An in-depth analysis of the F1® Dutch GP 2022

Max Verstappen claimed his fourth consecutive race victory and his 10^th win of the season at the Dutch Grand Prix in front of 105,000 orange-clad fans who were there to cheer on their countryman. Cool and composed decision-making from the Red Bull garage ultimately led Verstappen to glory after their rivals, particularly Mercedes, made a series of tactical errors. Verstappen ultimately finished just 4.071 seconds ahead of the Mercedes of George Russell, who came home in second place, whilst Charles Leclerc finished third for Ferrari to round out the podium.

The Zandvoort circuit is located in the municipality of Zandvoort, one of the major beach resorts in the Netherlands. It is an extremely narrow 4.259km track featuring 14 turns, including numerous banked corners, the steepest of which is the final corner Arie Luyendijkbocht which features 19 degrees of banking, more than twice as much as the nine-degree turns seen at the famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The circuit provides only a few overtaking opportunities, most notably on the relatively short pit straight and the infamous Tarzan corner at Turn 1, which is a tight 180-degree bend that presents a harsh braking zone for drivers.

Tyre strategy would play a huge role in the outcome of the Dutch Grand Prix, as all three tyre compounds were viable options and appeared to be useful race tyres, which is not always the case. Many race one or two compounds end up being the clear best option in the trade-off between performance and durability. Every driver who finished the race, bar Zhou Guanyu, ran on all three tyre compounds throughout the course of the race.

Lewis Hamilton, who ended up in fourth, appeared primed for a maiden victory in this season throughout various stages of the race; however, in what was the decisive moment of the race, following a late safety car on lap 56 after Valtteri Bottas suddenly stopped on the approach of turn one, both Verstappen and Hamilton’s teammate Russell completed pit stops to change onto soft tyres under this safety car, whilst Mercedes left Hamilton out on his worn, cold medium tyres. As can be seen on the lap time plot above, where Hamilton’s lap times were rapidly rising following the resumption of the race on lap 61, this left Hamilton helpless on the track as he was quickly passed by Verstappen, who was able to easily slipstream his way back into the lead. Hamilton would then promptly be overtaken by Russell a few laps later before then suffering the same fate when Leclerc, who was also on new soft tyres, eased his way into third place, pushing Hamilton outside of the podium after what looked to be a potential victory. Hamilton was left furious by the decision to leave him out whilst his rivals all stopped for fresh soft tyres, and he made his feelings known over the team radio, where he sent his Mercedes crew a number of irate messages filled with expletives.

Analysis of the telemetry on lap 68 for Verstappen and the two Mercedes drivers highlights the gulf in performance between Hamilton on his worn medium tyres and Verstappen and Russell on the much fresher soft compound tyres. Verstappen led the way on this lap, posting a time of 1:13.948 to hold off a charging Russell, who was less than two-tenths of a second off the pace; meanwhile, Hamilton was well off the times being set by the two leading drivers at this point only managing a lap time of 1:14.722. Mercedes’ greatest advantage over the Red Bull of Verstappen came in the medium-speed corners on Turns 7 and 8, where both Russell and Hamilton maintained a considerable speed advantage throughout the entirety of the race. However, the decreased levels of grip Hamilton had at this point of the race on his medium tyres is evident by his earlier braking points, lower speed through the slow corners and his increased time to regain top speeds on the exit of corners. Verstappen was able to leverage the superior straight-line speed of the Red Bull to hold off a combative Russell to secure victory.

Red Bull and Verstappen delivered another masterclass claiming pole position, victory and the bonus point for the fastest lap of the race for a second consecutive weekend, extending the Dutchman’s World Championship lead to over 100 points. Ferrari will be looking for success on home soil of their own next week in Monza for the Italian Grand Prix where the Tifosi will be out in full force. Meanwhile, despite his frustrations at the strategic decisions, Hamilton will remain optimistic that he now has the car performance behind him to achieve a victory this season and maintain his streak of at least one race win in every season he has competed in Formula 1®.