Max Verstappen dashes to historic home win

Max Verstappen sprinted back to the top of the Formula 1® world championship with a historic home win at the Dutch Grand Prix, where Lewis Hamilton questioned Mercedes' scrambled strategy.

Verstappen had claimed a precious pole position at Zandvoort, where the tight confines of the circuit make overtaking extremely difficult.

So it proved on Sunday, even as Mercedes sought various different paths to glory.

Hamilton pitted twice and appeared to intimate he would like to stop again, but the sheer pace of Verstappen's Red Bull kept him in the clear, becoming the first Dutch driver to win in his own country.

It was comfortable from the first corner, where Verstappen moved across to block Hamilton before racing away into the distance, soon passing 1,000 laps led in F1®.

Hamilton pushed hard before stopping, yet Verstappen responded immediately and gained 0.9 seconds in the pit lane.

With Valtteri Bottas starting from third, Mercedes were at least able to slow Verstappen for a time by having their second man hold the race up for around two laps.

But Verstappen passed Bottas in front of the grandstand to the delight of the orange-clad crowd and quickly again opened up a gap to Hamilton that had closed to under a second.

With that deficit only increasing, Mercedes gambled and brought Hamilton in again to make use of his second set of medium tyres, yet he returned to the race in traffic among the back markers, meaning any advantage was minimal as Verstappen again followed his rival in – although having to switch to hards.

Red Bull retained control of the race, which Mercedes finally conceded, calling in Hamilton for a third time to claim the additional point for the fastest lap – still not enough to keep Verstappen off the summit.

'We've gone too soon'

Sergio Perez's miserable performance in qualifying meant he spent his Sunday attempting to close on the midfield, leaving Verstappen alone at the front.

Meanwhile, Mercedes had two men in contention, and Toto Wolff outlined plans for a split strategy.

It was Hamilton who stopped early in Mercedes' first tactical manoeuvre and, when that did not work, the Silver Arrows soon called the defending champion in again – another failed move that frustrated Hamilton.

"We haven't got an advantage," he said. "We've gone too soon on this. There was still so much life left in that last tyre and we rushed it."

More Russell regret

George Russell was bidding to become the first Williams driver to earn back-to-back podiums since Bottas in 2014, although simply collecting points in a third consecutive race was a far more realistic objective after his crash in Q2.

Even that proved beyond the Briton, though. A five-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane all but ended his hopes.

There may be news to lift the spirits in the coming days, with an announcement from Mercedes regarding their 2022 line-up anticipated, but this was a weekend to forget.

IN THE POINTS

1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
2. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) +20.932secs
3. Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) +56.460
4. Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri) +1 lap
5. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) +1 lap
6. Fernando Alonso (Alpine) +1 lap
7. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) +1 lap
8. Sergio Perez (Red Bull) +1 lap
9. Esteban Ocon (Alpine) +1 lap
10. Lando Norris (McLaren) +1 lap

CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

Drivers

1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) – 224.5
2. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) – 221.5
3. Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) – 123
4. Lando Norris (McLaren) – 114
5. Sergio Perez (Red Bull) – 108

Constructors

1. Mercedes – 344.5
2. Red Bull – 332.5
3. Ferrari – 181.5
4. McLaren – 170
5. Alpine – 90