Netherlands GP Race Report

The nearest thing to news ahead of the Grand Prix at Zandvoort was that Bearman would be starting from the pits having taken onboard some new parts and there might be rain (but possibly not).  The only thing to discuss was the potential fight between Norris and Piastri, who McLaren claimed were free to race.

Four drivers were making a punchy start on soft tyres, most notably both Red Bulls, so Verstappen was looking to get ahead off the start.  The tyres were a big help, as was Norris putting in a trademark poor start.  He got up to second, despite a wobble on dirt on the track.  If Piastri hadn't been so quick to pull over and cut off Norris, Verstappen would not have got past.

Albon had an amazing start and made up five places, whilst Bortoleto's car just wouldn't get going and he fell back six places.

The McLarens showed their dominant speed and on lap 9, Norris was past Verstappen and chasing Piastri.  The rain came on lap 21 and several drivers had just put in an early first stop.  No one was looking to put on wet tyres though.  We all thought that it would be Stroll who crashed out of the race first but it was Hamilton caught out by the wet track and smashed into the barrier.  A Safety Car was immediately brought out and most of the drivers pitted.  The McLarens double-stacked but the jack didn't release quick enough and Norris lost out.  Hamilton was left on track picking up pieces of his car and putting them all together.

Norris enquired whether Hamilton had slid off by going on the paint and then told off his engineer for not telling him first.  The drivers would be keen to avoid it.

In the restart though, Lawson drove into Sainz and the pack overtook them.  The Red Bull needed a new set of tyres but the Williams had to have a new wing too.  For some reason it was Sainz who got a ten second penalty not Lawson, who was at fault.  Ahead, the top three had remained in the same places and Hadjar was still holding onto 4th as well.  Halfway through the race was a strong yet risky overtake on Russell by LeClerc.  They got battling fiercely.  It might be the move of the season.  To make matters worse for Russell, he was asked to move over for his team mate a few laps later.

There was a mix of strategies in play throughout the grid and when Antonelli made an unexpected second stop, LeClerc was bought in to cover off the undercut.  He was out just ahead of the Mercedes.  Corners later though, Antonelli nudged him on the banking, spinning LeClerc onto the paint, then into the barrier and finally through the dirt.  Presumably shocked by the turn of events, LeClerc spun the car around to keep it going and get it back to the pits but immediately realised there was no hope.  Both the Ferraris were out.  If they were following form, the stewards would give him a ten second penalty for the incident too.

A Safety Car was called and the McLarens double-stacked again for slow stops.  When the race restarted there were some overtakes further back but the top six remained the same.  LeClerc remained out on the dunes, posing on top and in a deckchair, Alonso-style.

Antonelli was given a ten second penalty for his collision and then another five seconds for speeding in the pits.

Verstappen had to give up the chase after a couple of laps; he called in to his engineer to say that he couldn't get any more out of the car.  With seven laps to go though, Norris reported smelling smoke and the cockpit was filling with it.  Then it really went and the car stopped on track.  This was really not what he wanted.  Lando was sat on the barrier and his engineer had his head in his hands then he moved to sit with his head down in the dunes.

There was a third Safety Car to remove the McLaren, which meant that Antonelli would fall far down the field once his time penalties were applied (ten places in the end).  For the next restart, there was also drizzle lightly falling.  

Piastri finished first, followed by Verstappen, then Hadjar for a first career podium in F1.  He was also voted Driver of the Day; heaven help him if he is suddenly moved to replace Tsunoda in Red Bull.  Piastri gave a little whoop, nothing much, nothing too celebratory.

Netherlands GP Qualifying Report

McLaren were dominant in the practice sessions for the Dutch Grand Prix but not everyone was finding it easy.  Most drivers were caught out by the gusts of wind off the sea, with Hamilton spinning.  Antonelli beached the car but his colleague Russell managed to get through the gravel and back onto track.  Stroll sent it into the wall and cost his father even more pennies to get his Aston Martin fixed for Qualifying.

Six minutes into the first Qualifying session though and Stroll put the car back into the wall.  He went back through the gravel and onto the track to take it back to the pits.  He was lucky the gravel was banked and he just slid back down it.  From then on it was more straightforward.  The McLarens were quickest with Piastri ahead of Norris for the first time this weekend.  Out went Colapinto, Hulkenberg, Ocon, Bearman, with Stroll last.

McLaren were still looking strong in the second session, with Ferrari right behind them.  The bottom five changed quickly as the clock ticked down to zero.  Racing Bull driver Lawson pushed out Tsunoda who replaced him at Red Bull.  Alonso put in the last quick lap to knock out Anontelli.  Not joining the shoot out were Antonelli, Tsunoda, Bortoleto, Gasly and Albon.  The Williams of Sainz was clinging on.  Verstappen was able to split the McLarens from the Ferraris, opening up the last session a little.

Again, the final session was very straightforward.  It was only ever between the McLarens and Piastri put in two quicker laps than Norris.  There was a brief moment of wonder to see if Verstappen could steal it at the end but it was never really in question.  He came in in third.  Hadjar did a belter of a lap to take 4th, with Russell behind him.  The Ferraris ended up in 6th (LeClerc) and 7th, ahead of Lawson, Sainz and Alonso.  The Racing Bulls really should have shared their homework with Red Bull over the summer break.

Netherlands GP Race Report

There were slight changes to the grid since Qualifying, Albon's disqualification putting him last and next to his team mate, as his upgraded floor was too wide.  Hamilton lost three places from an already disappointing Qualifying position, having impeded Perez.  Magnussen started from the pit lane after changing his engine.  However, it was a dry if very windy start to the race, with the potential for it to catch some drivers out, the out lap would be a very important information-gathering exercise.

Verstappen made an excellent start and Norris didn't get a look in, with the Red Bull being over a second ahead by lap 3.  Piastri struggled off the line and lost a place to Russell.  The cars are very evenly matched at the top and there is no room for mistakes.  Norris did reel him in over the next 18 laps and was able to get past easily and cleanly.  

The pit stops were spread about, with some choosing to undercut or cover off competitors but there were no direct head-to-heads.  Norris was out ahead of Verstappen after the pit stops, luckily he had built up a 5 second plus gap which allowed for the McLaren mechanics to make a slight error in the stop.  During Gasly's stop, he clipped his mechanic's hand as he left the box, which the stewards investigated.  Surely it is up to the team whether they choose to sacrifice staff not the FIA?

Piastri fell away during the race and could not chase LeClerc in the inferior Ferrari for third position.  Russell, who had looked racy couldn't challenge Piastri though.  He was pitted for an extra stop and fresh tyres but came out behind Sainz and Perez, he may as well have stayed out to see what would have happened.  Albon had fought his way into the points but then kept losing places lap after lap.  

Norris took the win and was able to grab the point for Fastest Lap on his final time around the track.  Vestappen and LeClerc completed the podium, with the Ferrari driver bewildered how he got there.  It was then Piastri, Sainz, Perez (holding up quite well and needed), Russell, Hamilton, Gasly (a good result for Alpine) and Alonso.

Hulkenberg finished just outside the points, having made an usual early one stop.  He would be leaving the track but the Haas motor homes would be staying behind as the team haven't paid the Russians money owed.  Ricciardo finished 12th, 5 places ahead of his team mate, which is a result he needed.

Both Saubers finished last, it makes you wonder what Audi see in the team.  Have they discovered an oil reservoir under the factory?

Very unusually for Zandevoort, there were no Safety Cars, not even a Yellow Flag - we were all relying on Sargeant to spice things up a bit but, as always, he didn't deliver.

Netherlands GP Qualifying Report

Logan Sargeant had Latified up FP3 with a huge smash and a resulting fire.  You could see a mechanic say "Fuck's sake" in the Williams garage.  He wouldn't be participating in Qualifying and it reduced other drivers' track time.  The team will be very glad when Sainz steps into the seat next season.

This big summer break announcement has been overshadowed by Jonathan Wheatley's resignation from Red Bull and new position at Audi, which in turn has been overshadowed by an interview given by Toto Wolff to a Dutch newspaper hinting that George and Kimi Antonelli will be the Mercedes drivers for 2026 if not 2025.

Finally, after 25 days off, we went racing, at least to score the best place possible on the grid.  In the first session, there was a bit of argy-bargy between Perez and Hamilton.  Sargeant didn't make it out, with both Saubers, Ocon and Ricciardo.  The questioning will continue about his position at RB now.  The Ferraris put in quick laps as the circuit got faster, being pipped by Russell, who was complaining about lack of grip and, finally, Perez, who had to use a new set of tyres.

The second session saw a lot of the top drivers driving furiously to get through to the final session.  Sainz and Hamilton were both knocked out, along with Tsunoda and both Haas.  Albon was 7th in his Williams, Sainz's team next year.

Again, there was no drama in the third session and the quick laps were all put in over the last couple of minutes.  Verstappen held provisional pole but it was taken by Norris.  Piastri and Russell line up behind them followed by Perez, LeClerc, Alonso, Albon (before he was disqualified), Stroll and Gasly (vastly out-qualifying his team mate).  Both Williams will start from the back of the grid; the car was heavily updated and the floor did not comply with regulations.  Hamilton was given a three place penalty for the incident with Perez.

I think the drivers at the front will fight hard and, if there's rain and wind, it could be anybody's race.

Netherlands GP Race Report

Another race day, another set of concerns about weather.  It definitely wasn't sunny at the seaside resort.

The three Brits behind Verstappen had plans to hold up Alonso at worst, get the better of the championship leader at best.  The banking really helped Fernando though, as he overtook Albon and Russell in the same corner.  They thought it would spit with rain later but then heavy rain fell.  As we watched several drivers pit, Alonso got past Norris for second position.  Obviously, Ferrari had the wrong set of tyres ready for LeClerc and had to go back to the tyre wardrobe for the correct boots.  It wouldn't be a Formula 1 race without Ferrari cocking it up in a very simple manner.

Perez was the first driver to take wet tyres and swiftly made his way to the very front of the race.  Over the next couple of laps, the order changed completely.  Diappointingly, Albon had gone from 4th to 14th, hanging on with dry tyres, Norris 2nd to 12th.  By Lap 12, drivers were coming back in for dry tyres, with LeClerc getting a new front wing too after his wet conditions collision with Piastri.

Four laps later, having drivers in 8th and 20th, down from 4th and 10th starting positions, things went from bad to worse for Williams as Sargeant broke his car taking a corner poorly and spun off, putting his car out of the race, breaking the barriers and bringing out the safety car.  Russell and Stroll gambled on pitting for their second tyre choice as Sargeant sat despondently on the grass track-side, hanging his head in shame.

We went into the next phase of the race with Verstappen leading the race from his team mate, then Alonso, Gasly and Sainz.  After battling Alpha Tauri reserved driver Lawson, making his F1 debut, for 15th position, LeClerc retired his damaged Ferrari, ending an awful weekend on his side of the Ferrari garage.  

Teams now needed to decide whether to stick with old tyres to the end of the race or pit.  Aston Martin bought in Alonso from 3rd, had a problem in the stop and sent him out in 4th.  With 15 laps to go, and a lot of rain predictions throughout the race that came to nothing, it seemed that we would get more rain and this time heavier than the start.

After 13 races and 60 laps, Gasly's decision to leave the Red Bull barn and go to Alpine paid off as he over took Sainz for 4th position.  And then it rained....  Again Perez was in first for wet tyres.  The next lap, Verstappen  took new tyres and held the lead.  Alonso also pitted but Albon and Ocon kept going and were persuaded to come in.

With a 20 second deficit to his team mate, Perez went off the track and handed 2nd place to Alonso.  Ocon had taken on the full wet tyre, which helped him as the rain came down harder and harder.  The other drivers came in for those tyres too.  Zhou went off and a Virtual Safety Car was put out as the car was tucked into the barrier.  Then the race was red flagged.  Now there was a lot of confusion.  A lot.  With cars in the pit for wet tyres, which was the responsible thing to do and part of the reason for the Red Flag, would they lose position when the race restarted?

It was a rolling start for the final 7 laps.  The order was decided somehow, I didn't follow.  Verstappen in the lead, then Alonso, then Perez...Hamilton lucked out in 6th.  Off they went and it was announced that Perez had a 5 second penalty for speeding in the pit lane.  Russell was out of the race, I couldn't understand why there weren't any yellow flags but it was a puncture and it he made it back to the pit lane in a gentlemanly fashion.  Everyone else was scrambling to get within 5 seconds of Perez to move up a place.

Verstappen reigned supreme at his home track.  Alonso comfortably held on to 2nd (voted Driver of the Day too), with Gasly taking his first podium in a long time.  Perez was 5 seconds ahead of Sainz, so claimed 4th, then Hamilton, Norris, Albon, Piastri and Ocon.  It was a good points haul for McLaren and the mass sacking at Alpine seems to have been justified now.

Lawson finished his maiden race in 13th place, 3 places ahead of his team mate (not sure when Tsunoda went back 3 places).

At least Norris wasn't on the podium to smash the Delft (?) trophy.

It was an epic race and one that will be remembered and discussed for many years.  I definitely want this level of personal weather forecasting in my life.

Netherlands GP Qualifying Report

The big news of the weekend so far was the weather.  It has caught a lot of drivers out; most notably Piastri, whose incident was avoided by Ricciardo, breaking his hand in the process.  Danny Ric was dispatched to Barcelona to visit the same surgeon who fixed Lance Stroll.  Everyone will have to look forward to the come back from the come back.

As Qualifying started, in wet weather conditions, Albon, a Haas and Verstappen quickly went off the track.  Several followed and it got wetter and wetter as the first session progressed.

Kiwi Liam Lawson stepped in for Alpha Tauri finished Qualifying last and went out alongside Bottas, Magnussen, Ocon and Zhou.  Alpine continue to sink to the bottom and you have to wonder how long Renault will continue to fund this catastrophe.  LeClerc just scraped through and, once again, berated his team publicly over the radio.  His advice?  They needed to manage their strategy with traffic better.

The second session saw the weather improve and drivers had to make decisions about tyres.  This was not supposed to be a good track for the Williams car but Albon and Sargeant both made it through to the third session.  Both cars got into the final part of Qualifying for the first time in years.  Albon was even in third.  Stroll went out, Gasly, Tsunoda and Hulkenberg.  Sargeant benefited from a huge timing mistake by Mercedes and Hamilton, which caused them to be out in 12th position.

At the start of the final session, Verstappen was the only driver out on Intermediate tyres instead of softs, which could have been a problem but he always gets the luck...  Just when I was wondering whether Williams are the new McLaren (who are the new Aston Martin), Sargeant spun his car heavily into the wall.  The session was stopped and the dire Dutch DJ started up again.

Just as we got started again, with Norris now in the lead, LeClerc hit the barriers and the session was stopped again.  I can't see that he can blame this one on the team and he apologised.  The Ferrari driver did an Alonso and sat by the side of the track on a deckchair watching the rest of the action.

There was only a couple of minutes to put in a final offer for the grid.  Verstappen went out and did the business and got his pole position.  After him it was all to play for, with Norris taking second position and Albon briefly getting third before being pushed down one place by Russell.  Alonso was in fifth.  It's notable that Sainz and Perez are 6th and 7th, being in much better cars than those ahead of them.  Piastri was in 8th, a gap his team mate Norris needs to reinforce his position as Number 1 in the team as the Aussie grows in experience, confidence and, most importantly, results.  The crashers finished the top ten.

For Albon his position was a "nice surprise".  Up and down the paddock there was delight that the Williams were showing more success.  Let's see where they actually finish the race though.  Alex was disappointed that one of the mid-field cars hadn't popped up in the middle of the top 10 to help him, all hopes are on Logan holding the pack up.

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.

Netherlands GP Qualifying Report

In Qualifying 1, there was nothing much to report beyond the bellowing cheers of the sea of orange-shirted fans as Verstappen lapped his way to first place.  Verstappen and LeClerc were confident of their first run times and didn't go out for a final run, as did Albon in his Williams!  Ricciardo went out in 18th with his team mate finishing 5th, don't know if he's driving slowly as a gesture to his team.  Vettel went wide across the pretend gravel and also went out.

There was no real shock in Q2 - Alonso went out.  The action was all down to pigeons and flares, which sounds like a fun night out in the 70s.

After the first runs in Q3 LeClerc was leading, so tension was mounting.  Stroll proved that money can buy you a lot of things but it can't buy you a consistent race car, as he was out with a technical problem.  In the closing minute, Perez spun, bringing out the yellow flags.  This meant that Verstappen was guaranteed pole as no one  could go quickly past his team mate's beached car.  The Orange Army got what they came for and it looked like we were in for a boring race.

Netherlands GP Race Report

The Dutch Grand Prix had the makings of an amazing race: the two championship contenders lined up next to each other on the grid, the banking looks amazing, the roar of the crowd, three abreast for the first lap.  From then on it was downhill (notably Vettel spinning up and then down the banking).

By Lap 5 Hamilton was whinging about his tires.  He came in very early for a second stop, it felt like he'd only just done his first, coming out in traffic.  It was potentially a poor strategy decision from Mercedes.  Would Red Bull bring Verstappen in straight away or let him stay out longer until the window was better for re-entry?  They brought him in sooner, which worked out to be slightly better but all the same the most exciting factor of the race was the tire choice and when to change them.  Hamilton quickly decided it was a poor strategy decision and used the radio to let the world know, repeatedly.

Now on to team orders.  Towards the start of the race, Ocon was denied his request for Alonso to move over, largely because Alonso showed his true speed when it was mentioned.  Norris was given the pass past Ricciardo.  I'm looking forward to hearing the post-race interviews on that.

We also saw mechanical retirements for the first time in a while, Mazepin and Tsunoda did the raised reverse glide into the pit.

Different strategies were employed by every team.  Mercedes went with a bizarre choice at the end to pit Bottas but ask him not to take the Fastest Lap point away from team mate Hamilton.  Did he listen?  No.  Does this make it clear he's not staying at the team next year?  Yes.  Lewis got it back in the end, don't worry.

Some drivers had a very quiet race, we didn't see Kubica in his borrow Alfa Romeo once, or Giovannizi going backwards in his.

From a sea of orange, we move on to a sea of red next week at Monza.  This triple-header is feeling like a lot of hard work.  From the disappointment of Spa to this...what will Italy bring?  A sprint race at least.

Netherlands GP Qualifying Report

The drivers arrived, took to the track and raved about it.  Instagram was full of people illustrating how steep the banking is by rolling things (or themselves) down it.

Raikkonen announced his retirement this week and knowing that he was going to face a barrage of press this weekend, "tested positive for Co-vid".  Polish "superstar" Kubica took his seat and was able to qualify ahead of the Haas, which is good for someone who has been out of F1 for such a long time.

The shock loser of Q1 was Perez, clearly the Curse of the Recently Signed.

The red flag came out immediately as George Russell took his Williams into the gravel.  If anything a little premature as he was able to keep the car going and get back to the pits.  Despite bumping the back of the vehicle into the barrier....he starts 11th.

The session started again...and Latifi put the other Williams into the barrier.  So both Williams out in Q2 with Norris, Stroll and Tsunoda.  Whilst Russell got away with his crash, Latifi hit with much more force.

At the end of the final qualifying session, Verstappen had pole position at his home grand prix, however he is joined on the front row by his championship competitor, Hamilton.  Ocon and Giovannzi also secured great grid places, in front of Alonso and Ricciardo, the latter could not do better than 10th.  Most interesting was Gasly in P4 ahead of both Ferraris.

There's huge potential for a great race tomorrow.  My predictions are: Hamilton for the win.  Gasly (again) for the surprise win.  Two red flags.   Williams mechanics fall asleep mid-race in the garage and fail to get the tires ready in time for a pit stop.