Max Verstappen retakes the F1 championship lead from Lewis Hamilton with victory in front of his passionate home Zandvoort support; Valtteri Bottas third in second Mercedes, with Pierre Gasly finishing impressive fourth for AlphaTauri
By James Galloway
Last Updated: 05/09/21 3:58pm
Max Verstappen sent his home crowd wild by winning his home Dutch GP from Lewis Hamilton to regain the world title lead from his Mercedes rival.
Verstappen led from the front and did not put a wheel wrong in the first home race of his career despite coming under pressure from Hamilton at different points of the Zandvoort race, played out in front of astonishingly vocal and colourful local support in the orange-clad grandstands.
Hamilton’s three-point advantage at the start of the day now turns into a three-point deficit heading to next week’s Italian GP at Monza, the second of the season’s sprint race weekends.
“Credit to him, credit to Red Bull, they were absolutely faultless today,” conceded Mercedes boss Toto Wolff.
Max Verstappen keeps the lead into Turn One, seeing off the threat of Lewis Hamilton in the opening stages of the race
Valtteri Bottas finished a distant third in the second Mercedes. The Finn, on a long first stint, briefly led the race after the top two pitted for the first time but was only able to hold Verstappen at bay for so long before the Red Bull overtook.
Pierre Gasly, meanwhile, capped a stunning weekend for AlphaTauri by beating Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc to finish fourth.
Fernando Alonso overtook countryman Carlos Sainz on the final lap for sixth place for Alpine.
From a pit lane start after engine changes, Sergio Perez raced well to eighth place and four potentially crucial points for Red Bull in their constructors’ fight with Mercedes. The reigning champions’ advantage nonetheless grows slightly to 12 points.
The Aston Martin, running near the back, went around at the banking – and forced the oncoming Valtteri Bottas to take evasive action!
Dutch GP race result: Top 10
1) Max Verstappen, Red Bull
2) Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
3) Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes
4) Pierre Gasly, AlphaTauri
5) Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
6) Fernando Alonso, Alpine
7) Carlos Sainz, Ferrari
8) Sergio Perez, Red Bull
9) Esteban Ocon, Alpine
10) Lando Norris, McLaren
More to follow…
Next up: The Italian GP – and the second sprint weekend
Formula 1’s latest triple-header concludes with one of its most legendary events, the Italian Grand Prix at Monza.
Not only that but next weekend marks the second of F1’s sprint weekends after the debut of the trial format at Silverstone in July. Qualifying takes place this coming Friday night, at 5pm, with the sprint race then on Saturday afternoon. Sunday’s Grand Prix at the ‘Temple of Speed’ is at 2pm on September 12. All live only on Sky Sports F1.
