Dutch Grand Prix: Max Verstappen beats Lewis Hamilton at home at Zandvoort to reclaim Formula One championship lead

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Max Verstappen reclaims the Formula 1 championship lead from Lewis Hamilton with a win against his passionate home in Zandvoort. Valtteri Bottas is third in second Mercedes, Pierre Gasly is fourth with Alpha Tauri By James Galloway

Last update: 05/21/09, 4:20 p.m.

Max Verstappen sent his fans home by winning the Dutch Grand Prix at home from Lewis Hamilton to reclaim the world lead from rival Mercedes.

Verstappen drove from the front and made no mistake in the first home race of his career despite being pressured by Hamilton at various points in the Zandvoort race, who played in front of the stunning orange-coloured local support. stands.

Hamilton’s three-point advantage at the start of the day has now turned into a three-point deficit heading into next week’s Italian Grand Prix at Monza, his second weekend sprint race of the season.

“Obviously expectations were high as the weekend approaches, it’s not easy to achieve, but I’m very happy to win here, and take the lead in the championship as well,” said Verstappen, the first Dutchman to win at his home base. Element.

“It’s just a wonderful day. The whole crowd… It’s unbelievable.

Mercedes chief Toto Wolff admitted: “Credit to him, credit to Red Bull, they were absolutely faultless today.”

Valtteri Bottas finished third with a wide lead in the second Mercedes. The Finn, on a lengthy first stint, briefly led the race after pitting the top two for the first time, but was only able to keep Verstappen away for so long before Red Bull overtook.

Max Verstappen maintains the lead in Turn One, beating a threat from Lewis Hamilton in the early stages of the race

Max Verstappen maintains the lead in Turn One, beating a threat from Lewis Hamilton in the early stages of the race

Meanwhile, Pierre Gasly capped off an amazing weekend for Team AlphaTauri by defeating Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc to finish fourth.

Fernando Alonso beat compatriot Carlos Sainz on the last lap to finish sixth in the Alps.

From a hot start after an engine change, Sergio Perez raced well to eighth and a potentially crucial four points for Red Bull in their builders fight with Mercedes. However, the defending champion’s advantage grows slightly to 12 points.

Aston Martin, who was running near the back, was cruising the banks – and forced the next Valtteri Bottas to take evasive action!

Aston Martin, who was running near the back, was cruising the banks – and forced the next Valtteri Bottas to take evasive action!

Dutch Grand Prix result: Top 101) Max Verstappen, Red Bull 2) Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes 3) Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes 4) Pierre Gasly, Alfa Toure 5) Charles Leclerc, Ferrari 6) Fernando Alonso, Alpine 7) Carlos Sainz, Ferrari 8) Sergio Perez, Red Bull 9) Esteban Ocon, Alpine10) Lando Norris, McLaren

Title fight swings Verstappen Road in front of the Orange Army

Verstappen and Hamilton started front row to net together for the first time since their sharp collision at the British Grand Prix three races ago but there was no repeat of the opening lap drama here.

Thanks to a textbook escape from the pole, Verstappen was already pulling away well from the main Mercedes chaser through the long, curved first corner of the track and finished the opening lap by just over a second.

This grew steadily during the first mission to about three seconds before Mercedes, who had started putting two stoppers for their main car, rolled the dice first by pitting Hamilton on lap 20.

Red Bull later managed to cover that lap by pitting Verstappen, meaning Bottas inherited the lead.

Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas finished in the top three on the podium at the Dutch Grand Prix.

Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas finished in the top three on the podium at the Dutch Grand Prix.

On the softer tyres, Verstappen and Hamilton caught the now-leading Mercedes at a knot rate, and Bottas was only able to keep Red Bull away for so long. Verstappen reclaimed the lead with a downward move inside Turn One at the start of lap 31, then Bottas let his teammate go as well.

Mercedes once again tried to undermine Verstappen with Hamilton in the second leg, but Red Bull covered that again to keep their driver ahead.

“Mercedes tried to make it difficult for us but we faced them all the time really well,” Verstappen said after the race.

“We can be really happy with the performance of the whole team today.”

More to follow…

Next up: Italian Grand Prix – second of the weekend

Formula 1’s latest triathlon concludes with one of the most legendary events, the Italian Grand Prix at Monza.

Not only that, but the upcoming weekend marks the second weekend of Formula 1 racing after the debut of the test form at Silverstone in July. The qualifiers take place next Friday night, at 5 p.m., with a sprint and then Saturday afternoon. The Grand Prix will take place on Sunday at Temple of Speed ​​at 2pm on September 12th. And all live on Sky Sports F1.

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