McLaren driver Lando Norris of Britain wins the Formula One Dutch Grand Prix in Zandvoort , Netherlands, Sunday, Aug. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

ZANDVOORT, Netherlands  — Lando Norris had a clear message for his Formula 1 rivals after a spectacular race-winning pass on standings leader Kimi Antonelli. Write off his title defense at your peril.

“This fight is still on,” Norris said over team radio after winning the Dutch Grand Prix for back-to-back F1 victories and a trophy presented by the King of the Netherlands.

Norris asked his McLaren team to “just keep bringing upgrades (to the car), just keep bringing performance please” as he eyes an 83-point gap to Antonelli.

READ: F1: Lando Norris clinches pole for Dutch Grand Prix

First Kimi then Lewis…

Precision passing from Lando propelled him to the front 💪#F1 #DutchGP pic.twitter.com/iIQveikrjM

— Formula 1 (@F1) August 23, 2026

Max Verstappen nearly reeled in a similarly vast lead last year as Norris held on by just two points. Now the British driver is the hunter.

“There’s still plenty of things we can do better and need to do better if we’re going to fight for a championship,” Norris added.

Norris seizes chance

Norris started on pole but was overtaken by Antonelli’s Mercedes at a restart after the race was stopped for a heavy crash by home hero Verstappen, who was unhurt, shortly after the start.

Norris reeled in Antonelli before passing him around the outside of the first corner in a daring move on lap 54 of 72, then took the lead from Ferrari’s Hamilton before the lap was over.

The defending champion held on with old tires to take the win. “This fight is still on,” he said over team radio.

“The move (to pass Antonelli) was good. I knew I was not going to get many chances. Every lap I spent behind him my chances got lower and lower,” Norris said. “Well played from my part…I probably had one chance.”

READ: F1: McLaren boss glad of ‘harmony’ between Norris, Piastri

Antonelli was second after his Mercedes teammate George Russell was ordered to move out of his way, following a failed gamble on a tire change by Antonelli. Russell clung on to finish third ahead of Hamilton.

Antonelli’s standings lead grew to 59 points over Russell and Hamilton, who are now level. Norris moved ahead of Charles Leclerc for fourth.

Antonelli, Russell question Mercedes strategy

There was tension at Mercedes as both Antonelli and Russell criticized the team’s decisions over the radio.

Antonelli called his team’s strategy “too risky” when the team congratulated him on second place, while Russell earlier seemed to object to being asked to give way to his teammate.

“Is he fighting for the win? Or is he planning to catch Norris?” Russell questioned, at a point where Norris was far ahead of both.

Russell relented after the race and said he felt Mercedes had made the right decision to avoid the two battling for position as Hamilton closed in behind.

Antonelli “would have overtaken anyway so it was the right decision,” said Russell, who won the sprint race Saturday. “It’s been a strong weekend overall so I’ll take the positives.”

Verstappen’s big crash, Hülkenberg’s big save

There was a half-hour delay after Verstappen slammed into the wall on a damp first lap, stopping the race and ensuring a nightmare end to his last home race in the Netherlands for the foreseeable future.

READ: F1: Max Verstappen signs new Red Bull contract until 2030

Just a couple of seconds later, there would have been another huge collision if not for lightning reactions by Nico Hülkenberg. As his Audi teammate Gabriel Bortoleto span across the track, the German swerved around him through a cloud of tire smoke.

“It was crazy with Gabi, I almost T-boned him,” Hülkenberg said over team radio.

The Dutch Grand Prix is dropping off the schedule after this season and the many orange-clad Dutch fans who turned up to support Verstappen instead saw Norris and his orange McLaren take the win.

Verstappen said he simply misjudged his speed on the damp track after pre-race rain.

Charles Leclerc was fifth on another disappointing day for Ferrari ahead of its home race in Italy in two weeks’ time. Norris’ teammate Oscar Piastri was sixth after running in the top three early on, and Liam Lawson salvaged seventh for Red Bull after being called in to replace the injured Isack Hadjar.

Hulkenberg was eighth for Audi, with Fernando Alonso ninth in the best result of an otherwise-disastrous 2026 for Aston Martin. Alpine’s Pierre Gasly rounded out the top ten.

A WWE legend made a return after 221 days and this happened at TNA Lockdown. This was a huge comeback and the fans would have been shocked at what they saw.

The legend in question is none other than Candice Michelle. Michelle is one of the most well known female stars of all time. She had a memorable time during her stint in WWE before she left in 2009. After all those years, in 2026, she signed up with TNA Wrestling to work as a producer and agent.

She was last seen as a part of the audience for the premiere episode of TNA Impact on January 15th, 2026. She has since been working backstage until last night where she showed up to speak with the panel at TNA Lockdown.

Candice admitted that she was happy to be back and that she couldn’t wait for all the stars to be involved in the show.

WWE legend Candice Michelle reveals what is missing in women’s wrestling

Candice Michelle was one of the main trailblazers in the 2000s who helped WWE gain more fans. Thanks to her natural ability to reel fans in, she was seen as an integral part of the locker room.

She recently sat down for an interview with TMZ Sports’ Inside The Ring when she revealed what is missing in today’s era of women’s wrestling. She said:

“I think what we are missing is a little bit more of the femininity. What I mean by that is we have pushed so hard, ‘Oh, women are equal to men,’ like we get equal time, equal pay, and yeah, there is a part of that. But like by the end of the day I want the men to be a little bit more masculine.”

It will be interesting to see if anyone in the wrestling world will pay heed to what Candice has to say and make changes where necessary.