Max Verstappen took a controlled lights-to-flag victory at his home race, the Dutch Grand Prix, much to the delight of the packed, orange-filled grandstands chanting his name.
The Red Bull driver converted his pole position into his 17th Formula 1 career victory, the most in history without a title, as he reclaimed the lead in the championship.
His title rival, Lewis Hamilton, had no answer for the Dutchman’s pace and was forced to settle for second place despite Mercedes trying their best to win with a bold two-stop strategy, which evolved into a three-stopper for Hamilton as he snatched the fastest lap point on the final lap of the race.
Valtteri Bottas completed the podium, giving Mercedes a boost in the Constructors’ Championship as they extended their lead by five points over Red Bull.
The race won’t be remembered as a thriller as the tight nature of the circuit didn’t do much to promote overtaking, although nobody shared that memo with Sergio Perez who started last after taking on a new Power Unit.
The Mexican sliced his way through the field to eventually finish eighth to earn the Driver of the Day award, voted for by the fans. Those four points limited the damage for Red Bull.
The top five positions finished as they started, with Pierre Gasly impressing to secure fourth ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. Fernando Alonso gained three positions to finish sixth after a late pass on Carlos Sainz in seventh.
Esteban Ocon and Lando Norris completed the top 10; the McLaren driver made a one stop strategy work as he rose from 13th on the grid.
Antonio Giovinazzi, who started from seventh, dropped places on the opening lap before his prospects of points were wasted when he suffered a puncture.
Surprisingly the race saw just one brief yellow flag after Sebastian Vettel spun his Aston Martin in an attempt to overtake Robert Kubica, who took 15th on his F1 return, standing in for a Covid-positive Kimi Raikkonen.
There were just two retirements, with Yuki Tsunoda and Nikita Mazepin not seeing the chequered flag, though George Russell pulled into the pits late on due to a gearbox issue.
[motorsport_result id=’72266′]
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