Race Review: Dutch GP

This week we returned to Zandvoort for the first time since 1985. The orange army were out in full force to support Verstappen in winning his home GP. This made him the first dutchman to win a home race; with the Dutch royal family in attendance as well, it was definitely a race to remember.

There were red flags in all three Free Practice sessions, with Hamilton, Verstappen and Sainz topping FP1, Leclerc, Sainz and Ocon going fastest in FP2 and Vestappen, Bottas and Hamilton at the top for FP3.

Qualification was eventful, with a shock exit for Perez in Q1 alongside Vettel, Kubica (who stepped in for FP3 onwards after Räikkönen tested positive for Covid), Schumacher and Mazepin. George Russell caused a red flag during Q2, followed immediately by another after his teammate Latifi crashed, putting an end to the session - taking Norris, Stroll and Tsunoda out with them. Q3 saw Verstappen take pole with the final qualifying results were:

P1 Verstappen, P2 Hamilton, P3 Bottas, P4 Gasly, P5 Leclerc, P6 Sainz, P7 Giovinazzi, P8 Ocon, P9 Alonso, P10 Ricciardo, P11 Russell, P12 Stroll, P13 Norris, P14 Latifi, P15 Tsunoda, P16 Perez, P17 Vettel, P18 Kubica, P19 Schumacher and P20 Mazepin. However a new power unit for Perez and changes to the car for Latifi in Parc Ferme saw both drivers starting from the pitlane.

Sunday came along and the lights went out. Verstappen got a great start, darting off and keeping P1. There were no incidents in the first lap which is surprising considering the six red flags across the weekend; Alonso made up 2 places, however Giovinazzi moved backwards to P10.

The pit stops started early. Schumacher pitted on Lap 4 for a new nose with Perez pitting on Lap 9 having flat spotted his tyres. Hamilton then bit the bullet on Lap 20, with Verstappen coming in immediately after, but popping out in front of his Mercedes rival but leaving Bottas leading the race. Verstappen on much fresher tyres than Bottas (who was yet to pit) was able to take the Finn on Lap 30 with DRS.

Unfortunately speeding in the pit lane cost Russell as he was given a 5 second penalty on Lap 34. By Lap 36, only Norris and Kubica were left to pit, which was proving a good strategy for at least the McLaren driver. However a lap later, Vettel spun whilst trying to overtake Kubica and Tsunoda. Mercedes then brought in Hamilton on Lap 38 for a new set of mediums with Verstappen stopping for hards a lap later. Lap 43 saw Mazepin retire due to hydraulic issues with Tsunoda also retiring on Lap 53 after reporting 'no power'.

The gap between Verstappen and Hamilton did start to grow though. However Perez had been fighting his way through the field making in into the Top 10 from his pit lane start. Bottas was brought in for new tyres of Lap 67 in a slightly odd move as he was told he should not go for fastest lap (but set a new lap record anyway). Hamilton was then brought in the next lap for new tyres. The team realised he was not going to win so were aiming for the extra point for fastest lap.

Verstappen cruised to victory at his home race, with Hamilton finishing P2 and taking fastest lap on the final lap of the race. Russell also retired after the winners crossed the line but due to being lapped, he was still classified in P17.

When adding in Russell's penalty, the final results were as follows:

P1 Verstappen, P2 Hamilton, P3 Bottas, P4 Gasly, P5 Leclerc, P6 Alonso, P7 Sainz, P8 Perez, P9 Ocon, P10 Norris, P11 Ricciardo, P12 Stroll, P13 Vettel, P14 Giovinazzi, P15 Kunica, P16 Latifi, P17 Russell, P18 Schumacher and DNF for Tsunoda and Mazepin.

Driver Of The Day: Perez

This has to go to Perez. He made it from the pit lane to P8 showing his class as a driver and an overtaker. It was reminiscent of his Sakhir win where we went from last to first. It was a great drive from him, particularly after such a disappointing Saturday.

Biggest Crash: Sainz in FP3

Sainz lost the rear of the car during FP3 and went flying into the barriers, resulting in a red flag. Luckily he was okay and the car was fixable without any penalties (even if it was a close call on qualifying). You can watch the crash here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xt7WvgJEBs4

Overtake Of The Day: Perez

It was an overtaking masterclass from Perez, from a pit lane start to P8. His 'who's next' after overtaking Ricciardo really said it all.

Biggest Heartbreak

This is a tough one as no one really lost out significantly. However, you can read who F1 thought were the biggest winners and losers from this weekend here.

Best Radio Comment: Stroll

'The pit confirm button is the okay button Brad". Add in the Stroll sass and you've got a hilarious back and forth between Stroll and his engineer Brad after a confusion over whether Stroll was pressing the right button to confirm he was coming into the pits. Listen to the exchange here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRmN7VjT7ac

Takeaways

The Red Bulls clearly had a faster car this weekend. Whilst Mercedes are still at the top of the Constructors Championships, this is not a positive going forward as the Red Bulls seems to have a lot of momentum going into the remainder of the season, particularly with the widespread fan support of Verstappen.

It was a great qualifying for Giovinazzi, finishing 7th which is his highest qualification to date. He needs to prove himself as his contract with Alfa Romeo is up at the end of this season, and with so much talent available he needs to show the team bosses why they should keep him.

It wasn't the best weekend for McLaren. Ricciardo had such a strong Q1 and 2 but just couldn't put it together for Q3, finishing 10th and then dropping to 11th in the race. Norris struggled as well on the Saturday but some great driving and strategy meant he clawed his way to 1 point, finishing in 10th. However this is not good for the battle with Ferrari for best of the rest as going into Monza (Ferrari's home race) the team in red are 11.5 points ahead.

We got some more wholesome Vettel vibes. He added firefighter to his list of many talents after his car started smoking as a result of a power unit failure.

Finally, there were many hints across the weekend as to who would be taking the Mercedes seat next year, making the suggest incoming Russell announcement seem like the worse kept secret in the paddock. Stay tuned for any driver announcements.