The leader of the World Cup wins his tenth victory of the season in Zandvoort and caresses his second crown in F1
Ferrari has again failed miserably in the ‘pit stop’ of Carlos, who has finished 8th, while Alonso has signed a spectacular comeback (6th)
Max Verstappen has won for the second consecutive year at home, at the Dutch circuit of Zandvoort alreadycaresses his second world crown. With seven grand prizes ahead of him, his advantage is already 109 points, which leaves the championship practically seen for sentence. Mercedes has confirmed its ‘threat’ and has made it very difficult for the leader, who has finally climbed onto the podium accompanied byr George Russell and Charles Leclerc, while Hamilton, fourth, has been left without a reward after a fantastic strategy. Ferrari has once again failed resoundingly in Carlos Sainz’s pit stop, which has ended up sinking in eighth position. best day ever Fernando Alonso, protagonist of an exceptional comeback from the 13th place on the grid to the 6th final.
clean output
Verstappenwho started on softs, escaped from the start, chased by Leclerc, while Sainz and Hamilton touched although both were able to continue their march. Alonso, who started 13th after a poor classification on Saturday, has not been able to recover entry positions. Kevin Magnussen lost control of the Haas and touched the wall from the side, but the Dane corrected himself ‘in extremis’ and was able to get back on track, avoiding the red flag on the second lap.
the rhythm of hamilton with the media and a Mercedes that in Zandvoort this weekend has been on a par with Ferrari and Red Bull has been fearsome and a nuisance for Sainz, who could not get rid of the Briton and has lost a lot of time with his teammate Leclerc and the Verstappen leader. The race has become a pulse between these last two drivers, who alternated on the fastest lap.
Another Ferrari fiasco with Sainz
Alpine called Alonso to the pits after 13 laps, when the Spaniard had overtaken Gasly and Tsunoda. Fernando has ridden hard to have a chance with a different strategy. The drama came moments later with Carlos Sainz, who saw how Ferrari ruined his race again with a very slow stop. Incomprehensibly, one of the tires was not prepared and the man from Madrid took 12.7 seconds to rejoin, losing the position with Checo Pérez and later with the two Mercedes. Leclerc did have a quick reaction in his garage (2.5) and was able to continue to put pressure on Verstappen.
Hamilton delayed his pit stop and took control, followed by his teammate. Verstappen, who has switched to medium, has overtaken Russell like a ‘missile’ and has launched himself for the seven-time champion, who has rushed his Pirelli to the extreme and has stopped with 42 laps to go. With the stops of all favorites, Sainz had fallen to sixth position, already without options, due to the monumental error of those from Maranello.
Hamilton, no reward
Verstappen has imposed a devastating pace at the wheel of Red Bull. The situation was beginning to remind one of a week ago at Spa, but neither Ferrari nor Mercedes, especially Hamilton, were willing to make it so easy for him. Pérez has tried to stop the Briton, who has given up some important seconds avoiding the doubled Vettel and has compensated by being the fastest on the track with the hard ones. With 30 laps to go, Max had 10 seconds on Leclerc and 17 on Lewis. Checo, with a lot of degradation, has been overtaken by Russell, Sainz and Norris, at the expense of Alonso, who was already eighth.
Sainz, in no man’s land, made his second pit stop, just as Tsunoda stopped. The Japanese has detected that one of the wheels was not properly adjusted, but from the wall of Alpha Tauri they have urged him to continue after the pertinent check. A new visit to the pits has convinced Tsunoda that something was wrong and he stopped on the track again, leading to a very opportune virtual safety car for some of the favorites, but disastrous for Mercedes’ strategy.
A heart-stopping ending
“This safety car has made us dust!” Hamilton lamented on the radio. And it is that the Tsunoda incident seemed to avoid a high-tension race ending and left Verstappen free to go for his tenth victory. However, another safety car from Bottas has given the Merdedes air again. Hamilton, on mediums, has faced the last twelve laps in the lead, pursued by ‘Mad’ Max, on softs. When the race was relaunched, the Dutchman overtook the Englishman as a maneuver to the limit that made the Zandvoort stands roar.
Sainz, who was running fifth, received a 5-second penalty for an unsafe stop, while Leclerc minimized damage in the Ferrari disaster and secured third place after accounting for Hamilton, who had also given in to teammate Russell. Alonso’s comeback, spectacular, has allowed him to climb to discuss Checo’s position with Red Bull.
Verstappen crossed the finish line in first place and climbed onto the podium escorted by Russell and Leclerc. Hamilton and Pérez have completed the ‘top five’, with Alonso sixth at the end and Sainz dropping to eighth place due to the penalty. The new success at home leaves Max one step away from revalidating his crown. With seven races to go, the question is not whether the Red Bull driver will be champion for the second consecutive year, but in which grand prix he will mathematically secure the title.
GP NETHERLANDS. Race (72 laps)
1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 1h 36m 42.773
2. George Russell (Mercedes) at 4″071
3. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) at 10″929
4. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) at 13″016
5. Sergio Pérez (Red Bull) at 18″168
6. Fernando Alonso (Alpine) at 18″754
7. Lando Norris (McLaren) at 19″306
8. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) at 20″916
9. Esteban Ocon (Alpine) at 22.459
10. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) at 22″459
11. Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri) at 27″009
12. Alexander Albon (Williams) at 30″390
13. Mick Schumacher (Haas) at 32″995
14. Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin) at 36″007
15. Kevin Magnussen (Haas) at 36.869
16. Guanyu Zhou (Alfa Romeo) at 37″320
17. Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren) at 37″764
18. Nicholas Latifi (Williams) 1 lap
retired:
Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo)
Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri)
This is how the World Cup goes (14 of 22 + 2 sprints)
1.Max Verstappen 310
2. Charles Leclerc 201
3. Sergio Perez 201
4.George Russell188
5. Carlos Sainz 175
6.Lewis Hamilton 158
7. Lando Norris 82
8. Esteban Ocon 66
9. Fernando Alonso 59
10. Valtteri Bottas 46
11.Kevin Magnussen22
12. Sebastian Vettel 20
13. Daniel Ricciardo 19
14.Pierre Gasly 18
15. Mick Schumacher 12
16.Yuki Tsunoda 11
17. Guanyu Zhou 5
18. Lance Stroll 5
19. Alexander Albon 4
20. Nicholas Latifi 0