The Dutch Grand Prix: One final time for the circuit, as disaster strikes at Zandvoort.
- Cassandra Nicholls
- 2 hours ago
- 3 min read
The Dutch Grand Prix was an extremely dramatic one. With a safety car almost instantly, drama wasn’t too far behind.
Lando Norris took out another win at the Dutch Grand Prix for its final time on the calendar. His teammate Oscar Piastri struggled for pace during the race, couldn’t get past drivers and was forced to settle for an underwhelming P6 result.
Mercedes was unable to keep up with Norris as he stormed ahead. Team orders established that Kimi Antonelli was to gain a position on his teammate, so finished P2. George Russell however after giving P2 up, was then under extreme threat from both Ferrari drivers following closely behind. Russell was lucky when a last-minute Virtual Safety Car was called for debris that reduced the opportunity for an overtake.
George Russell would finish in P3.
The Ferrari drivers had a much better weekend compared to last year’s result. Lewis Hamilton continued his point scoring with another P4 result, despite having concerns regarding strategy during the race. Charles Leclerc ended up finishing P5, with some awkward team moments and stressful times. Leclerc made some interesting calls, choosing to try and battle his teammate, almost resulting in crashing, but luckily better decisions were made.
Isack Hadjar was forced to miss the Dutch Grand Prix due to injury with Liam Lawson stepping into the RedBull Racing seat. Liam Lawson was the only RedBull Racing car in the top 10 and managed to finish a solid P7, despite being put into the team that week. Max Verstappen however had anything but a fairytale ending for his home grand prix, crashing on the final corner at the end of lap 2. It was a devastating situation with Verstappen obviously very disappointed.
Nico Hulkenberg had a better weekend out. He managed to score some points for himself, finishing P8. This comes after a tough season so far with various issues and car concerns causing him to DNF a lot of races. His teammate Gabriel Bortoleto struggled for pace, finishing only P13, but the team itself is showing more promise.
Fernando Alonso and Aston Martin were finally able to get some points under their belt, finishing P8. A much better result for the team who at the start of the season was unable to start and finish many of their races. Lance Stroll however, had another DNF added to his list after quietly retiring the car on lap 45.
The final driver making it into the top 10 was Alpines Pierre Gasly, finishing P10. Once again Gasly continues to have a better year at Alpine. His teammate Franco Colapinto had a tough race, receiving a penalty that was added post-race for failing to slow for yellow flags, which resulted in a P14 finish.
Yuki Tsunoda made another return due to Hadjar being out. He took the position at Racing Bulls and the pairing managed to finish just outside the top 10. Yuki Tsunoda finished P11, and Arvid Lindblad managed to finish just behind in P12.
Sergio Perez secured a P15 result during the race. This was a solid result for the tough season the team has had. But the same couldn’t be said for the other side of the Cadillac garage, with Valtteri Bottas having another DNF added to his underwhelming season.
Williams had a race to forget, especially when the two drivers crash into one another and almost result in a double DNF. This result however did see Alex Albon DNF, and Carlos Sainz received a 10 second penalty and ended up P16.
Haas was the only team with a double DNF. Oliver Bearman couldn’t get going for the second race restart and was forced to pull over and finish the day there. Esteban Ocon suffered a similar fate, with a power unit issue causing his DNF on lap 55.
We return this weekend to the Temple of Speed, for the Italian Grand Prix. This is an exciting weekend for Ferrari, but also for Kimi Antonelli. However, a race penalty looms over Antonelli’s head for the weekend.
Comments