Following the farcical non-race in Belgium, Formula One is embraced by sunshine and a sea of orange in the grandstands, as the sport returns to the Netherlands for the first time since 1985. Join The Roar from 10:50pm (AEST) for live blog updates of all the action.
The partisan crowd at the rollercoaster 4.2km Circuit Zandvoort are here to support only one driver this weekend. That man is Max Verstappen, who currently sits three points behind Lewis Hamilton in the championship.
With practice having been curtailed on Friday due to stoppages, including a power unit-related failure for Hamilton’s Mercedes, it was difficult to get a proper read on who had the upper hand on race pace.
Verstappen still had the superior qualifying speed, claiming a crucial pole position at a track where overtaking may be limited and in front of the roaring Dutch supporters in the grandstands.
0.038 seconds separated the Dutchman from title rival Hamilton on the front-row, while Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas heads up the second-row ahead of Pierre Gasly – who was best of the rest.
Shocking the field during Q3 was Antonio Giovinazzi, who appears to be out of a drive for 2022 and ended up equalling his best qualifying result for Alfa Romeo with seventh, just behind the Ferraris.
His teammate Kimi Räikkönen announced ahead of the weekend that he would be retiring from Formula One at season’s end; however, he ended up withdrawing from the event on pre-qualifying after testing positive for COVID-19. Alfa Romeo therefore have called upon reserve driver Robert Kubica for his first race since 2019.
Overtaking opportunities may only be limited to the Suzuka-esqe Turn 1, aptly named the ‘Tarzan Corner’. There may yet be a strategic element to this race, with a two-stopper preferred given the predicted tyre wear on the left side.
This may gift Ferrari the opportunity to gain back crucial points in the championship on McLaren, with Daniel Ricciardo the best placed of the papaya cars in tenth. Even Alpine were quicker, led by Esteban Ocon in eighth.
With the support of the partisan crowd and a chance to take back the lead of the championship, it is difficult to look beyond Verstappen to take the honours in his home race. But can Hamilton and Mercedes spoil the party and douse the orange flares in the grandstands?
Having missed this race last year due to the ongoing COVID pandemic, the excitement is electrifying as we get set for the Dutch Grand Prix. Be sure to tune in on The Roar from 10:50pm (AEST) for live blog updates.
Lights out: 11pm (AEST)
Venue: Circuit Zandvoort, Netherlands
TV: Fox Sports
Online: Kayo Sports, Foxtel
1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull), 2. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), 3. Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes), 4. Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri), 5. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), 6. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari), 7. Antonio Giovinazzi (Alfa Romeo), 8. Esteban Ocon (Alpine), 9. Fernando Alonso (Alpine), 10. Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren), 11. George Russell (Williams), 12. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin), 13. Lando Norris (McLaren), 14. Nicholas Latifi (Williams), 15. Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri), 16. Sergio Perez (Red Bull), 17. Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin), 18. Robert Kubica (Alfa Romeo), 19. Mick Schumacher (Haas), 20. Nikita Mazepin (Haas)
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
A special win indeed for Max Verstappen on home soil and he also retakes the lead of the championship. Perhaps not the hectic race we expected, but still enjoyable. Thank you again for tuning in for this live blog of the Dutch Grand Prix on The Roar. I will be back in less than seven days time for the next stop on this F1 triple header at Monza. Until the Italian Grand Prix, ciao.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
-------- DRIVER'S -------- 224.5 - Max Verstappen 221.5 - Lewis Hamilton 123 - Valtteri Bottas 114 - Lando Norris 108 - Sergio Perez 92 -- Charles Leclerc 89.5 - Carlos Sainz 66 -- Pierre Gasly 56 -- Daniel Ricciardo 46 -- Fernando Alonso 44 -- Esteban Ocon 35 -- Sebastian Vettel 18 -- Yuki Tsunoda 18 -- Lance Stroll 13 -- George Russell 7 --- Nicholas Latifi 2 --- Kimi Räikkönen 1 --- Antonio Giovinazzi 0 --- Mick Schumacher 0 --- Nikita Mazepin
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
—– CONSTRUCTOR’S —– 344.5 – Mercedes AMG 332.5 – Red Bull Racing Honda 181.5 – Ferrari 170 – McLaren Mercedes 90 — Alpine 84 — Scuderia AlphaTauri 53 — Aston Martin Racing 20 — Williams Mercedes 3 — Alfa Romeo Racing 0 — Haas Ferrari
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
RACE REPORT A special race on home soil saw Max Verstappen win the first Dutch Grand Prix since 1985 and regain the lead of the world championship ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas. Polesitter Verstappen led away from the start and was unbothered throughout the grand prix. On the back foot, Mercedes pulled the strategy trigger on Lap 21 and pitted Hamilton for the medium tyres. The Dutchman then responded on the following lap, with a slightly faster pit-stop to stay ahead of Hamilton – as the pair confirmed their two-stop strategies. Bottas stayed out in the lead in order to thwart Verstappen’s charge, however the Red Bull wasted no time in passing the Finn down the pit-straight to retake the lead. Lap 40 then saw Hamilton peel off into the pits for his second stop and rejoin on another set of mediums, on which he was audibly uncomfortable for the remainder of the race. Verstappen responded again, but switched to the hard compound and led. With five laps remaining, Bottas was brought in from third for a third stop – though it was not so the Finn could vie for fastest lap. Mercedes explicitly telling their driver not to abort his run at the quickest time, as Hamilton was pitted on the penultimate lap to take those honours. A lonely race for Pierre Gasly saw the Frenchman secure an excellent fourth place, ahead of the Ferraris who were split in the end by Fernando Alonso. The Spaniard passed his compatriot Carlos Sainz on the second-to-last lap to take sixth, having put on a show with his overtaking display again. Gaining the most places during the race was Sergio Perez, who after starting from the pit-lane fought his way up to eighth. An early stop for the hard tyres was backed up prematurely with a switch to the mediums, following a lock up. Then the Mexican proved that overtaking was possible around Zandvoort, making key passes on Lando Norris and Esteban Ocon at the end of the race, to secure four points for Red Bull. Despite starring in qualifying, Antonio Giovinazzi’s race was the opposite – dropping three positions at the start and then suffering a puncture in his second stint. A recovery drive for the Italian then netted fourteenth, ahead of Robert Kubica in the sister Alfa Romeo. Hydraulics failure saw Nikita Mazepin out of the race, despite some early battles with Haas teammate Mick Schumacher – continuing their feud from qualifying. Yuki Tsunoda also joined his fellow rookie on the sidelines, with AlphaTauri also retiring his car on Lap 51.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
STANDBY FOR RACE REPORT & UPDATED STANDINGS
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
POST-RACE INTERVIEWS - Hosted by Robert Doornbos VERSTAPPEN - "Incredible! The expectations were very high and it's never easy to fulfill that." "It was an amazing day." "Mercedes tried to make it difficult for us." HAMILTON - "What a race, what a crowd." "Max did a great job, congratulations to him." "They were just too quick for us." "It was very hard to navigate through traffic." "This is now one of my favourite tracks." BOTTAS - "Unfortunate for me very uneventful." "At the end we made the stop for safety basically." "I didn't go for the fastest lap, Lewis got it."
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
RESULTS OF THE 72-LAP DUTCH GRAND PRIX 1 M. Verstappen 2 L. Hamilton (Fastest Lap) 3 V. Bottas 4 P. Gasly 5 C. Leclerc 6 F. Alonso 7 C. Sainz 8 S. Perez 9 E. Ocon 10 L. Norris 11 D. Ricciardo 12 L. Stroll 13 S. Vettel 14 A. Giovinazzi 15 R. Kubica 16 N. Latifi 17 G. Russell 18 M. Schumacher RET Y. Tsunoda RET N. Mazepin
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
MAX VERSTAPPEN WINS THE DUTCH GRAND PRIX! The flares are alight in the grandstands for the home hero. Lewis Hamilton comes home in second and sets the fastest lap as well for the extra point. While Valtteri Bottas bags third once again and handy points for Mercedes in the championship.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 72/72: FINAL LAP
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 71/72: Hamilton brought in and now wants to go for the extra point himself for fastest lap.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 70/72: Bottas indeed sets the fastest lap of the race with a 1:12.549, despite being told by chief strategist James Vowles to abort that lap.
JGK
Roar Guru
That fastest lap by Bottas was hilarious.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 69/72: Mercedes on the radio then tell Bottas that the stop was so they'd give his teammate enough of a gap to pit and go for fastest lap. Bottas basically told not to go for fastest lap, so Hamilton can get it.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 68/72: Bottas being brought into the pits, no doubt for a fresh set of tyres to go for the fastest lap. Gasly has been lapped also in fourth.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 67/72: Replays showing contact between Perez and Norris, with Lando cheekily pushing the Red Bull a little wide.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 66/72: Perez is past Lando then and into ninth. Replays showing Verstappen having a little lock up heading into the chicane.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 65/72: Alonso also within DRS range of his compatriot Sainz. Some interesting battles going on in the bottom half of the top ten.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 64/72: Perez now having a look down the inside at Turn 1 on Norris in their battle for ninth.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 63/72: Verstappen's advantage out to 4.4 seconds now over Hamilton.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 62/72: Stroll still stuck behind Russell, but is within DRS range. Russell has that 5 second penalty to take as well for speeding in the pits.