Parc Ferme: It’s Orange Jan, but not as we know it

Unfortunately, it was not to be as Lando Norris emerged as the victor. Luckily for the fans though, it was a similar color that came over the line first.

Lando Norris looks like he’s finally stepping up to the plate and showing us what he has always promised. It’s easy to rest on your talent sometimes, wisecracking your way through the interviews when your car is not up to it, and you’re pushing a seat blocker around the track.

Then Oscar Piastri arrived, the car started improving, and Norris was the one being pushed. His response was more panic than calm resolution with repeated errors. It started to appear that a great talent was being wasted by its owner.

However, we saw a different character pitch up after the summer break. Gone was Norris’ foppish schoolboy persona, and in its place, a more serious, focused driver. To underpin this new resolve, he put in a stellar qualifying lap – three-tenths faster than Verstappen and six-tenths faster than any other non-McLaren car.

This was a huge margin for such a short track. Anywhere else, the gap would have been at least five-tenths to the Dutch F1 World Champion and possibly a second faster than any of the other drivers.

However, we should also remember that Zandvoort is a qualifying lottery track. Gusts of wind and traffic can snatch two-tenths from you through no fault of your own. It was also the ideal platform for McLaren to showcase their strength: high-speed corner traction. Something they repeatedly did over the weekend by being consistently fastest in sector three.

Where the Papaya-colored team's body language was positive, back at the Red Bull garage things were a little different. One look at Verstappen after qualifying made it clear he had been required to put a fork in it to secure the anti-pole.

Flushed and looking a little downbeat, there was none of that “it’s in the bag, but I’m not saying so” confidence of the past. What transpired the following day justified his earlier demeanor. A storming trademark start was eventually whittled down and consumed by the McLarens’s superior tyre degradation. Max was consigned to finishing in a position he may well have to become more accustomed to: Second.

The driver of the day went to Norris as the Drive To Survive brigade mainly votes for it. However, it should have been Verstappen’s for his opening laps or Lewis Hamilton’s for his drive through the field from fifteenth to sixth.

Norris made the win look easy because it was. On top of the superior high-speed grip driving him out of Turn 14, he also had, by default, the best tyre degradation. To his credit, he kind of portrayed this at the end. His celebrations coming out of the car were mute for the occasion. The kind you have when you have won but didn’t have to play for it.

McLaren still has work to do in the strategy advantage. Norris’ trademark monkeyed start was not actually down to him. The clutch settings were wrong for both McLarens. Piastri’s long run before pitting for new rubber also tells us their race strategy is still more underdog than top-dog thinking.

Monza is this weekend, another track that will flatter the MCL38. For me, the jury is still out as to whether Lando has truly metamorphosed into a future F1 World Champion. His pace over one lap is awesome, but then that’s never been in dispute.

I need to see him win a 50-50 fight, not a cruise to the line first with Max et al. However, for that to happen, we first need Red Bull and Mercedes to pull a big tweek out of their upgrade cupboards.