Cloudy sky. Dry. Air +19С, highway +30…32С
It was as if the summer holidays had never happened. After having driven six Grands Prix in the first two months of summer, Formula 1 took a breather in August and continued to fight in Zandvoort. The bad weather that had been raging for two days took a break, as if it wanted to watch what was happening without interference. The Dutch fans who filled the stands, after having put away their umbrellas and raincoats, basked in the sun and supported their idol.
The practice was interrupted by rain and red flags. On Friday Russell showed the best time, on Saturday morning – Gasly and Sargent destroyed the car so badly that it took more than 40 minutes to eliminate the consequences. The American was not injured, but did not take part in qualifying – the team assembled his car only for the race, amid rumors that this could be Logan’s last – the patience of the management had run out.
Lando Norris won qualifying by three tenths ahead of Verstappen, who started second. The second row of the grid was occupied by Piastri and Russell, the third by Perez and Leclerc.
Hamilton lost three places for blocking Perez, Albon was excluded from the qualifying protocol for a violation of the regulations – the bottom one did not adhere to the rules. He was allowed to start, as was Sargent.
The Shinniks brought the heaviest compounds to the podium: C1 as hard, C2 as medium and C3 as soft. During training, the riders worked little with the heavier compound, figuring out the strategy as the race progressed.
For the first segment, many opted for a conservative option. Tsunoda, Hamilton and Bottas started on Soft, Magnussen on Hard, the rest on Medium.
At the start, Verstappen overtook Norris to lead the race, while Russell overtook Piastri. Gasly and Bottas each gained two positions. Magnussen locked up his tyres under braking and flew into the gravel, but continued.
Top Ten in Round 2: Verstappen – Norris – Russell – Piastri – Leclerc – Perez – Gasly – Alonso – Sainz – Stroll.
On lap 3, Hamilton passed Tsunoda for 12th place. Zhou beat Magnussen. The peloton quickly stretched out. A group of riders gathered behind Gasly, but could not take the lead.
On lap 8 Sainz passed Alonso for eighth place.
On lap 9, Magnussen passed Zhou to move up to 19th place, with Hamilton beating Hulkenberg for 11th place.
On lap 11 Sainz overtook Gasly for seventh place.
On lap 13, Albon made a pit stop.
On lap 14, Hamilton overtook Stroll for 10th place.
Top Ten in Round 15: Verstappen – Norris – Russell – Piastri – Leclerc – Perez – Sainz – Gasly – Alonso – Hamilton.
On the 15th lap Hulkenberg and Tsunoda changed tires, on the 16th – Bottas.
On the 19th lap Zhou made a pit stop, on the 23rd Sargent.
Top Ten in Round 24: Norris – Verstappen – Russell – Piastri – Leclerc – Perez – Sainz – Gasly – Hamilton – Alonso.
On the 24th lap Hamilton changed tires, on the 25th – Leclerc, on the 26th – Russell, losing two positions due to a slight malfunction.
On lap 27 Russell passed Alonso.
On the 28th lap Verstappen made a pit stop, on the 29th the leading Norris made a pit stop, which gave him a five second lead over Max.
On the 30th lap Perez and Ricciardo changed tires, on the 31st – Sainz, Stroll and Ocon, on the 32nd – Alonso, on the 33rd – Gasly and Tsunoda, on the 34th – Piastri.
The throttle was unsafely released in the pit lane – the mechanic barely had time to pull his leg back. Stroll was driving too fast in the pit lane and was given a five-second time penalty.
Top Ten in Round 35: Norris – Verstappen – Leclerc – Russell – Piastri – Perez – Sainz – Hamilton – Hulkenberg – Magnussen.
On lap 40 Piastri overtook Russell for fourth place.
On lap 41, Alonso took the lead from Albon and Magnussen changed tyres.
Stroll overtook Albon for 12th place.
On lap 45, Bottas made a pit stop.
On lap 46, Ricciardo passed Albon for 13th place.
On lap 47 Sainz passed Perez to move up to sixth place.
On lap 49, Hamilton switched to Soft.
Top Ten in Round 50: Norris – Verstappen – Leclerc – Piastri – Russell – Sainz – Perez – Hamilton – Hulkenberg – Gasly.
On the 54th lap Zhou switched to Soft, on the 55th – Russell. At the age of 56 Albon changed tires.
On lap 61, Gasly overtook Hulkenberg for ninth place.
On lap 64, Alonso passed Hulkenberg for tenth place.
Lando Norris won the Dutch Grand Prix, scoring the second victory of his career. Max Verstappen lost twenty seconds and finished second, Charles Leclerc took the third step of the podium.
All starting riders finished the race.
Next week the battle continues in Monza.
Race results
| Pilot | Team | Time | Speed | Piet |
| 1. L. Norris | McLaren | 1:30:45.519 | 202,682 | 1 |
| 2. M. Verstappen | Red Bull | +22,896 | 201,834 | 1 |
| 3. S. Leclerc | Ferrari | +25,439 | 201,740 | 1 |
| 4. O. Piastri | McLaren | +27.337 | 201,670 | 1 |
| 5. K. Sainz | Ferrari | +32.137 | 201,493 | 1 |
| 6. C.Perez | Red Bull | +39.542 | 201.221 | 1 |
| 7. D.Russell | Mercedes | +44.617 | 201.035 | 2 |
| 8. L. Hamilton | Mercedes | +49.599 | 200,853 | 2 |
| 9. P. Gasly | Alps | +1 round | 199,551 | 1 |
| 10. F. Alonso | Aston Martin | +1 round | 199,371 | 1 |
| 11. N. Hulkenberg | Hare | +1 round | 199,164 | 1 |
| 12. D.Ricciardo | RB | +1 round | 199,096 | 1 |
| 13. L. Walk* | Aston Martin | +1 round | 198,927 | 1 |
| 14. A. Elbon | Williams | +1 round | 198,384 | 2 |
| 15. E.Okon | Alps | +1 round | 198.161 | 1 |
| 16. L. Sargent | Williams | +1 round | 197,526 | 1 |
| 17. Yu.Tsunoda | RB | +1 round | 197,504 | 2 |
| 18. K. Magnussen | Hare | +1 round | 197,484 | 1 |
| 19. V. Bottas | Sauber | +2 rounds | 196,934 | 2 |
| 20. G. Zhou | Sauber | +2 rounds | 195,756 | 2 |
* L. Stroll was given a 5 second penalty for speeding in the pit lane
Best round: Lando Norris (McLaren) – 1:13.817 (72 laps, 207.708 km/h)
Championship Position: Individual Competition
Championship Position: Constructors Championship
| Team | Engine | Glasses | |
| = | 1. Oracle Red Bull Racing | Honda RBPT | 434 |
| = | 2. McLaren F1 Team | Mercedes | 404 |
| = | 3. Scuderia Ferrari | Ferrari | 370 |
| = | 4. Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team | Mercedes | 276 |
| = | 5. Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team | Mercedes | 74 |
| = | 6. Visa Cash App RB F1 Team | Honda RBPT | 34 |
| = | 7. MoneyGram Haas F1 Team | Ferrari | 27 |
| = | 8. BWT Alpine F1 Team | Renault | 13 |
| = | 9.Williams Racing | Mercedes | 4 |
Source: F1 News
I am Christopher Clyde, an experienced journalist and content writer with a passion for sports. I have been writing about Formula 1 news for the past five years and am currently employed as an author at athletistic.com, one of the top sports websites in the US.
