A heartbroken Lando Norris reacts to the race-ending PU failure in the F1 Dutch GP

Lando Norris had a huge heartbreak at the F1 Dutch Grand Prix as a costly power unit failure ended his race on lap 65 of 72. The McLaren driver was running in P2, just under 1.7 seconds behind teammate and race leader Oscar Piastri.

Early on in lap 65, Norris complained about smoke in his cockpit, highlighting that something was wrong with the power unit.

"I got smoke coming from the cockpit, I think. I smell something funny," he said on his team radio.

Just after his team radio message was broadcast on the F1TV stream, Norris' car was visibly expelling smoke from the rear end.

"Yeah, I think I'm on fire right now. It doesn't smell good, smoke in the cockpit."

Shortly after, he pulled over to the side of the track, as the McLaren pit wall looked distraught. Team Principal Andrea Stella covered his face, while McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown shook his head in disbelief. Home hero Max Verstappen, who was running in P3 and just over 4.5 seconds behind Lando Norris, overtook the McLaren driver for P2.

"Oil leak. I'm out. Failure. ******. I'm out, I'm out. It's gone," Norris said further.

His race engineer commended his pace throughout the race, attempting to console him.

"You were fast today. You were really fast. You were fast," Norris' engineer said.

The kind words didn't do much for Lando Norris, who sounded disappointed.

"Yeah, disappointed. I know, I know (I was fast). Unlucky, boys, unlucky," the McLaren driver said before jumping out of his car.

Norris was visibly upset after getting out of his MCL39, as he dragged his feet towards the inside barriers and over them. He sat down on the sand dunes with his head on his knees.

This DNF will be a huge blow to the Briton in the F1 drivers' championship battle against teammate Oscar Piastri. Norris was already nine points behind coming into the Dutch GP, a gap that widened to 34, with his Aussie teammate winning at Zandvoort and earning 25 points.

Apart from Piastri, the driver who benefited the most was Isack Hadjar, who earned his first F1 podium. Because of Norris' DNF, the Racing Bulls rookie got promoted from P4 to P3.

Lando Norris opens up on being perceived as "emotional" in comparison to teammate Oscar Piastri

Lando Norris with Oscar Piastri at the F1 Dutch Grand Prix- Qualifying - Source: Getty

In the eyes of many F1 experts and analysts, Oscar Piastri seems like the mentally stronger driver between him and Lando Norris. In a recent interview with former F1 driver David Coulthard for Viaplay, Norris showered praise on his McLaren teammate's exceptional pace and racecraft, and also touched upon their differing personalities.

Norris said:

"He certainly doesn't lack in speed, talent, ability in any sense of the word. So I know what I'm going up against, against a guy who is the same speed as me and just as good as me. He's incredibly calm, he's cool. I feel like I am [cool and calm] , but he makes me look like I'm emotional."

Lando Norris started P2 at the Dutch Grand Prix after losing out to Piastri by only 0.012 seconds in qualifying. Moreover, he lost position to Max Verstappen at the start, and it took him multiple laps to retake P2. Ultimately, it was all for nothing with a failure on his McLaren.