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Max Verstappen fans have been waiting for this moment all season long and with his Dutch Grand Prix victory he delivered it with aplomb. The Dutch lion roared in front of a crowd in Zandvoort who had come for a party and Verstappen turned out to be a great host. Reclaiming the lead in the title fight by beating Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton in second place has been his reward in this hotly contested season that continues to sink and sink.
Verstappen won for Red Bull with an imposing command from pole, becoming the first Dutch driver to win the Dutch GP, first held in 1952 and 36 years after the last meeting. Hamilton’s Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas finished third. Verstappen leads Hamilton by three points in the drivers ‘standings, but Mercedes extended their constructors’ championship lead to 12 points.
Hamilton admitted he just didn’t have the pace to compete with Red Bull and Mercedes didn’t try their best. “They were definitely faster today, there was not much I could do to respond to the lap times they were doing,” he said.
“We needed everything to be perfect to have the slightest chance of overtaking him thanks to strategy for example. The pit stops, strategy and traffic had to be there, but none of these three were ideal.
Zandvoort has been a sea of orange all weekend and on race day an almost permanent haze of orange smoke from flares set off in the stands suspended above the circuit. The noise of the 70,000 fans drowned out even the thumping techno that echoed around the track and Verstappen reveled in the atmosphere and the challenge.
“The whole race was pretty close between me and Lewis, he was really putting the pressure on, putting in some great laps,” he said. “The fans have high expectations because they want you to win, but it’s never that easy. An incredible feeling of winning, an incredible day.
Before the race, the atmosphere was feverish, then ecstatic. Much has been said about some Dutch fans who have booed Hamilton lately, but their contribution to making this GP feel like a real event, that it was a sporting competition of passion and meaning, was immense. They should be applauded and indeed, with their man on the top step, they also applauded Hamilton’s valiant efforts to spoil their fun.
Over a million people had applied for tickets, hundreds more lined the fences in the dunes outside to glimpse the cars in the distance and for those who were lucky enough to do so, they reveled in the happy moment when, for them, F1 came home. Verstappen, too, was visibly moved as he stood atop the Dutch flag-draped podium, emotions imprinted on his face, lowering his head as the national anthem was performed.
For Hamilton, with nine races to go, Red Bull’s menacing form was clearly a concern. He has not won a race at pure pace since the Spanish Grand Prix, there are nine meetings.
“We gave absolutely everything,” he said. “Since the first race these guys have had such a solid car all year long that we have done our best. We had a few races where we were pretty much tied, but there were only a few and they took a big leap. We have to pick up speed if we are to win races in the future.
Verstappen had wanted to make a categorical statement after the clash with Hamilton at the British Grand Prix. The 23-year-old’s victory in the last round at Spa was just a name victory, but he made his point with overwhelming finality at Zandvoort, albeit in a race that was sort of procession.
He had maintained his lead from pole and then flew. Immediate opening with a two-second gap on Hamilton. Without the pace to challenge, the world champion did what he could to stay with his opponent and Mercedes twice attempted the undercut by pitting him against Red Bull. Yet it was in vain.
Their first stop was slow and on the second Hamilton’s deficit to Verstappen was already wide when he came out into traffic.
Red Bull in turn handled Verstappen’s saves to perfection, immediately covering Hamilton’s a lap later each time, with the team running with precision to deny Hamilton a chance to sniff. The position on the track was complete and Verstappen held it with an iron grip.
After the final stops with Hamilton on softer tires, he tried everything he could to put pressure on the Dutchman, but Verstappen proved almost unresponsive to such tactics, carrying his challenge for the title with considerable grace. and delighting the Orange Army as it does.
In the final moments, there was drama and omen for Mercedes in the clearest indication yet that the team will take on Williams’ George Russell to replace Bottas next season. The Finn has been meticulous in following orders in the past, but when he stopped late and was asked not to do the fastest lap, he was the fastest until which he is reminded again not to risk denying Hamilton. He backed off and Hamilton duly took the extra point.
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“I was just playing,” Bottas said with a casually he had never shown before. The Finn made a point as well, with an announcement on Russell’s appointment expected next week.
Pierre Gasly of AlphaTauri was fourth and Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz fifth and seventh for Ferrari, Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon sixth and ninth for Alpine, Sergio Pérez eighth for Red Bull and Lando Norris 10th for McLaren.
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