Championship leader Max Verstappen scored an important result at his home race in front of the massive orange army by winning the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort, his tenth victory of the season for Red Bull Racing.
Although Verstappen won from pole and initially looked to have Charles Leclerc easily covered, Mercedes’ race pace brought it into play with a one-stop strategy versus Red Bull’s planned two services.
That gave Lewis Hamilton a chance for an unlikely win, before he initially lost that then regained during dramatic virtual and the full safety car periods close to the end of the race.
When the lights went out under thick cloud cover that had built up ahead of the start, Verstappen quickly moved to chop off Leclerc’s look to the inside of Turn 1.
In any case, the Ferrari driver was never close enough to make a move, while behind, Sainz and Hamilton touched lightly as the Mercedes gained ground considerably around the inside of the Tarzan hairpin.
The pack made it through the opening turns without further incident, with Hamilton the only one of the leaders to use the low line through the steeply banked Hugenholtz Turn 3.
Verstappen pressed his advantage to escape DRS range to Leclerc by the end of the second lap of 72, with Leclerc going from 1.5 seconds behind two laps later to only a second behind his rival over the next few tours.
But just as it looked as if Leclerc might be able to gain the overtaking aid, Verstappen suddenly found a chunk of pace in the low one minute, 16 seconds to re-establish his bigger advantage.
The two leaders were the only pair able to stay in that laptime bracket, with Sainz soon falling far behind Leclerc and with Hamilton swarming, the highest place driver to start on the medium tyres compared to the softs being run on the leading three cars.
As the race settled down, Verstappen continued to edge away from Leclerc, his lead rising steadily towards three seconds before ballooning to nearly five before Ferrari called Leclerc in at the end of lap 17.
Red Bull responded on the subsequent tour and despite his similar service to go from the softs to the mediums being nearly a second slower than Ferrari’s, Verstappen emerged with his lead barely tripped given his in- and out-lap speed.
The top two pitting left Hamilton to lead on his first stint mediums, with George Russell running three seconds behind his Mercedes teammate having started on the same compound and battled by Lando Norris once DRS was activated after the McLaren had jumped the second Silver Arrows car at the start.
Verstappen and Leclerc used their fresh mediums to head back towards the Mercedes cars over the next phase of the race, with the Red Bull, which had been nearly nine seconds off Hamilton’s lead when he returned from the pits, reaching DRS range behind Russell on lap 27.
But at the start of the next lap, Verstappen used the DRS to shoot right up behind the Mercedes and blast by to move up to second on the outside run through Tarzan.
Before Verstappen could close on Hamilton, Mercedes brought the driver in to take the hard tyres at the end of lap 29, an attempt to complete the race on a one-stop strategy.
With the home hero handed the lead back and saying he was not interested in trying the hards, Hamilton rejoined a net fourth behind Sergio Perez in the other Red Bull, Sainz having fallen out of contention due to a calamitous Ferrari pitstop shortly before Leclerc came in for the first time.
As Verstappen began a charge that would double his lead over Leclerc and be ten seconds clear shortly after halfway, while Hamilton and Russell used their hards to quickly home in on Perez.
On lap 36, Hamilton used DRS to attack Perez on Tarzan’s outside line, with Perez locking up on the inside and the running aggressively running the Mercedes wide before Hamilton backed off.
Hamilton attacked again on the Turn 11 entry to the track’s stadium but was again rebuffed on the outside line, but the next time by into Turn 1 he was able to run around the outside to take third.
But there was a sudden danger when Sebastian Vettel’s lapped Aston Martin emerged from the pits just ahead of the battling pair and stayed ahead for several corners, which meant Perez could crowd Hamilton but was unable to pass when Vettel eventually allowed the by, the Aston Martin driver receiving a five-second penalty for his actions.
Hamilton set off after Leclerc and Verstappen, who had changed his mind about the durability of his mediums and Red Bull considering hards for his second stop, which it gave to Perez on lap 40, just after Russell had also passed him at Turn 1.
Ferrari realised Leclerc would have little defence against the charging Mercedes pair and he also came in to take the hards at the end of lap 45, by which time Hamilton had gone from nearly 20s behind Verstappen to not much above half that.
But around the same time, the race changed dramatically when Yuki Tsunoda stopped in the middle of the fast Turn 4/5 sequence, initially fearing his wheels were not properly attached after his second stop back in the pack.
He got going again and returned to the pits where AlphaTauri spent 30 seconds checking something inside his cockpit – possibly his seat belts – before he rejoined but then did stop at Turn 4 saying he thought the differential was broken.
That meant the virtual safety car was activated and Red Bull could bring Verstappen in for hards with a cheap pitstop, which preserved his lead.
In fact, it stayed exactly the same as Mercedes also used the temporary suspension to put Hamilton and Russell back onto the mediums – the former recognising the VSC had “stuffed” his previous charge on the one-stopper.
When the action went green again on lap 50, Verstappen and the Mercedes shot into the 1m14s bracket, with Hamilton facing a 12.6 seconds gap and Leclerc back to fourth after losing out having made his stop before the VSC.
Over the next couple of laps, Hamilton closed that to 11.4 seconds before the race picture was massively altered again on lap 55, this time because Valtteri Bottas lost power in his Alfa Romeo and pulled over just before the first corner on the main straight.
That meant the safety car was activated, with Red Bull bringing Verstappen in to go back to the hards and the two Mercedes staying out while most others – including Leclerc – also dived in to fit the red-walled rubber.
The next time by, Russell demanded Mercedes put him on the softs as he was losing tyre temperature in the mediums at low speed, which allowed Verstappen back into second behind Hamilton who remained on the yellow-walled compound.
The race restarted on lap 61, where Verstappen was all over Hamilton’s rear end as they raced down the main straight and he easily slipstreamed by to retake the lead.
Verstappen blasted to a 1.7 seconds lead at the end of the first lap back to racing speed, with Hamilton fuming to Mercedes about its decision to leave him on the mediums.
His pace was so poor Russell, who had seen off Leclerc’s attentions around the outside of Turn 1 at the restart, was able to quickly close in and jump his teammate, although not before they nearly came together running down the main straight when Russell had DRS.
Hamilton was then overcome by Leclerc to fall off the podium, still sending angry radio messages about his final tyre strategy, while Verstappen pulled out an eventual winning margin of 4.0 seconds.
Sainz crossed the line fifth having come back into the picture and got ahead of Perez during the VSC and safety car chaos, but he dropped down to eighth in the final order as a result of an unsafe release into the path of Fernando Alonso at their final stops during the Bottas-stoppage-caused race neutralisation.
That meant Perez, Alonso and Norris moved ahead to take positions five to seven, with Sainz also having to explain post-race an incident with Esteban Ocon (ninth) where the Ferrari appeared to overtake the Alpine under yellow flags activated when Bottas stopped.
This followed Sainz’s initial first pitstop disaster when Ferrari did not have all his medium tyres ready in time and Perez, behind the Alpine driver in the first stint after starting fifth, running over and breaking a Ferrari wheel gun that had been left in his path in the tight pitlane.
Lance Stroll completed the top ten, with Bottas and Tsunoda the only retirements.
So congratulations to Max Verstappen in winning his home event for the second year in a row. This is looking good in terms of the championship with a healthy points lead over his rival. It’s Ferrari’s home race next at the temple of speed at Monza.
Dutch Grand Prix, race results:
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:36:42.773
2 George Russell Mercedes 4.071s
3 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 10.929s
4 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 13.016s
5 Sergio Perez Red Bull 18.168s
6 Fernando Alonso Alpine 18.754s
7 Lando Norris McLaren 19.306s
8 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 20.916s
9 Esteban Ocon Alpine 21.117s
10 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 22.459s
11 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri 27.009s
12 Alex Albon Williams 30.390s
13 Mick Schumacher Haas 32.995s
14 Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin 36.007s
15 Kevin Magnussen Haas 36.869s
16 Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo 37.320s
17 Daniel Ricciardo McLaren 37.764s
18 Nicholas Latifi Williams FW44 +1 lap
– Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo DNF
– Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri DNF
Dutch Grand Prix race review as reported by Formula1.com.
Max Verstappen held onto victory in a captivating 2022 Dutch Grand Prix amid a strong showing from the Mercedes and late Safety Car drama at Zandvoort, as George Russell and Charles Leclerc completed the podium.
Verstappen seemed to be assured of victory having taken a second pit stop during a Virtual Safety Car on Lap 48, with Hamilton second and Russell third as both had extended their opening stint on medium tyres (their rivals having started on softs) to pit for hards, on which they were rapid. The events after a Lap 55 Safety Car dashed any hopes of victory that Hamilton harboured, however.
The seven-time champion stayed out on mediums to inherit the lead while Verstappen came in for softs, followed by Russell and Leclerc, for the restart on Lap 61. In that restart, Verstappen swept past the Mercedes for the lead, with Russell and Leclerc following suit to pry Hamilton away from the podium.
Hamilton ended up fourth at the flag as Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez – the former held back by a calamitous Ferrari pit stop earlier on, before a five-second penalty for an unsafe release in a later stop – battled late on for P5. That allowed Alonso and Norris to close in too, and when the penalty kicked in Sainz was dropped to eighth, promoting Perez to fifth, Alonso to sixth, and Norris to seventh.
Esteban Ocon finished ninth, just ahead of Lance Stroll – who started and finished 10th for Aston Martin. Pierre Gasly missed out on the points in P11 for AlphaTauri while Alex Albon finished 12th from 15th on the grid.
Sebastian Vettel started 19th and finished 14th, losing out to Mick Schumacher – who lost out due to a pair of slow pit stops. The four-time champion was given a five-second penalty for ignoring blue flags earlier in the race.
Kevin Magnussen hit the barriers on Lap 2 but continued to finish 15th, behind his Haas team mate. Daniel Ricciardo pitted first out of the pack and couldn’t make up ground, finishing 17th for McLaren behind Zhou Guanyu, who served a five-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane.
Valtteri Bottas was classified 19th for Alfa Romeo, his car stopping on track to bring out the late Safety Car.
Yuki Tsunoda stopped on track on Lap 48 after reporting a driveshaft issue, the AlphaTauri driver having previously reported that his tyres were incorrectly fitted before a lengthy pit stop.
A stunning sea of orange set an electric atmosphere for the 2022 Dutch Grand Prix as the home fans welcomed their hero Max Verstappen as the reigning Formula 1 world champion. Music blared across the beach all weekend to soundtrack the Red Bull driver’s recovery from a gearbox issue in FP1 to take pole position – which he snuck by just two-hundredths of a second over Charles Leclerc.
On the second row it would be Carlos Sainz and Lewis Hamilton ahead of Sergio Perez, who switched back to an engine from the existing pool after his qualifying spin, and George Russell. Crucially, Verstappen was the only driver to qualify in the top nine (Lance Stroll rounding out the top 10) with a brand-new set of softs reserved for the race.
The Mercedes, Lando Norris, Mick Schumacher, Alex Albon and Kevin Magnussen would all start the race on new medium compounds while a mix of used and new softs were donned by the rest of the field for the start of the 2022 Dutch Grand Prix.
A huge roar, and it was lights out for this 72-lap duel on the dunes. Verstappen enjoyed a good getaway and cut off Leclerc’s equally strong launch, while Hamilton and Sainz made very slight contact – the seven-time champion attempting a risky pass on the Ferrari into Turn 1 – while Norris passed Russell around the outside of the opening corner and Stroll made two positions on the first lap.
Scrapping with Alex Albon at Turn 2, Kevin Magnussen suffered a snap of oversteer as he veered off the racing line, and hit the wall with the left-hand-side of the car. Almost miraculously, he continued on in last place and reported that the car was okay – and there was no Safety Car either.
As Russell retook P6 off Norris, the top six was unchanged by Lap 5 – but Hamilton was gaining on Sainz in the chase for P3. Meanwhile, Esteban Ocon had made it into the top 10, Mick Schumacher behind him and hanging on to the final points with the AlphaTauris giving chase as Pierre Gasly had fallen to 12th with a poor start.
Verstappen was leading, comfortably so, as the counter ticked over to Lap 10. He was 1.8 seconds ahead of Leclerc while Sainz was dropping back; he was over six seconds back in P3. The Scuderia would need to push to force Verstappen to use those soft compounds up if they were to take victory.
Fernando Alonso showed them how it was done with a pass on Gasly for P12 on Lap 10 and another on Tsunoda for P11 on Lap 12, while Sebastian Vettel attempted an early pit stop on Lap 10 from P18, the Aston Martin driver swapping his softs to mediums. Gasly and Daniel Ricciardo followed suit two laps later amid heavy soft-tyre degradation.
Alonso’s rampage up the field was cut short on Lap 13 as he pitted for hard tyres, and once the first sequence of stops had been completed, the two-time champion was up to P9 – and ahead of his team mate Ocon thanks to a solid undercut.
Back towards the front, Sainz was still losing time to the leaders and still under pressure from Hamilton. The Spaniard seemed to be suffering from a genuine lack of pace, rather than playing his part in an elaborate Ferrari ruse, and pitted on Lap 15 – his disastrous stop lasting a full 12.7 seconds. Perez entered the pits after Sainz but emerged well in front of him, despite running over a Ferrari wheel gun in the process.
“Oh my god,” exhaled Sainz after a baffling display in the Scuderia’s pit lane – the rear-left tyre absent when the #55 driver entered his box. He was told that “Plan A” was still intact, while Ferrari’s mechanics examined their ruined wheel gun.
Verstappen was still gaining over Leclerc, who was almost losing a second per lap before he pitted on Lap 18. The Monegasque’s used softs were swapped for mediums without any issue this time around, Norris following suit with a stop from mediums to hards.
Verstappen responded to Leclerc’s stop on Lap 19 – losing time as he was stationary for 3.4 seconds – and emerged around four seconds ahead of the Ferrari while Hamilton led Russell. The pole-sitter was catching up as the Silver Arrows continued, the only pair of drivers yet to pit (once Albon swapped his mediums for a new set on Lap 22). Was a one-stop strategy possible?
That realisation triggered messages of consternation over the Red Bull and Ferrari radios, their drivers picking up the pace, with Perez running fifth between Leclerc and Sainz. Verstappen needed no cue to close in as he was within DRS range of Russell and on Lap 28 he made the pass with ease around the outside of Turn 1.
Hamilton was then pulled in for a set of hards on Lap 30, releasing Verstappen back into the lead as the Mercedes driver emerged ahead of a now medium-shod Sainz. Russell followed his team mate on Lap 32 and swapped for hards, also emerging ahead of Sainz. And both drivers seemed to be enjoying those white-walled compounds as they began chipping away at the gap to Perez ahead.
At the start of Lap 36, Hamilton closed in on Perez and the Mexican locked up heavily in defence of P3 into Turn 1. Hamilton was forced to back off at the exit of that corner and had another go into Turn 11, again to no avail. The following lap saw Hamilton make the pass with ease at Turn 1 but the Briton nearly lost out as backmarker Vettel was right in front of them as he emerged from the pits – the Aston Martin driver crawling on the racing line as the battle for P3 raged behind him. He would later receive a five-second penalty for ignoring blue flags.
Russell made lighter work of the second Red Bull, prying P4 off him on Lap 39. With Mercedes putting on a show of pace on their hard tyres, both closing in on Leclerc, Verstappen was asked for his take on the strategy. Team mate Perez was sent into the pits for hard tyres on Lap 41, emerging P7 and right in front of Alonso, but the Mexican soon found his feet and began to turn up the pace, passing hard-shod Norris on Lap 44.
Sainz too was pulled into the pits on Lap 44 and this time it seemed Yuki Tsunoda was the victim of a poor pit stop as he stopped at the side of the track and complained that his tyres weren’t fitted. Perhaps a Virtual Safety Car would be called – a reprieve for Leclerc and Verstappen in the face of two swift Mercedes.
The pit lane panic briefly dissolved as Tsunoda, bafflingly, continued on his way – the team reassuring him that the tyres were fine. Shortly afterwards, Leclerc was pulled in to emerge with a new set of hard tyres, and then Tsunoda was forced to enter the pits on Lap 47 for a new set of softs, and a fix for his troubles that kept him stationary for 31 seconds. He emerged from the pits in last and crawled out – this time complaining that the differential had broken.
Tsunoda pulled over on Lap 48 and this time a VSC was deployed, triggering Verstappen to pit and Mercedes to double-stack their drivers for mediums – with almost seamless execution, but for a second-long delay for Russell.
Leclerc had been jumped by the Mercedes, both of whom re-emerged in the podium places. The race resumed on Lap 50, hard-shod Verstappen leading Hamilton by over 12 seconds while Russell was in third, five seconds ahead of hard-tyred Leclerc. “That VSC has stuffed us,” said Hamilton, despite his podium credentials looking all but assured.
The Mercedes drivers began to turn up the pace as they consolidated their podium places and chip into Verstappen’s lead. On Lap 55, though, the sight of Valtteri Bottas’s stationary Alfa Romeo on the start-finish straight brought out yellow flags, during which Sainz appeared to pass Ocon. One lap later, the Safety Car was deployed.
Verstappen took that chance to stop for used softs, emerging in P3 on Lap 57, while Russell followed suit to pit for his own used softs on Lap 58 – retaining his P3 place while Verstappen moved up to P2. The Ferraris also went in for softs, while Perez opted for mediums.
“It’s going to be hard to keep that car behind me now,” said Hamilton before a slight lock-up on his mediums, the Safety Car to end on Lap 60.
Verstappen used the might of his Red Bull on the start-finish straight and re-took the lead almost as soon as the green flag was waved, Hamilton unable to respond, while Sainz jumped medium-shod Perez for P5 with ease.
Hamilton was now leading a queue of cars, his team mate Russell passing him on Lap 64, after which an expletive-filled radio message from a furious Hamilton was played over the airwaves. Leclerc took P3 away from Hamilton soon after, while Sainz and Perez duelled for P5. Other battles that flared up after the Safety Car were between Alonso and Norris for P7, while Ocon was holding off Stroll and Gasly from P9 to P11.
Back to Perez vs Sainz, where the Mexican was right on the Spaniard’s rear wing with just four laps left, despite the former being on the mediums and the latter on softs. While they fought for P5, Sainz was slapped with a five-second penalty for an unsafe release during his previous pit stop. They continued to go wheel-to-wheel and Perez went through the Turn 1 gravel in an attempt to pass the Ferrari, which allowed Alonso and Norris to close up.
In the end, Sainz finished P5 but was dropped to eighth, promoting Perez to fifth, Alonso to sixth and Norris to seventh. The Ferrari driver’s battle with Perez allowed Hamilton to retain fourth – though this race may be characterised by some as a loss for Mercedes and their seven-time champion.
As for Verstappen, and to the delight of his home fans, he won by four seconds after passing Hamilton, with Russell taking P2 and continuing his run of top-five finishes. Completing the podium was Leclerc – who is now 109 points behind the Dutchman in the drivers’ championship.
In ninth was Esteban Ocon, who couldn’t keep up with the likes of Alonso and Norris ahead, despite the Frenchman enjoying a solid start that saw him climb swiftly into the top 10. Lance Stroll rounded out the top 10 having started there, the Aston Martin driver holding off Gasly in P11.
Alex Albon finished 12th ahead of Mick Schumacher, who was held back by two slow pit stops. The Haas driver finished ahead of Sebastian Vettel, on whom he pulled off a brilliant pass at Turn 13 early in the race. It was little consolation for the Haas racer, who seemed sure for points.
Kevin Magnussen settled for P15 after hitting the barriers early on, as the Danish driver couldn’t make up any more places. He finished ahead of Zhou Guanyu, who took a five-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane but finished ahead of Ricciardo in 17th. Nicholas Latifi finished 18th for Williams, while Bottas was classified 19th despite his on-track stoppage.
Tsunoda was therefore the only retirement from this dramatic contest at Zandvoort.
Toto Wolff says his Mercedes Formula 1 team pushed to take risks with its Dutch Grand Prix strategy in order to fight for victory rather than settle for a safe result.
The Mercedes team principal explained his squad’s call to leave Lewis Hamilton out on medium tyres in the lead while Red Bull pitted Max Verstappen for softs under a late safety car in the Zandvoort race.
Under the same safety car, Mercedes pitted George Russell for softs, putting him behind Verstappen on track in third place, to split its strategy for the sprint to the finish.
The call backfired for Hamilton, who dropped from first to fourth, as Verstappen charged to victory ahead of Russell and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
The outcome left Hamilton furious over team radio at the Mercedes strategy call, and immediately after the race, Wolff spoke to his driver to say he would explain the decision not to pit him for softs.
Wolff sympathised with Hamilton but confirmed rather than a strategy error, Mercedes wanted to go for a risky strategy to give it a chance to fight for the victory rather than settle for a conservative result.
“It is highly emotional for the driver, you are that close to be racing for the win and then you’ve been eaten up, so it is clear that every emotion comes out,” Wolff said on Sky Sports F1.
“You, as the driver in the cockpit, you are alone and you don’t see what is happening. We discussed at the moment, are we taking risks for the race win? Yes, we are taking risks.
“He had a tyre that was five laps old, the medium, holding position was the right thing to do. At the end it didn’t work out for him but I’d rather take the risk to win the race with Lewis rather than finish second and third.
“Lewis was ahead, so you always have a little bit longer with the call [for those behind]. You can do two things; you can either pit Lewis and lose track position against Verstappen and leave George out screwed, or you can pit both, screwed. So it was worth taking the risk.
“If you do that [leave both out] you have both on an old tyre, but this would have guaranteed second and third and we wouldn’t have raced for the win with Lewis.”
Wolff also didn’t think pitting both drivers for fresh softs would’ve worked as it meant both Hamilton and Russell would have been behind Verstappen at the restart and on the same tyres unable to attack the Red Bull driver.
“I think the Red Bull has so much straightline speed that all on the same tyre out there is no way we are winning,” he added.
“I think we can look at the positives and this is what I just discussed with Lewis, there is so much more positive to take.
“Of course second and fourth is annoying but we felt we had a good race car here. That’s what is most important and you’ve got to take risks where we are.”
Source: Motorsport.com
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton apologises to his team for Formula 1 radio outburst in Dutch Grand Prix. Motorsport.com has the news story.
Lewis Hamilton has apologised to Mercedes for his team radio outburst over its Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix strategy call as he dropped from the lead to finish fourth.
When a full safety car period was called for Valtteri Bottas stopping at Turn 1 with engine failure, Red Bull pitted Max Verstappen to switch to softs while Mercedes initially kept both Hamilton and teammate Russell out to move into a 1-2.
A lap into the safety car period Russell was then pitted for softs by Mercedes, with Hamilton kept out on his older mediums to lead at the restart from Verstappen.
But the call meant Hamilton was powerless to stop those on softer and younger tyres to overtake him, with the British driver dropping from first to fourth and Verstappen going on to win the race.
During the race on team radio Hamilton vented his frustration at the Mercedes strategy call: “I can’t believe you guys screwed me like that, I can’t tell you how pissed I am right now.”
After the race Hamilton apologised to Mercedes and conceded his emotions took over having been fighting for the win before the final safety car period.
“I was just on the edge of breaking point with emotions and my apologies to the team because I don’t even remember what I said, I just lost it for a second,” Hamilton said.
“But I think they know that there is just so much passion and I want to look at it as a glass half full, we came here struggling from last race, we were fighting against the Red Bulls today, we were quicker than most at many points.
“Without the safety car I think we’d have been challenging them for the win at the end on the one-stop which I don’t think the others could do.
“So many great things to take from it, the car was finally working. If this can be the same in the future races, we’re going to be continuing to breathe down their necks and we’re going to get that win.”
Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff, who spoke to Hamilton on the cooldown lap to say he’d explain the strategy call in the team debrief, said his squad made the strategy gamble to try to fight for the win by splitting its strategy between Hamilton and Russell rather opting for a safer result.
“It is highly emotional for the driver, you are that close to be racing for the win and then you’ve been eaten up, so it is clear that every emotion comes out,” Wolff told Sky Sports F1.
“You, as the driver in the cockpit, you are alone and you don’t see what is happening. We discussed at the moment, are we taking risks for the race win? Yes, we are taking risks.
“He had a tyre that was five laps old, the medium, holding position was the right thing to do. At the end it didn’t work out for him but I’d rather take the risk to win the race with Lewis rather than finish second and third.”
There was a moment of “confusion” behind Lewis Hamilton and George Russell Dutch Grand Prix Formula 1 near-miss. Motorsport.com has the full story.
George Russell has explained his near-miss with Mercedes Formula 1 teammate Lewis Hamilton while mounting his overtake in the Dutch Grand Prix, as the two had a moment of “confusion”.
During the safety car period produced by Valtteri Bottas’ stranded Alfa Romeo, Russell took the opportunity to call his own shots and asked for a set of soft tyres to complete the final stages of the race.
Running second at that point, Russell conceded the place to race winner Max Verstappen as Hamilton stayed out on used mediums, which ultimately cost him the lead as Verstappen stalked the Briton through the Turn 14 banking and swiped past at the end of the straight.
Russell then caught and passed Hamilton ahead of the 64th lap, but was inches away from clouting the rear end of his teammate as he cut through the slipstream to place his W13 on the inside into Turn 1.
This was, according to the 24-year-old, a moment of confusion between the two as they tried to anticipate each other’s moves.
“Obviously with that I would say, with Lewis, we just had a bit of confusion and I came out just as he defended,” Russell explained.
“It could have been a bit nasty but you know, we’ve got respect between the two of us so it’s all good.”
Russell also clarified his view on the Mercedes strategy amid the safety car, feeling that the team’s best chance of claiming a victory at Zandvoort was in splitting its tactics and hedging its bets.
Although Russell felt that it was a difficult decision to make and felt that Hamilton’s performance was ultimately deserving of a podium position, he said that the result could have been very different if the medium tyres could fire up.
“I think as a team it was incredibly difficult decision, because had we both pitted we would have conceded the position to Max. Had we both stayed out we probably both would have lost out to Max as well,” Russell elucidated.
“The best chance we as a team had of victory was splitting the cars, one to stay ahead of Max, one to stay behind and see what happened.
“If [Hamilton] could have just got those tyres restarted it could have been different, but you know, it was always gonna be very, very challenging for him.
“I’m sure Lewis wanted to go for it; as a racing driver and where we are at the moment as a team, we want to win. We’re obviously really happy with the points, just being consistent getting them on the board.
“But ultimately no one remembers who finishes second in the championship, so we want to win a race.”
Red Bull Racing’s team boss Christian Horner was left feeling surprised by Mercedes Formula 1 team in not using George Russell to protect Lewis Hamilton for track position. Motorsport.com has the news story.
Christian Horner was “quite surprised” by Mercedes’ late-race pit calls in the Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix, fearing Max Verstappen would face a two-on-one fight for victory.
Verstappen controlled proceedings at the front of the pack for much of Sunday’s race at Zandvoort, only for a late-race safety car following Valtteri Bottas’s stoppage to throw a curveball.
Red Bull opted to give up track position and pit Verstappen for a fresh set of soft tyres, while Mercedes kept Lewis Hamilton out on his existing set of mediums ahead of teammate George Russell to sit first and second.
But Mercedes then brought Russell into the pits one lap later, lifting Verstappen up to second place for the restart. With his fresh set of softs, Verstappen swept past Hamilton along the main straight as soon as the race resumed before easing to his 10th victory of the season.
Red Bull F1 boss Horner admitted it was a difficult call to give up track position at Verstappen’s home race, leaving him surprised when Mercedes brought Russell in.
“You’ve got your home driver, leading in front of 105,000 people, and you decide to pit him for the soft tyres and concede track position behind two Mercedes,” said Horner.
“I was quite surprised that they didn’t leave George out strategically as a rear gunner for Lewis. When he pitted, it gave a straight fight between Max and Lewis with a tyre offset.
“By the time they came past us on the pit wall, Max was already alongside, and thereafter, it was a matter of controlling the race.”
Horner added the team was concerned that Verstappen would have been “exposed” had Red Bull kept him out on hard tyres, and instead preferred “to go attack than trying to hang on at the front.”
“My biggest concern was it would be two against one,” Horner said.
“But when George seemed to pit himself, that then freed up a one-on-one fight with Max versus Lewis.”
Verstappen admitted after the race there was “no way” he could have stayed out on the hard tyre, but said he did not ask Red Bull to pit for softs, instead trusting the pit wall to make the right call.
“I didn’t request it, you have to trust your team as well to make the right calls, and they did,” Verstappen said.
“They boxed me, put the soft tyre on, and then we dropped back but of course George pitted for softs, so we’re back into P2.
“Surprisingly we had a really good restart, and then with the extra top speed we have over Mercedes, I could get a run into Turn 1.”
Scuderia Ferrari blames “late call” for messy Carlos Sainz Formula 1 pitstop in the Dutch Grand Prix. Motorsport.com provides the details.
Ferrari Formula 1 team principal Mattia Binotto has put Carlos Sainz’s messy opening pitstop at the Dutch Grand Prix down to a “late call” to box the Spaniard.
Sainz had been running third in the early stages of the 72-lap race ahead of the charging Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton, before the Ferrari driver’s race unravelled in the pits.
In order to combat Hamilton’s strong pace on the medium tyres, Ferrari elected to react by calling Sainz to pit to try and maintain track position.
However, the call was made while Sainz was in the final corner which resulted in a calamitous pitstop, as Ferrari’s pit crew had failed to prepare a left rear tyre in time.
The lengthy stop resulted in Sainz tumbling down the order into the lower reaches of the top 10 when he eventually rejoined the race.
Asked to explain Sainz’s pitstop, which Binotto labelled as a “mess” at the time, the Ferrari boss said: “On the first one [stop] what we did was we knew that Lewis [Hamilton] was preparing himself for a pit stop that could have undercut of ourselves.
“We tried to react simply to stay ahead of him which was the best way to keep track position, because we knew Lewis was very fast in the first stint of the race.
“When we saw the pit crew of Mercedes in pitlane we called our driver to pit but that was when he was in the last corner and it was too late for the mechanics to be ready. It was too late as a call based on our judgement.”
Sainz would eventually reach the chequered flag in fifth before being demoted to eighth after being hit with a five-second penalty late in the race for an unsafe release during his second pitstop.
Binotto believes the decision to issue a penalty was “very harsh” as his driver only held up the oncoming Alpine of Fernando Alonso because of the positioning of McLaren’s mechanics that were attending to Lando Norris in the pit box ahead.
“On the second one with the unsafe release and the penalties which cost quite a lot to Carlos, I feel the decision of the FIA and the stewards is very harsh,” he added.
“The reason is when he came in, McLaren was passing through and we handled Carlos in the pit, in the pit position, because we knew it would have been unsafe to release him at the time.
“We waited and waited until we had the right space with the Alpine coming and that is why we released him.
“After that he had to slow down and almost had to stop because the pit crew of McLaren was going around the [Norris] car, and in order to be safe with the mechanics he almost stopped with anti-stall cutting in.
“The release itself was not unsafe, it was safe. The way that Carlos acted was safe, so that is why I think the overall decision was harsh.”
AlphaTauri is investigating the issue that ended Yuki Tsunoda’s Dutch Grand Prix early after his Formula 1 car felt like it was “drifting”, causing him to stop twice on track.
Tsunoda pulled up at the side of the track on Lap 43, reporting to AlphaTauri over the radio that not all of his tyres were fitted correctly.
Thirty seconds later, Tsunoda was told to continue as there was no data suggesting anything was wrong. He returned to the pits to have his seatbelts retightened and a different set of tyres fitted to his car.
But soon after going back out on track, Tsunoda was told by his engineer to stop the car as the team had spotted a problem. Tsunoda parked near a gap in the fence by a marshal post, but a Virtual Safety Car was still required to recover his car safely.
AlphaTauri chief engineer for vehicle performance Claudio Balestri called the issue a “car failure” in the team’s post-race press release, and confirmed it was being investigated.
“After the pit stop he reported something strange at the rear of the car, we called him in again to change the tyres and immediately after we had a car failure,” said Balestri.
“This is currently under investigation within the team.”
Asked by Motorsport.com about the initial stoppage, Tsunoda said he “thought there was an issue” that was “quite clear, especially at the left-rear.”
“I got told from engineer to stop, but we didn’t see any clear issue or any issue in the data,” said Tsunoda.
“That’s why we rejoined back again to pit for new tyres. After that, we saw a clear issue in the data. That’s why we stopped.”
But Tsunoda said the problem persisted as soon as he left the pits, feeling like there was “only one wheel that was having wheelspin.”
“I was like drifting on the straight, like, I was doing counter-steering on the straight,” Tsunoda said.
“That is why I didn’t feel like it’s normal. That’s why.”
Tsunoda had been in contention to score his first points since the Spanish Grand Prix in May, having reached Q3 on Saturday ahead of teammate Pierre Gasly.
Tsunoda felt his performance had been “pretty strong this week”, but he wanted to get a clean weekend to rediscover his form.
“First I need a clean race week, I think I could have a good rhythm after that,” said Tsunoda.
“Currently I don’t have a good rhythm at all. So I just want to be back into the good rhythm and to score points consistently.”
Source: Motorsport.com