Giles Richards' report from Zadzvoort
Our man at the track has filed his report. Thanks for reading updates here. Bye!
Max Verstappen is now 109 points ahead in the standings, since you ask. He’s on 310 while Leclerc and Perez are on 201.
And Charles Leclerc: “We were a little unlucky with the VSC. I don’t know if it would have changed anything but Max was too quick today. Lewis was struggling on a used set so we managed to overtake him, it wasn’t easy but we made it stick. The gap [to Verstappen] is really big.”
George Russell: “It’s a really special feeling to be racing in Zandvoort. As a team today we showed incredible pace. This gives us a lot of confidence moving forward. We are slowly getting closer to that top step – so let’s keep pushing.”
Max Verstappen speaks: “It was not a straightforward race. We had to push the whole race – VSC, Safety Car, making the right calls – but it worked out really well. I had a good run on the restart, I had a bit more top speed to attack into turn one. We timed it really well out of the last corner, the draft was really strong.”
The rest
11. Pierre Gasly (Alpha Tauri)
12. Alex Albon (Williams)
13. Mick Schumacher (Haas)
14. Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin)
15. Kevin Magnussen (Haas)
16. Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo)
17. Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren)
18. Nicholas Latifi (Williams)
19. Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo)
RET. Yuki Tsunoda (Alpha Tauri)
Carlos Sainz’s bad day continues apace: his five-second penalty sees him demoted three places to P8. Meanwhile an adoring crowd give their triumphant hero a deafening show of support.
Lap 72/72: Russell streaks over the finish line three seconds later, soon followed by Leclerc in the final podium place. Hamilton, Perez, Alonso, Norris Sainz, Ocon and Stroll make up the rest of the top 10.
Max Verstappen wins the Dutch GP!
Another imperious win for the Dutchman at his home GP. How long until he clinches that title?
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Lap 71/72: Alonso is doing his best to attack Perez for P6 but doesn’t quite have enough in the tank.
Lap 70/72: Perez and Sainz go side by side but Sainz battles hard and pushes the Mexican off the track. The Ferarri man holds on to P5.
Lap 68/72: Hamilton current pursuer is Sainz, though I don’t think there’s much danger there with the Spaniard 3secs behind, lapping slower and having just been given a 5sec penalty for unsafe release. Verstappen’s three-second lead over Russell stays steady: the race is his now.
Max Verstappen regains the lead at the restart, getting a big tow to slip past Lewis Hamilton 🚀 pic.twitter.com/rXLIIlgYeL
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) September 4, 2022
Lap 66/72: And now Leclerc, the forgotten man of this race, picks off Hamilton for the final podium spot! Oh dear, Lewis.
Lap 64/72: Russell takes things into his own hands and picks off Hamilton! That didn’t look like team orders. “I can’t believe you guys! Eff me, man! I’m so effing angry now,” yells Hamilton. He didn’t like the fact that his teammate was beckoned in for soft tyres while he stayed out.
Lap 63/72: Verstappen has open up a then-second gap. The question now is whether Mercedes use Russell, with fresher tyres than his teammate, to hunt down Verstappen.
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Lap 61/72: And Verstappen isn’t hanging about, searing past Hamilton at the restart by using tow then pulling out around his rival into P1. Verstappen leads!
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Lap 61/72: Right hen. It’s a straightforward sprint finish now. Hamilton leading, then Verstappen, Russell, Leclerc, Sainz.
Lap 60/72: “It’s going to be hard to keep that car behind me, guys,” winces Hamilton. The safety car will be out of here after this lap.
Lap 59/72: When the race restarts, Hamilton will be leading on (currently) 10-lap-old mediums. Verstappen is behind him on softs that are 5 laps old.
Lap 58/72: Russell also stays out, while Leclerc and Perez head in. “I lost the engine,” explains Bottas. Safety car is still out.
Lap 56/72: A real safety car now, and Verstappen heads in for new soft tyres. Hamilton stays out to inherit the lead!
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Lap 55/72: Now Valtteri Bottas stops on the track – right on the main straight – and we get a yellow flag.
Even more confusion surrounding Yuki Tsunoda
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) September 4, 2022
He comes in for a pitstop after claiming he had a loose wheel, but the mechanics appear to be tightening his seatbelt
He leaves the pits, pulls over to the side of the track and is now out of the race pic.twitter.com/wDmRJbRhyH
Lap 54/72: “That VSC has stuffed us,” huffs Hamilton over the radio. He’s right.
Lap 53/72: The top 10:
1 Verstappen
2 Hamilton
3 Russell
4 Leclerc
5 Perez
6 Ocon
7 Sainz
8 Norris
9 Alonso
10 Stroll
Lap 50/72: Green flag. The upshot of that is Verstappen saved himself the 10 or so seconds he’d have lost to Hamilton at a normal pitstop. The Mercedes man has some fresh tyres he wasn’t expecting –but he’ll do pretty well to catch the Verstappen, who signals his intent by clocking up a fastest lap.
Lap 49/72: Verstappen jumps at the the chance to pit. Mercedes also double stack their drivers and put new mediums on Hamilton and Russell. The VSC is still out, with Hamilton 17secs behind Verstappen.
Lap 48/72: Tsunoda’s team appear to be checking his belt and wheel. He toddles out of the pit lane, but then again says it’s “not OK” and is told to stop. Virtual safety car!
47/72: Leclerc is instructed that Hamilton is “faster than expected” on his hards; he goes in for hard compounds of his own, coming out in fourth. Then Sainz pits and emerges in P9.
Lap 45/72: “Tyres not fitted, tyres not fitted!” barks Tsunoda into his radio as he veers to a stop by the side of the track. He eventually gets moving again, now claiming it’s “OK”, but then heads into the pits. An odd one.
Lap 42/72: So, an absorbing race is about to enter its final act stages, with few clues as to how it’ll all pan out. Verstappen and Leclerc occupy first and second, but both will need another stop – and probably soon – and will surrender their places to the Mercedes pair of Hamilton and Russell (currently third and fourth) when they do. The simply question is whether the Mercedes duo will have it in them to defend their leads against the fresh tyres of their pursuers.
Lap 39/72: And now it’s Russell who roars past Perez, whose tyres didn’t have much left in them after his battle with Hamilton. The bad news for Hamilton is that battle cost him about three seconds: he’s 18secs behind Verstappen, with Leclerc between the,m.
Lap 37/72: Hamilton tries the same trick a lap later and this time pulls it off, passing the Ferrari around the outside on turn one, then shuts the door on when an irked Perez makes a quickfire attempt to reclaim P3.
Lap 36/72: Hamilton attacks Perez on the straight and looks to go the long way round, but Perez pushes him wide and holds him off. The duel continues.
Lap 33/72: The top 10, with every driver having pitted:
1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
2. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
3. Sergio Perez (Red Bull)
4. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
5. George Russell (Mercedes)
6. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)
7. Lando Norris (McLaren)
8. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
9. Fernando Alonso (Alpine)
10. Esteban Ocon (Alpine)
Lap 32/72: Russell, the only driver not to pit, eventually succumbs and gives up P2 to Leclerc. He comes out just behind his teammate but still ahead of Sainz, who’ll be rueing that pitiful pit stop.
Lap 29/72: Hamilton pits from the lead and his team whack on a set of hard compounds – which will see him through to the finish line. He emerges in P5, ahead of Sainz, behind Perez and 19secs behind Verstappen, who will need another stop before the race is out.
Lap 27/72: “This is looking good Lewis,” say the Mercedes team. “Hamilton may try a one-stop,” Leclerc is told. Meanwhile, the Dutchie passes Russell to the left-hand side: Verstappen takes P2, three seconds behind leader Hamilton.
Updated
Lap 25/72: It’s the first time this season Mercedes have occupied the top two spots in a GP. Enjoy it while it lasts, lads.
Oh dear:
A shambolic 12.7 second pitstop for Carlos Sainz after issues with the rear left tyre, and Sergio Perez running over a wheel gun! 🛞 pic.twitter.com/ANHqlH0VZk
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) September 4, 2022
Lap 23/72: The top five makes good reading for the Mercs, though both are yet to pit. Meanwhile, Zhou picks up a five-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane.
1. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
2. George Russell (Mercedes)
3. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
4. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
5. Sergio Perez (Red Bull)
Lap 20/72: “It was a mess” huffs Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto, about that pit stop. He ain’t wrong. However, Sainz’s team assure him “We’re still on Plan A”.
Lap 18/72: Leclerc heads into the pits before Verstappen does the same from the lead to leave Hamilton and Russell in first and second. But their mediums were always going to last longer.
Lap 15/72: Calamity in the Ferrari pit! Carlos Sainz screeches into the pits for a change of tyres and his team, apparently taken by surprise, seem to forget to bring out the rear left. Cue much scuttling around. Carlos Sainz eventually heads off after 12.7secs stationary, having plunged from from P3 to P11. “Oh. My. God.” he says over the radio.
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Lap 13/72: Ricciardo, Gasly and Alonso are the next into the pits. They’re going early because the softs tyres are showing high desegregation.
Lap 11/72: Alonso rattles past Gasly going into turn one and a lap later does the very same to his teammate Tsunoda to put himself in P11. Vettel has hits the pits for reasons unknown.
Lap 9/72: Hamilton has Sainz in his sights but just as the Mercedes prepares to pounce, the Spaniard escapes away going into turn one. Hamilton is enjoying himself out there, though, and won’t be deterred. A battle to keep our eye on.
Lap 7/72: Slowly but surely, Leclerc is eating into Verstappen’s lead, whittling it down by nearly half a second over the last three laps. Russell uses DRS to reclaim P6 from Norris.
Updated
Lap 5/72: Hamilton gains on Sainz. The top five is as follows:
1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
2. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
3. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)
4. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
5. Lando Norris (McLaren)
Lap 3/72: Magnussen tells his team all’s fine and sets to work catching up the other 19 drivers. Verstappen has made a flawless start and leads by over a second. Ocon, by the way, has clawed up three places to P9.
Lap 2/72: Kevin Magnussen ploughs into the gravel and hits the barrier, but he digs himself out and gets going again – seemingly undamaged for now, but let’s see…
Lap 1/72: No damage for either driver. Norris has overtaken Russell for sixth while Stroll sprints to P8.
Lap 1/72: Sainz and Hamilton make contact going into turn one as Verstappen keeps his lead!
Updated
Lewis Hamilton and George Russell both starts on mediums. Softs for Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz. Almost ready to go…
The drivers chug out for the formation lap while grey clouds gather overhead. Your weather update:
#F1 #BBCF1 #DUTCHGP RACE: With 15 mins to race start, air temp is 22.7C & the track 34.7C. Not as breezy as last 2 days; wind today from WNW. Cloud has increased lately; a couple of small showers recently in area, but risk is low. FIA official chance of rain is 20% for this event
— Ian Fergusson (@fergieweather) September 4, 2022
Lando Norris reckons it’ll be a different race to last year’s: “There’ll be more overtaking, there’s more opportunities. It’s not going to be a huge amount better, but a step forward. So I think there’s still chance, which can lead to different strategies more this year than last year.”
How they start
1 Max Verstappen, Red Bull
2 Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
3 Carlos Sainz, Ferrari
4 Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
5 Sergio Perez, Red Bull
6 George Russell, Mercedes
7 Lando Norris, McLaren
8 Mick Schumacher, Haas
9 Yuki Tsunoda, AlphaTauri
10 Lance Stroll, Aston Martin
11 Pierre Gasly, AlphaTauri
12 Esteban Ocon, Alpine
13 Fernando Alonso, Alpine
14 Zhou Guanyu, Alfa Romeo
15 Alex Albon, Williams
16 Valtteri Bottas, Alfa Romeo
17 Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren
18 Kevin Magnussen, Haas
19 Sebastian Vettel, McLaren
20 Nicholas Latifi, Williams
The Red Bull team have changed the power unit in Sergio Perez’s car after a collision yesterday. “Just a precaution”, assures Horner.
Christian Horner speaks: “I think several aspects are going to be crucial. The first is the start: getting away cleanly and then, how are the tyres going to behave? Is it a two stop, is it a one stop? Will Ferrari split their strategies? We’ve just got to focus on getting the best out of ourselves. It’s a tricky little circuit to overtake at. Max did a hell of a job yesterday with the pole, but we’ve got to try to convert that today.”
Nico Rosberg says Fernando Alonso is such a good driver because he has a “samurai presence” on the first lap. What’s your favourite samurai film? Throne of Blood? Shogun Assassin? 13 Assassins? I have always been partial to Zatoichi.
The week’s big story broke in the wee hours of Friday night: Aussie starlet Oscar Piastri will be driving for McLaren next season after a bitter contract dispute between them an Alpine (poor Piastri did not enjoy all the arguing):
Verstappen is the only one of the front-runners kitted out with a fresh set of softs. He took first place here last year with a two-stop strategy, so no reason not to expect the same today
Which strategy will provide the quickest route to the podium? 🔮🇳🇱#F1 #DutchGP #Fit4F1 #Formula1 #Pirelli #Pirelli150 @F1 pic.twitter.com/fmiBB0EnSM
— Pirelli Motorsport (@pirellisport) September 4, 2022
The drivers make their way to the grid as the light goes green for the pit lane. Cue pandemonium among the orange-clad crowd.
How’s this for chaos, from the F2 GP. Jack Doohan’s title hope’s all but dashed by a haywire safety car restart:
Heartbreak for Doohan 💔
— Formula 2 (@Formula2) September 4, 2022
He was fighting for the win until he was tagged in a chaotic safety car restart...
Novalak and Calderon were also forced to retire from the race 😖#DutchGP #F2 pic.twitter.com/axLXm3PgQn
And the big preview of Verstappen’s home GP:
Here’s our full report from yesterday’s qualifying:
Preamble
At what point does the question move from from ‘who’ to ‘when’? As Max Verstappen steams further clear with each race, his rivals now vanishing specks in his rearview mirror, the identity of this season’s F1 champion is becoming less pertinent than just how early he’ll get it done. Michael Schumacher’s all-time record – he clinched the 2002 title with six races to go –looks just out of sight but if Verstappen keeps up his current form then he could be collecting his crown as early as Japan or even Singapore.
And judging by yesterday, that form is not about to dip anytime soon: Verstappen was pushed to the limit by Charles Leclerc in qualifying but he pulled out all the stops and recored a majestic 1:10:342 that sees him start his home GP from pole. With overtaking tricky here, that leaves an ominous task for the chasing pack.
About that chasing pack: Mercedes pair of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell threatened to have mastered their mercurial car in practice but were left disappointed yesterday, in fourth and sixth, not least because it was Sergio Perez’s spin that forced a whirlwind Hamilton – a tenth up on Verstappen’s time – to back off, his lap ruined. “The car was strong today and I felt I could go quicker,” Hamilton said. “I’ll definitely be pushing as hard as I can for a podium.”
Charles Leclerc looked back to his formidable best after a painful last few races, and his Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz snuck into third. Can they launch an unlikely two-pronged attack on the untouchable Verstappen? They’re going to have to try.
Lights out 2:10pm BST.
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