Five things we learned from the Dutch F1 Grand Prix | GRR

‘They were just too fast’

That was Lewis Hamilton’s conclusion after a hard-fought Dutch GP at the short, tight and demanding circuit in the sand dunes. He came within 0.038sec of stealing pole position from Verstappen on Saturday and on Sunday chased his rival hard for all but the final lap – but the Red Bull was always just out of range.

After Verstappen held the lead from the start, Hamilton pitted early to trigger a two-stop strategy and Red Bull covered the move by pitting Max a lap later. That was all they needed to do all day to keep Lewis where they wanted him. But a split strategy from Mercedes did give the Milton Keynes team pause for thought.

Valtteri Bottas cuts a subdued figure these days as he contemplates the end of his time at Mercedes, but he did at least qualify third and keep close enough to the title rivals to be a concern. He switched to a one-stop strategy, which could have been problematic had he kept ahead of Verstappen after the local hero’s first stop. The trouble was he didn’t. Max closed him down, Bottas made a small error at the chicane and the Red Bull pulled an easy pass on the main straight. From that moment the mild threat from Bottas was over – and so too was Hamilton’s.

Fastest lap causes tension at the end

After the second stops, Hamilton still chased hard and almost closed on his rival – but never really enough to make a move at a circuit where overtaking is notoriously difficult. So, with a lap left, Mercedes pitted Hamilton for fresh soft tyres to claim the point for fastest lap.

The pressure was on because Bottas held it at this stage, which was more than a little awkward. He too had been called in for fresh Pirellis, only to be told they were a safety precaution and that he wasn’t to go for the fastest lap, that he should leave it to Hamilton. Clearly piqued by the call, he pushed over the first two sectors of his next lap and was up on his time delta, only for chief strategist James Vowles to come on the radio and order him to back off. Bottas did as he was told – but still ended up with a new fastest lap... Had Hamilton not beaten the mark and claimed the point that last time around, the team debrief could have been more than a little awkward.

The result swings the championship back in Verstappen’s favour. From three points down after his Belgian GP ‘victory’, Max leaves Zandvoort three points to the good ahead of the Italian GP next weekend. Will the duel swing back again towards Mercedes at Monza? Hamilton will fancy his chances. This fight just gets better with each passing race.

Alonso and Perez star

The drives from Pierre Gasly and Charles Leclerc, who finished fourth and fifth respectively, were as good as any at the Dutch GP. The pair maximised what they had beneath them, which is all that anyone can ask. But everyone loves a fighting drive or a comeback, which is why the efforts from Fernando Alonso and Sergio Perez stole the limelight at Zandvoort.

Alonso was outqualified by Alpine team-mate Esteban Ocon, but put in a trademark charge from the start and slipped past the Frenchman at Turn 3 on a hectic first lap. He then matched his young team-mate for pace, despite Ocon claiming he was faster, then pulled a move on Carlos Sainz Jr. on the last lap for a superb sixth. The old warrior never gives up.

Perez was in the Red Bull doghouse after a poor qualifying left him down the grid. The team took the opportunity, with little more to lose, to change his engine, which meant ‘Checo’ started in the pitlane. He again blotted his copybook by flat-spotting his right front hard-compound Pirelli early on, forcing a stop. But after that Perez got his head down and did what he does so well, overcame the troubled McLaren pair and finished a respectable eighth. Still, it didn’t hide the uncomfortable reality that he should have been racing up front, making the fight with the Mercedes duo an equal one rather than toiling to rise through the pack. After this race, it’s just as well he’s already confirmed as Verstappen’s team-mate for 2022.

Kubica makes surprise return

It was good to see Robert Kubica back on the grid for the first time since Abu Dhabi 2019 as the Pole subbed for Kimi Räikkönen, who had tested positive for Covid on the back of announcing his impending retirement from F1 ahead of the weekend.

One-time grand prix winner Kubica finished 15^th, just behind Alfa Romeo team-mate Antonio Giovinazzi. The Italian is fighting for his F1 future right now and qualified a fine seventh on Saturday, only for a puncture to contribute towards a disappointing race. He really could have done with converting his strong qualifying run into a decent race result.

Zandvoort a hit on its return

As for Zandvoort’s return, it didn’t spark a great grand prix, largely because overtaking was so difficult (as expected). But there was some passing as a number of drivers made daring moves on the outside line at Tarzan (Turn 1).

However we judge the race, this was still a feel-good weekend for F1, especially in the wake of the washout at Spa. Hamilton summed it up as he received a more respectful reception from the crowd in the wake of his defeat (the best he’d got all weekend, but that was because he was no longer a threat to their man Verstappen!). “Now this is one of my favourite tracks,” he said. “I’m looking forward to coming back next year.”

That goes for us all.

Photography courtesy of Motorsport Images