Oscar Piastri was thrilled to start the second half of the season on a high, particularly with the control he showed to win the Dutch Grand Prix on Sunday.

The Australian has extended his lead over McLaren team-mate Lando Norris at the top of the Drivers' Championship to 34 points with his seventh win of the season.

He made a strong start from pole and managed to hold onto that amid chaos around him, with Norris forced to retire with seven laps remaining due to an apparent engine failure.

The poleman has now won six of the last seven races at the Dutch Grand Prix, with Piastri the first Australian to win at Zandvoort since Alan Jones in 1979.

Piastri has also now finished each of his last 43 races, equalling the second-best record in F1 history, achieved by Max Verstappen between Emilia-Romagna 2022 and Saudi Arabia 2024.

"Yes, starting out on top is a good way to go," Piastri said.

"If we can keep it running, then that would be great, but there's a long way to go yet, and we will try and keep it one race at a time."

GET IN THERE, OSC

P1 in the first race back #McLaren | #DutchGP  pic.twitter.com/h4n4AHafay

— McLaren (@McLarenF1) August 31, 2025

McLaren have now achieved 12 victories in 2025, meaning they remain in control of the constructors' championship, but Piastri now has breathing space in his title battle with Norris.

Just nine points had separated the drivers before this weekend, with Norris' retirement serving as a huge blow to his hopes.

And while Piastri felt for the Brit, he was pleased with how well his approach paid off.

"It feels good; I controlled the race when I needed to, and obviously, it was incredibly unfortunate for Lando [Norris] at the end," he said.

"I felt like I was in control in that one and felt like I used the pace when I needed to; it was a bit of a different race to 12 months ago.

"I'm very happy with all the work I've done to try and improve around here and very satisfied to come out on top. We didn't change anything special, just trying to improve everywhere we can.

"The start of this weekend was looking like a difficult one, and I managed to get it together in qualifying, and I was happy with the pace I had today.

"There were a couple of safety cars that spiced it up a little bit. I'm very proud of the whole team, and it wasn't just myself to improve to get here; it was the whole team around me, and without them, none of this is possible."