The Dutch Grand Prix Review
Max Verstappen walked away from his chaotic home grand prix with another victory and managed to equal Sebastian Vettel’s nine consecutive victories record.
Image via Formula1.com
The race started with small spits of rain that soon turned into a dramatic rain shower on the first lap. It was a split between strategies; Verstappen was one of several drivers who remained out on slicks despite the heavy downpour, while teammate Sergio Perez was one of several drivers who dove into the pits for intermediate tyres.
The laps that followed meant that the drivers on the inters were able to put themselves further up the running order and those that had taken the gamble on slicks were losing positions whilst waiting for the track to dry.
Once the race had calmed down Perez was comfortably in the lead with Verstappen back in 4th behind Zhou Guanyu and Pierre Gasly.
Verstappen was able to catch up to his teammate with ease and was back at the lead. It looked like it would be another comfortable clear run to the end of the race for Verstappen, but another heavy rain shower was on its way.
The rain was hammering down which brought more pitlane activity. On lap 64, Zhou Guanyu crashed his Alfa Romeo into the wall which brought out the red flag.
Once the race got restarted, it was a seven-lap dash to the chequered flag. Verstappen managed to hold on to 1st and manage the gap to Fernando Alonso and Perez, crossing the line for a hat-trick of wins at Zandvoort.
Image via Formula 1
Alonso was back on the podium for the first time since Canada with a 2nd place. Perez crossed the line in 3rdbut a five-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane demoted him to 4th.
The penalty for Perez meant that Pierre Gasly was promoted to 3rd place from a 12th place start on the grid, the Frenchman’s first podium with Alpine.
There was a late scrap for 5th between Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz. Sainz came out on top as the lone Ferrari after Charles Leclerc was forced to retire his Ferrari on lap 43 due to floor damage.
Lando Norris and Alex Albon finished in 7th and 8th respectively despite strong starting positions for both. Oscar Piastri in the other McLaren and Esteban Ocon in the Alpine rounded out the points.
The Aston Martin of Lance Stroll just missed out on the points followed by Nico Hulkenberg and F1 newbie Liam Lawson. Standing in for the injured Daniel Ricciardo, it was a strong performance from Lawson despite being given a 10-second penalty for impeding Kevin Magnussen in the pit lane.
Kevin Magnussen finished in 14th after the incident in the pit lane with Lawson. Valterri Bottas, Yuki Tsunoda and George Russell were the last of the finishers.
Logan Sargeant joined the non-finishers after a crash on lap 16 sent him into the wall.
The action continues this weekend with the Italian Grand Prix in Monza!
