NETHERLANDS. Zandvoort: Max Verstappen secures his seventh win of this season by winning the Dutch GP much to the joy of 70,000 fans who came to watch his performance at the home race all dressed in orange and lighting orange flares and waving thousands of red, white, and blue flags.
Max beat his nearest rival Lewis Hamilton by 20.932 seconds after Hamilton made a late pit stop to salvage the point for the fastest lap. Hamilton’s teammate Valtteri Bottas completed the podium, moving up to third in the championship. AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly secured the fourth position ahead of the Ferrari’s, Charles Leclerc and Fernando Alonso. Seventh place went to Carlos Sainz with Checo in P8 followed by Esteban Ocon and Norris.
Verstappen became the leader of the Drivers’ Championship standings with 224.5 points after his win in Dutch GP. In the Constructors’ Championship, the Team Red Bull is in the second position with 332.5 points, 12 points behind Mercedes. This was Red Bull’s first ever Dutch GP appearance too. Interestingly, the team red Bull never won here in the turbo-hybrid era.
Max breaks Stirling Moss’s record
Max Verstappen is the fifth driver after Alan Prost, Nigel Mansell, Damon Hill, and Nico Rosberg to break Stirling Moss’s record for most wins without a title. Stirling Moss is regarded as the greatest driver who never won a championship. Every driver who has broken Moss’ record has gone on to become World Champion.
“It’s incredible to win here today on another home track and it feels great to take the lead in the Driver’s Championship again. 72 laps around this track are cool, especially in front of all these fans, they were incredible throughout the whole race, I’ve never experienced anything like this before in my life”, Says Max Verstappen, The Belgian-Dutch racing driver with Red Bull Racing after winning the race.
“It was an impeccable race for the Team today. There’s a fantastic atmosphere here and I’ve never seen a reaction like that in my whole career, the fans in Holland are incredible. It was important for Max to get a clean start, his ability to judge and read the grip level is very strong. The Team did everything they could today to make sure Max had a smooth race and he did everything that he needed. Sergio won driver of the day and he has driven a great race”, said Christian Horner OBE, the British Team Principal of the Red Bull Racing Formula One team.
The race highlights
- AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda and Haas’s Nikita Mazepin were the only retirements during the race.
- Circuit Zandvoort hosted its first Formula One race since Niki Lauda’s win in 1985.
- Max Verstappen became the 19th driver in Formula One history to lead 1,000 career laps.
- Verstappen, Hamilton, and Bottas finished on the podium together for a record 19th time.
- Sergio Perez’s brilliant performance of starting from pit-lane to finishing P8 fetched him the Driver of the day award.
Dutch Grand Prix Top 10
- Max Verstappen (Team Red Bull Racing Honda)
- Lewis Hamilton (Team Mercedes)
- Valtteri Bottas (Team Mercedes)
- Pierre Gasly ( Team AlphaTauri)
- Charles Leclerc (Team Ferrari)
- Fernando Alonso (Team Alpine)
- Carlos Sainz (Team Ferrari)
- Sergio Pérez (Team Red Bull Racing Honda)
- Esteban Ocon (Team Alpine)
- Lando Norris (Team McLaren)
Driver Standing after Dutch GP
- Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing): 224.5 Pts
- Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes):221.5 Pts
- Valteri Bottas (Mercedes):123 Pts
Constructors Standings after Dutch GP
- Mercedes – (Hamilton / Bottas): 344.5 Pts
- Red Bull Racing – (Verstappen / Perez): 332.5 Pts
- Ferrari – (Leclerc / Carlos): 181.5 Pts
Circuit Zandvoort and Dutch Grand Prix
The Circuit Zandvoort is a real racing circuit. Drivers find it impossible to overtake here, because of the high downforce super-fast corners, sweeping turns, and narrow track. The track flows through dunes, creating a rollercoaster-like feel to the lap. Zandvoort first opened in 1948, was originally made up of a mixture of permanent track and public roads that snaked through the dunes of the Zandvoort. Formula 1 was first hosted in 1952 and kept happening until 1985.
The renovated circuit was again opened for F1 racing in 2020 buy due to Covid Pandemic was rescheduled for 2021. Two important and popular corners in the circuit were revved up. The famous Tarzan corner saw its banking angle increased to give challenge to the drivers and the Hugenholtzbocht corner has been widened and banked into a parabolic corner, to allow cars to run side by side, and at the same speed.
Coming next in the Formula One season for 2021 is the ‘Italian Grand Prix’, which is scheduled from September 10 to 12, 2021, at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza.
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