F1: Verstappen outduels Russell and Hamilton to win Dutch GP

Defending World Champion Max Verstappen came out behind Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton after the final Safety Car period for the stopped car of Valtteri Bottas, on fresh soft Pirellis while Hamilton stayed out on his medium Pirellis.

When the green flew with 12 laps to go, Verstappen’s Red Bull Honda and Russell, were behind Hamilton, both on new soft Pirellis.  It took Verstappen until Turn 1 to pass Hamilton and motor away to win the Dutch GP for the 2nd year in a roar as the Dutch crowd cheered him home wildly.

Can anything stop this man this year? He led from pole, could have so easily found himself behind on strategy, but in the end it all worked out perfectly for the Dutchman, his 10th win of the year, already equalling his total from last year.

Verstappen now has a massive 109-point lead in the championship with 7 races to go as Verstappen roars to his 2nd straight title.

“Not a straightforward race, we had to push the whole race,” said a happy Verstappen.

“VSC, Safety Car, making the right calls, it worked out really well. I had a good run on the restart, I had a bit more top speed to attack into Turn 1. We timed it really well out of the last corner, the draft was really strong.”

Russell also smoked Hamilton a few laps later to take 2nd as Hamilton cursed out his crew over the radio because they left him out on the medium tires. However, it was Russell’s call to go on the soft rubber, so in reality Russell outsmarted Hamilton and took 2nd.

“Really special feeling to be racing in Zandvoort,” said Russell.

“As a team today, we showed incredible pace, this gives us a lot of confidence moving forward. We are slowly getting closer to that top step, so let’s keep pushing.”

The Ferrari of Charles Leclerc then disposed of Hamilton to take the final podium position.

“We were a little unlucky with the VSC, I don’t know if it would have changed anything but Max was too quick today,” said Leclerc.

“Lewis was struggling on a used set so we managed to overtake him, it wasn’t easy, but we made it stick. The points gap to Verstappen is really big.”

Hamilton hung on for 4th ahead of the 2nd Red Bull Honda of Sergio Perez.

Carlos Sainz Jr. would have finished 5th but got a 5-second penalty for an unsafe pit release.

Fernando Alonso sixth for Alpine ahead of the McLaren of Lando Norris where he started in P7, Carlos Sainz Jr. dropped to eighth ahead of Esteban Ocon and Lance Stroll.

Up next, Ferrari’s home race – the Italian GP at Monza and the last European race of the year after the fly-away races begin.

Race Results