Formula 1 2021 Dutch Grand Prix results

The Spaniard was unable to match the speed of teammate Charles Leclerc from the first lap at Zandvoort, and eventually fell back into the pack of pursuing cars.
But despite valiantly trying to hold off Fernando Alonso for sixth place, he eventually lost out to a DRS move down the start/finish straight at the start of the final lap.
Speaking after the race, Sainz said that there was no ...

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Bottas announced on Monday that he would be joining Alfa Romeo for 2022 after signing a multi-year deal, paving the way for George Russell to be announced as his replacement at Mercedes.
The exit of Bottas brings to an end a highly successful partnership with Hamilton at Mercedes over the past five seasons that has yielded four constructors? championships.
Hamilton has frequently talked up ...

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The banking was designed with the intention that drivers could open DRS on entry and thus have a better chance of pulling off a passing move on the following straight.
However, after studying simulations of grip and downforce levels, the FIA preferred to take a conservative approach for the first event, with the intention of gathering some real world data.
The relative lack of passing in ...

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Bottas, who looks set to be replaced by George Russell for next season, announced on Monday that he would be moving to Alfa Romeo on a multi-year deal.
Reflecting on their time together, Wolff paid tribute to the contribution the Finn had made during his time there ? and suggested that he had done enough for the squad to be more than happy to keep him.
However, all the indications ...

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The Finn's departure from Mercedes has been expected for some weeks, and a return to Williams was also a potential option before it became clear that his destination was Alfa Romeo.
Kimi Raikkonen's retirement announcement on Wednesday was the first in a series as the pieces of the driver market puzzle fall into place.
Confirmation from Mercedes that George Russell is to join the world ...

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Perez dropped out in Q1 at Zandvoort on Saturday after failing to get a final lap in the opening session, prompting Red Bull to take a fresh power unit that resigned the Mexican to a pit lane start.
The Mexican managed to fight his way back to eighth place at the chequered flag after a late stint on soft tyres saw him pass Daniel Ricciardo, Lando Norris and Esteban Ocon to claw his way into the ...

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Formula 1 ended a 36-year wait to hit Dutch shores - quite literally, going to the beach - in style as Zandvoort hosted a much-needed boost for the paddock.
The washout at Spa had left a sour taste in the mouths of most, but the Dutch Grand Prix was the perfect palate cleanser.
The on-track spectacle was hardly a thriller, but the combination of an exciting layout for drivers, a festival ...

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Max Verstappen controlled proceedings at Zandvoort on Sunday to win the race for Red Bull and move back into the lead of the drivers' championship ahead of Lewis Hamilton.
Hamilton and Mercedes were unable to answer to Verstappen's pace in the race despite their best efforts to get ahead via the undercut, twice pitting early to try and jump ahead into the lead.
Second place nevertheless ...

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The Alpine driver was on a charge in the closing stages at Zandvoort as he closed up on sixth placed Sainz, who had been struggling with a lack of pace throughout the race.
But unseen by the international F1 feed, as Alonso shadowed his fellow Spaniard ahead of him, he locked up at the banked Turn 3 ? and came so close to hitting the barriers on the outside.
Reflecting on its afterwards ...

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Mercedes employed a strategy split between its two drivers at Zandvoort on Sunday in a bid to try to overhaul Verstappen?s Red Bull at the front of the field.
Hamilton was put on to an aggressive two-stop strategy while Bottas tried to make a one-stop work.
The hope from Mercedes was that by diverging the strategy of its two drivers, it would leave Red Bull in a tricky situation is having ...

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Following an incident between the drivers over qualifying etiquette on Saturday, Mazepin and Schumacher had a near-miss during Sunday?s Dutch Grand Prix in the opening stages.
As Schumacher looked to pass Mazepin on the right-hand side as they started the second lap, Mazepin moved across late, forcing Schumacher to back out. Schumacher also picked up a bit of front wing damage after touching ...

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Verstappen scored a dominant victory in Sunday's Dutch Grand Prix to move back into the lead of the F1 drivers' championship, keeping title rival Lewis Hamilton at bay throughout the race.
Red Bull ran a two-stop strategy and reacted to both of Mercedes' attempts to undercut Verstappen with Hamilton, clinching him a popular victory in front of over 70,000 fans in the first Dutch Grand Prix ...

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Bottas was called in for a precautionary pitstop on "safety" grounds at Zandvoort on lap 67 of 72, switching from medium to soft tyres, and promptly set the fastest first two sectors of the race.
But the Finn was instructed to slow down in the final sector, which allow Hamilton's stop for softs on lap 70 to be rewarded with a point for fastest lap - setting a 1m11.097s to Bottas' ...

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Verstappen held track advantage from the start and, although Lewis Hamilton was able to keep in contact with his title rival, there was no chance of being able to pass on track.
The only possibility Hamilton had was in trying to undercut Verstappen by pitting first, and by Mercedes making use of Valtteri Botttas on an alternative strategy.
Bottas tried to make a one-stop work but could not ...

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The only major threat to Verstappen's race arrived after his first pitstop when he resumed behind Valtteri Bottas, but the Mercedes driver was soon cleared with the aid of DRS.
As Hamilton worked around an alternative strategy, which put him on the quicker medium tyres but for a lengthy stint, Verstappen held a 2.5s lead over his title rival, before a late Hamilton pitstop ensured Verstappen ...

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Perez had a disastrous qualifying session on Saturday, failing to get round at the end of Q1 to start his final lap.
That left him in 16th and, as reported last night, the team quickly decided to give him a new power unit, so that he would have a fresh one in the pool heading to Monza.
However, it has now emerged via FIA documentation that the energy store is of a different specification. A ...

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Max Verstappen scored pole position for the second week in a row after topping Dutch Grand Prix qualifying for Red Bull, edging out title rival Lewis Hamilton by three hundredths of a second.
One of the main areas Mercedes was losing time to Red Bull was at Turn 2 and Turn 3 in the first sector, with the banked corner at Turn 3 posing a challenge to drivers with several possible lines.
The ...

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Nikita Mazepin was left furious with teammate Mick Schumacher in qualifying at Zandvoort, after he felt the German had ignored an arrangement to be the second car on track for their hot lap runs.
Schumacher passed Mazepin on the run to the final sequence of corners and, as the Russian went to regain his spot, he got in the way of the fast approaching Sebastian Vettel.
After qualifying ...

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Kubica was expecting to wake up on Saturday to the usual reserve driver routine of sitting in on the odd debrief combined with a lot of hanging around at the Alfa hospitality building.
Instead, he found himself fast-tracked into the cockpit of Raikkonen's C41 after the Finn tested positive for COVID-19.
Two years after his last and very frustrating season with Williams, and at the age of 36 ...

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By the time of the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka, no fewer than 162 Formula 1 races will have taken place since Jan Lammers failed to make the cut at Paul Ricard in 1982, unable to wring any more time out of the dreadful Theodore. When he packed his bags that Saturday night, he had no idea that a decade would pass before he got another chance to make the grid.
"When I was young I wanted F1 so ...

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Albon is angling to make an F1 comeback next year, having dropped off the grid when he was dropped by Red Bull into a reserve role at the end of the 2020 season.
Both Williams and Alfa Romeo have expressed an interest in signing Albon for next year, while Mercedes Formula E driver Nyck de Vries has also been linked to both teams.
Red Bull F1 boss Christian Horner said on Friday that Albon's ...

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With practice programmes having been impacted by a spate of red flags on Friday and Saturday, everyone is heading into the race without the normal levels of data they have in understanding the rubber.
That means there is a great deal of uncertainty about how long the soft tyre will last in the opening stint of the race.
But, with overtaking set to be so difficult around Zandvoort, plus a ...

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The pitlane is the tightest of the season in terms of the separation of the garages, and before the weekend FIA race director Michael Masi mandated a 60km/h speed limit in order to address potential issues.
The major concern given the high likelihood of safety cars is what might happen if many cars pit at the same time, especially if a team tries to stack both its drivers, as that would ...

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Red Bull's Max Verstappen starts his home event from pole position after edging Mercedes rival Lewis Hamilton by just 0.038s in Saturday's qualifying. 
But Red Bull faces a potential headache as Sergio Perez is due to start in 16th place after getting eliminated in Q1.
With Valtteri Bottas right behind his teammate Hamilton in third, Mercedes has more strategic options in hand to topple ...

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It will be the Mexican's fourth of the season, and a multiple change or elements will thus automatically send him to the back of the grid.
However, it adds a fresh power unit to his pool just prior to the Italian GP at Monza, traditionally the race where teams prefer to run a low mileage power unit.
Perez had a disastrous qualifying at Zandvoort, failing to get round at the end of Q1 to ...

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Q2 was ended prematurely as a result of two red flag interruptions, caused by Williams drivers Russell and teammate Nicholas Latifi shunting into the barriers.
Russell, running in 11th, caused the first stoppage when he suffered a spike of oversteer on the entry to the final corner. As he caught the slide, he spun into the gravel and lightly kissed the outside Tecpro barrier.
Speculation ran ...

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Wild speculation over the Dutch Grand Prix weekend suggested that Aston Martin owner Lawrence Stroll had made an approach for the Spaniard to leave Alpine and join the Silverstone-based outfit for 2022.
The stories were fuelled by a lunch that Stroll had with Alonso's manager Flavio Briatore over the summer break.
That was before Alonso and Alpine agreed to take up an option to extend their ...

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Sainz's Ferrari was badly damaged when he spun off at Turn 3, the banked corner early in the lap.
A delay in getting in back to the pits did not help the mechanics with the repair job prior to qualifying.
The gearbox didn't have to be changed, so no penalty resulted.
After joining Q1 late, Sainz eventually qualified sixth, behind teammate Charles Leclerc.
"At the beginning I didn't ...

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Mazepin was passed by Schumacher as both drivers came to prepare for their final laps in Q1 at Zandvoort, bunching up near the final corner.
Aston Martin's Sebastian Vettel was completing a flying lap as he approached the Haas cars, and was forced to back out, resulting in the stewards investigating the incident.
The FIA ultimately took no action, saying that while Vettel was impeded, there ...

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Perez was the first driver to take the chequered flag in Q1, initially going eighth, but significant track evolution meant he was shuffled down to 16th and eliminated in the opening stage of qualifying.
It marked a major setback for Perez and Red Bull. Overtaking is set to be difficult at Zandvoort on Sunday due to the track layout, and polesitter Max Verstappen is left alone at the front ...

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The Red Bull driver snared his 10th pole position, seven of which have arrived this season, at his home circuit of Zandvoort ahead of Mercedes rivals Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas.
Verstappen, who had set the pace in Q2, delivered three flying laps in the final part of qualifying and remained at the top of the times after each effort.
But on his last and quickest run, setting a ...

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While Verstappen grabbed pole position for his home race, the Dutchman is left in an exposed position strategy wise by having two Mercedes cars right behind him.
That was caused by teammate Sergio Perez failing to make it out of Q1 when he was released too late from the pits for his final run and failed to make it across the line to complete a final flyer.
With it looking marginal as to ...

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The Red Bull driver used his second and final run in Q3 to deliver a 1m08.885s yardstick at Zandvoort and Verstappen soundly hung on as Valtteri Bottas and Hamilton crossed the line.
Bottas was next to complete his flier but could only register a 1m09.222s to fall over three tenths adrift of his Dutch rival, while Mercedes teammate Hamilton split the difference.
The seven-time champion ...

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The Red Bull driver enjoyed a tow through the last sector to deliver a mighty 1m09.623s, which was the only lap to break the 1m10s barrier and he ran a full 0.0556s clear at the top.
Bottas was the closest challenger at Zandvoort courtesy of his 1m10.179s lap, although that was sufficient to beat the best effort managed by Hamilton by 0.24s.
Robert Kubica, who replaces Kimi Raikkonen at Alfa ...

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Although some teams were planning run the freshest power units today anyway, others were obliged to change from its original plans.
The move is understood to be a reaction to the issue that was suffered by Lewis Hamilton in Friday's FP2 session, when his car lost power and the F1 world champion was told to stop on the track.
As a precaution, Mercedes has ensured that all eight of its cars ...

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Williams looks set for a driver change next year as George Russell prepares for a switch to Mercedes, which is widely expected to be announced in the coming weeks.
It would open up a free seat next to Nicholas Latifi, who despite being unconfirmed for next year is understood to be likely to continue at Williams for a third season.
Red Bull is working to secure reserve driver Albon a seat for ...

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The Dutchman was summoned to see the stewards on Saturday morning when it emerged that he had passed Stroll in the second session after the red flags were brought out for Lewis Hamilton's stranded Mercedes.
Footage of the incident showed that Verstappen had been on a quick lap, with Stroll driving slowly, when he overtook the Aston Martin before backing off immediately.
Following discussions ...

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Ahead of the Dutch Grand Prix, it has emerged that Red Bull has lodged a query with the FIA regarding a design concept that it believes Mercedes is running.
It is understood the suspicion revolves around Mercedes potentially super cooling air that is going through the engine plenum to help deliver additional performance.
Red Bull has noticed that Mercedes appears to have made gains recently ...

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An engine failure for Aston Martin?s Sebastian Vettel caused his car to grind to a halt on-track during opening practice for the Dutch Grand Prix, sparking a red flag.
A lengthy recovery process followed as the marshals ensured the car was safe to move and that it was not electrified.
Unlike qualifying, the clock does not stop in practice when there is a red flag, meaning that teams got ...

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Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas is expected to be announced as a replacement for the retired Kimi Raikkonen over the next week, but the Swiss outfit's other seat remains open.
Incumbent Antonio Giovinazzi still has a chance to retain his place in the team, but his chances have not been helped by the change in contractual arrangements which means that a slot for a Ferrari Driver Academy member ...

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