Netherlands GP Race Report

Before the race Lewis Hamilton was out adjusting a sound system near his pit as it made the turn in close.  He had an eye for detail in this race that he did have the potential win.  However, most agreed it was Verstappen's to lose.

It was a clean start, then Magnussen couldn't keep his car on the road and went through the gravel, touched the wall and just as it looked like a Safety Car would be coming out, KMag kept the car going and went out the other side of the corner and rejoined the race behind Latifi.

The were some early pit stops, led by Vettel.  Alonso, having fought past both Alfa Tauris also pitted.  Some of the last in this phase were Sainz and Perez.  Perez went over the Ferrari wheel gun and Ferrari Ferraried things up by not having the right tyres ready and giving Sainz a 12 second stop.

Then there was not a lot of action for a long time.  After the Mercedes finally stopped and the proper order was resumed, Hamilton overtakes Perez.  The Mercedes are showing strength in straight line speed, as witnessed last race by Albon's Williams.

It wasn't until Lap 44 that Tsunoda pulled over at the side of the track, well on it really, telling his pit that the tyres weren't properly fitted.  All the teams came out into the pit ready.  His team told him they were fine and to keep going, so he did. Unfortunately, he had undone his seatbelt so had to pit anyway.  After the Perez spin and Safety Car yesterday and as the Red Bull's sister team, once again, something smells fishy at the sea side track of Zanderboorg.  Under the Virtual Safety Car, different teams did and didn't pit and for different tyres.  The key beneficiaries were the Mercedes, who were now 2nd and 3rd behind Verstappen.

10 laps later, Bottas stops on track.  Sainz Ferraris things up for himself, by overtaking Ocon under the Yellow Flag, next to the stranded car.  With the Alpha Romeo parked at the end of the straight, there was no clear way to remove the car.  The Ferrari was then released unsafely in front of an Alpine, placing an order for another penalty.

In retro 2021 style, Hamilton was in the lead under the Safety Car but lost it to Verstappen on the first corner.  The radio waves were blue with Lewis complaining to his team.  I'm not sure why.  It clearly distracted him because Russell went straight past him on the straight.  It seemed to all be about Russell being pitted for different tyres and not staying out to play the important role of "buffer" between himself and his current nemesis.  Just as we were processing this, LeClerc was past him for the last podium position.

The end of the race crept up on me.  Guido van der Garde wasn't good enough for the podium interviews and David Coulthard (at best an honorary Belgian) stood up.  Verstappen didn't get the hint to address the crowd in Dutch (or he doesn't speak Dutch?).  Russell joked about how close he and Hamilton are.  I think things are going to go the way of Rosberg and Bottas now.