeed, showers are expected over the weekend - conditions in which the Dutchman excels.

The holidays will certainly have done Lewis Hamilton , who left the F1 paddock at the beginning of August amid a crisis of confidence at Ferrari, some good. During the last GP, the Briton had some very harsh words for himself after missing his qualifying. "I'm completely useless," he said, dejected. He finished the GP in ^12th place , far behind his Monegasque teammate Charles Leclerc , who was fourth.

"He is very demanding of himself first and foremost," his boss Frédéric Vasseur replied after the GP. "That's why he is a seven-time world champion."

Second in the constructors' championship, Ferrari arrives on the Dutch coast with "the desire to maintain the positive dynamic of the last races, where [it was] more competitive," Vasseur assured this week.

"This weekend, qualifying will be particularly crucial given how difficult it is to overtake on this circuit," the Frenchman added. The narrow Zandvoort circuit is indeed a challenge for drivers, and overtaking can be more difficult there than elsewhere.

"It's a very " It's an old school car , with tight but fast corners, and its banked corners make it unique and quite exciting," describes Frenchman Pierre Gasly . In the Netherlands, the Alpine driver will be on the lookout for a good shot in the rain, just like in 2023, when he took his first podium with the team at Zandvoort .

A performance that would once again be welcome for the Franco-British team: unable to really get involved in the fight, it is currently tenth and last in the general constructors' standings.