Home-town hero Max Verstappen has claimed yet another victory at this mornings Dutch Grand Prix, although it wasn’t as comfortable as many expected. Late safety cars and Mercedes strategy challenged the defending world champion, who only managed to reclaim the lead on Lap 61 of 72.
George Russell finished in a well-deserved second place, the increase in race-pace evident in the Mercedes’ this weekend. Charles Leclerc rounded out the podium, with Lewis Hamilton holding onto fourth ahead of Sergio Perez, who was promoted a place after Carlos Sainz received a 5 second penalty for an unsafe release.
Starting from pole, the Dutchman and second-place sitter Leclerc started well, quickly pulling away from the field. It was a clean start, with the first incident of note coming on Lap 2 when Kevin Magnussen went wide at turn 2 and slid on the gravel, skimming the wall. He rejoined at turn 3 and was able to resume at the rear of the field.
Starting outside the top 10, Alpine quickly worked their way through the field, Esteban Ocon gaining three spots to sit ninth by the end of lap 3. Fernando Alonso also made progress and was well inside the top 10 at the race midpoint.
The first round of stops proved problematic for Ferrari, a slow stop seeing Sainz drop down the order from third to lose out to a much faster Red Bull team. Perez was the benefactor from this despite running over a wheel gun which had been left in the lane by Ferrari.
Verstappen came in for his first stop on the 18th lap whilst the Mercedes duo of Hamilton and Russell stayed out. Low degradation meant the team were trying for a one-stopper, catching Red Bull out and giving them the advantage through the races midpoints.
The duo finally stopped on laps 28 and 29 respectively, giving Verstappen the lead back. He did require another stop, however, which meant Mercedes, who had easily remained within a pit window gap, were in well placed to take an ideal track position towards the end of the event.
Yuki Tsunoda ran into mechanical difficulties on lap 46 and was forced to stop his car on turn 7. This brought out yellows, yet Tsunoda was able to eventually resume to return to the lane. He took back to the track, only to stop the very next lap and bring out a virtual safety car.
This was of benefit to Verstappen who lost little time to Russell and Hamilton after pitting under the caution.
A full safety car intervention was required on lap 55 when Valtteri Bottas came to a halt on the main straight. Verstappen and Russell both came in for softs whilst, compromising what had previously been a great day in strategy for Mercedes, Hamilton stayed out on used mediums but in the race lead.
Verstappen quickly picked off the 7-time world champion on the lap 61 restart, managing a clean overtake at turn 1. Russell also managed a pass a few laps later, using DRS to his advantage down the main straight.
That was how things remained out front, Verstappen claiming his 10th victory of the season in front of a massive Orange Army. Russell came home some 4 seconds later, whilst Leclerc managed an overtake on Hamilton in the closing laps to take third.
Hamilton cruised home in fourth, Carlos Sainz unable to manage an overtake at the events conclusion. The Spaniard had already received a 5 second penalty at this point, however, for an unsafe release which saw him tumble down the order to be classified eighth.
This promoted Perez to fifth after holding off a strong challenge from Alonso in the final laps, leaving the 2-time world champion to finish sixth.
Lando Norris was the best placed McLaren in seventh, with Ocon and Stroll rounding out the top 10 respectively behind a relegated Sainz.
Daniel Ricciardo’s struggles at McLaren continued, the Australian 8-time race-winner only managing 17th.
The win sees Verstappen improve his lead at the top of the standings to a massive 109 points over both Leclerc and Perez.
The result concludes race two of a three week triple-header which concludes next week at Monza, a track which has thrown some surprise results in recent years, most recently highlighted by a Pierre Gasly win in 2020 and a McLaren 1-2 in 2021.
Racing gets underway on Friday, with more information to come during the week.
Banner Photo: The Telegraph
