Verstappen Wins an Intense Dutch GP After Safety Car Chaos

Max Verstappen, has won the Dutch Grand Prix for the second time in a row, meaning he has won both races since Zandvoort Circuit‘s return to the FIA Formula 1 World Championship calendar last year. Verstappen, who started the race from pole position, was under pressure from the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula 1 Team car of Lewis Hamilton throughout the entire race but was able to overtake for the lead in the dying laps as a result of a better strategy.

Verstappen’s Oracle Red Bull Racing team-mate, Sergio Pérez, finished the race in fifth, after squabbling with a penalised Carlos Sainz Jr. in the dying laps of the race. The Mexican didn’t have the pace on Sunday afternoon to fight with the front-runners but was a vital part of Verstappen’s strategy when he was needed to hold up the Mercedes drivers.

The rest of the podium

George Russell finished the race in second place – his best result of the season – after making a strategy call behind the safety car in the dying stages of the race. The Briton was racing on the Medium tyre but asked to switch to the Soft in order to attack Hamilton and Verstappen at the end for the win.

Russell was able to pass his team-mate on track but had to settle for second as the Red Bull had too much pace and pulled away.

Meanwhile, Hamilton was unhappy with his team at the end of the Dutch Grand Prix, after not being switched to the Soft tyre during the final safety car period in order to defend from Verstappen. The number forty-four driver was forced to defend with used (but not very old) Medium tyres, compared to Verstappen’s brand new set of Soft tyres.

Hamilton took control of the restart but was immediately passed by a flying Verstappen. He then dropped back to fourth after being passed by Russell and Charles Leclerc – who were also on fresh Soft tyres. Fourth place was ultimately a disappointing end to the Dutch Grand Prix for Hamilton, who looked set to win the race in the earlier stages.

Leclerc crossed the line in third place, a position down from where he started the race from. The Scuderia Ferrari driver didn’t have as much pace as the Mercedes drivers on Sunday afternoon but took advantage of his brand new Soft tyres to pass Hamilton and claim the final podium spot when fourth place looked almost certain.

Sainz, however, had a disappointing afternoon. The Spaniard had a very slow pit stop in the first stint as a result of the rear-left tyre not being ready, and emerged further down the field. After recovering his way back to fifth, an unsafe release from Ferrari would prompt a five-second penalty to be added to his race time.

The number fifty-five driver was fighting with Pérez on track, but would drop to eighth place after his penalty was applied. The Dutch Grand Prix was very unlucky for Sainz, who didn’t actually do anything wrong himself.

Image: Scuderia Ferrari Press Office.

What happened behind?

Fernando Alonso scored vital points for BWT Alpine F1 Team in the Dutch Grand Prix, finishing sixth and ahead of McLaren F1 Team‘s Lando Norris. The Spaniard had an on-track squabble with the Briton at one point of the race, where he ran into the gravel at the exit of Turn One. Alonso was able to stay ahead of the McLaren and add another eight points to Alpine’s Constructors’ Championship tally.

Esteban Ocon also had a great race to finish ninth, just two-tenths of a second behind the penalised Sainz. Alpine have now extended their lead to McLaren in the championship battle to twenty-four points.

Daniel Ricciardo was unable to make an impact in Sunday’s race after failing to make it out of Qualifying One on Saturday. The Australian pitted twice within the first forty laps of the race and finished seventeenth. It was certainly a weekend to forget for the McLaren driver, who is currently out of contract for a 2023 Formula 1 seat.

Lance Stroll was able to score another point for Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One Team in the Netherlands, making it six out of seven races that the British Racing Green-coloured team have taken home points. Sebastian Vettel crossed the line in fourteenth after receiving a five-second time penalty for not following blue flags and holding up Hamilton after a pit stop.

Pierre Gasly narrowly missed out on points with an eleventh place finish for Scuderia AlphaTauri, who had a hectic Sunday afternoon on the other side of the garage. Yuki Tsunoda pulled over in the first sector on lap forty-five, claiming that his tyre hadn’t been fitted properly.

The Japanese driver was able to return to the pits, where AlphaTauri changed his tyres and adjusted his seatbelt, before immediately retiring again a few corners later. This safety car was crucial for Verstappen’s strategy, but also marked the end of Tsunoda’s race.

Alexander Albon has once again impressed with a twelfth place finish, while team-mate Nicolas Latifi finished eighteenth and last. the Thai/British driver was in the points during the first stint after going long on his tyres but was unable to return to the top ten after his pitstop.

Mick Schumacher was also impressed, with a thirteenth-place finish and a beautiful overtake on his close friend, Vettel. The German was able to hold off the Aston Martin driver in the closing stages of the race and beat his teammate in the process.

Meanwhile, Kevin Magnussen did a phenomenal job at keeping his car out of the wall at Turn 3 in the opening laps of the race. The Danish driver went wide at the exit of Turn Two and glided through the gravel trap, tapping the wall with his left-rear tyre. The Danish driver was able to continue driving and recovered to fifteenth place.

Guanyu Zhou crossed the line in sixteenth place, in what was a disappointing race for Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN, with team-mate Valtteri Bottas pulling over at the end of the start-finish straight. This marked the third consecutive retirement for the Finn, none of which were his fault.

You can find the full race results below, data courtesy of Formula 1:

POS	NUM	DRIVER	NAT	TEAM	TIME/GAP
1	1	Max Verstappen	NED	Oracle Red Bull Racing	1:36:42.773
2	63	George Russell	GBR	Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula 1 Team	+4.071s
3	16	Charles Leclerc	MON	Scuderia Ferrari	+10.929s
4	44	Lewis Hamilton	GBR	Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula 1 Team	+13.016s
5	11	Sergio Pérez	MEX	Oracle Red Bull Racing	+18.168s
6	14	Fernando Alonso	ESP	BWT Alpine F1 Team	+18.754s
7	4	Lando Norris	GBR	McLaren F1 Team	+19.306s
8	55	Carlos Sainz	ESP	Scuderia Ferrari	+20.916s
9	31	Esteban Ocon	FRA	BWT Alpine F1 Team	+21.117s
10	18	Lance Stroll	CAN	Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One Team	+22.459s
11	10	Pierre Gasly	FRA	Scuderia AlphaTauri	+27.009s
12	23	Alexander Albon	THA	Williams F1 Team	+30.390s
13	47	Mick Schumacher	GER	Haas F1 Team	+32.995s
14	5	Sebastian Vettel	GER	Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One Team	+36.007s
15	20	Kevin Magnussen	DEN	Haas F1 Team	+36.869s
16	24	Guanyu Zhou	CHN	Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN	+37.320s
17	3	Daniel Ricciardo	AUS	McLaren F1 Team	+37.764s
18	6	Nicolas Latifi	CAN	Williams F1 Team	+1 LAP
19	77	Valtteri Bottas	FIN	Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN	DNF
20	22	Yuki Tsunoda	JAP	Scuderia AlphaTauri	DNF

Data courtesy of Formula 1.