After claiming his tenth win of the 2022 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season at the Dutch Grand Prix, Max Verstappen has stated that he ‘had to work even harder’ for victory today than he did at last year’s race around Zandvoort.
Starting from pole on the soft compound tyre, Verstappen was able to maintain his lead in the early stages of today’s race but the threat of Lewis Hamilton on the medium tyre loomed large. Degradation of the soft tyre forced the home-crowd favourite into his first pit-stop of the day, subsequently handing the race lead to Hamilton.
Verstappen would eventually regain the lead after both Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula 1 Team cars pitted but with Verstappen set for a two-stop race, the Oracle Red Bull Racing driver looked set to have to overtake the seven-time world champion if he was to claim victory today.
Benefiting from a cheap pit-stop on lap forty-eight as a result of the virtual safety-car, Verstappen was able to maintain his lead but just seven laps later the full safety-car was brought out due to Valtteri Bottas stopping on the start/finish straight.
Verstappen pitted for the soft compound of tyre and was able to routinely pass Hamilton come the restart before the two had even made it to turn one. The Dutchmen would cruise on home for the race victory to further extend his significant lead in the Drivers’ Championship.
Verstappen was left delighted by his and the team’s performance in what he called an ‘eventful’ race, “Today was quite eventful and not a straightforward race at all, we had to make the right calls and it all worked out well in the end. Mercedes were very quick on the harder compound which we didn’t expect, so it made it more difficult for us as we were less compatible with the hards.
“We managed everything quite well and we made the right calls on the strategy so well done to the Team here and back at the factory. It’s always special to win your home grand prix but this year I had to work even harder for it. It’s incredible to win again in front of this crowd, we’ve had unbelievable support here and I’m proud to be Dutch.”
Sergio Perez: “It wasn’t the best day at the office for me”
Credit: Red Bull Content Pool
While his teammate enjoyed another fine day out on track, Sergio Perez failed to recover from his late spin in yesterday’s qualifying session, and came home for a fifth place finish in Zandvoort.
Unable to make up any ground on his rivals in the opening laps, Perez soon found himself being passed by George Russell, dropping the Mexican driver into sixth position. Perez would be gifted fifth-place after Scuderia Ferrari failed to have Carlos Sainz’s left rear tyre ready for the Spaniard’s pit stop. As Perez passed Sainz in the pit-lane, the three-time race winner ran over the Ferrari wheel gun which had been placed on the floor. Perez himself said he was fortune to avoid any damage to his RB18.
In the later stages of the race, Perez found himself duelling with Carlos Sainz for fifth-place on track, and an audacious overtake attempt around turn one soon saw Perez forced wide into the gravel but able to continue on in the race.
Perez would eventually claim fifth-place come the end of the race as a result of Carlos Sainz’s five-second time penalty for an unsafe release in the pit-lane.
After an unfortunate weekend for the Red Bull driver, Perez is already turning his attention to next weekend’s Italian Grand Prix.
“Obviously this is a great day for the Team but it wasn’t the best day at the office for me. I struggled with tyre degradation in the first and second stints and I never quite got the balance where I wanted it to be.
“It was a hectic race with incidents in the pit lane but I was lucky that my front wing wasn’t damaged when I drove over the wheel gun. Despite the difficulty I had, we managed to save some good points. There’s lots to take away from today and plenty to understand from our side so that we can come back strong in Monza.”