A huge smash for Max Verstappen. And then Lando Norris won the Dutch Grand Prix to press his distant but increasingly interesting claims that he could successfully defend his world title.It was the McLaren man’s second successive victory, a sign that momentum may be swinging the British team’s way. They began the year poorly, perhaps a hangover from their crowning glory of last season, when they swept to both titles.Norris started on pole here. He lost out to Kimi Antonelli at a restart brought about by Verstappen’s thunderous first-lap accident, but then passed the Italian on the 54th of 72 laps. That was job done for him, following his win in Budapest three weeks ago.Antonelli finished second for Mercedes, with George Russell third in the other Silver Arrow. Norris is 83 points off the top, while Russell and Lewis Hamilton, who finished fourth, are both 59 points back from Antonelli.It is a big hill for Norris to climb, but he may yet prove himself to be a better pursuer than a front-runner.Norris led the race as the red flag was waved as Verstappen’s destroyed car was cleared away, causing a 30-minute delay to proceedings.Then to the restart. What seemed to be the decisive move of the race came with Antonelli passing Norris on the inside of the first corner. It was a brave overtake. The Italian, who turns 20 on Tuesday, can be proud of that even if he finally lost out on the victory. He still extended his lead in the standings, so it was a pretty good day for him in the final analysis. Lando Norris went onto claim victory in what was the final Dutch Grand PrixThe backdrop to this most Dutch of occasions is that the faithful trekked here for the last time in their orange-shirted enthusiasm on the ‘Max Express’, as it is called – the 30-minute train ride from Amsterdam Centraal, which sounds like an easy commute, but then there is a hugger-mugger scrum to board and disembark.When you get to the little resort town of Zandvoort, you are accompanied on your stroll by music pumping out ‘Super Max’, a techno beat that bangs away until your mind spins.It is all about Max in Holland, with even King Willem-Alexander in attendance on the grid in honour of his country’s most venerated sportsman.So it was all going well for the faithful – until the end of the first lap, and then bang, as the object of the crowd’s adoration was decelerating from 180mph on the final bend, hitting the concrete wall and ricocheting across the track.He was fortunate not to be caught up in traffic as those behind him came round the corner and he was helpless in his then uncontrollable Red Bull.The home favourite was straight on the radio to reassure his concerned team that he was not badly hurt. ‘Ah, yes, ****, I’m sorry,’ he said.Verstappen appeared to have slipped on to the white line on the inside edge of the track, which is banked at 18 degrees, as he ran seventh, where he had started. He made contact with the outside wall – a major impact.The four-time world champion’s stand-in team-mate Liam Lawson, running behind him, asked: ‘Is he OK? That looked f***ing huge.’Pierre Gasly, of Alpine, narrowly escaped banging into Verstappen more by luck than by changing path on a track dampened by rain that started to fall 45 minutes before lights out.