Dutch GP as it happened - Max Verstappen wins to spark home party as Lewis Hamilton takes second
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Updated 05/09/2021 at 15:43 GMT+1
Dutch Grand Prix LIVE - Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen are set to renew their feud after the Dutchman delighted his home fans to take pole position at the first GP in Zandvoort in 36 years. Hamilton also starts on the front row as he bids to protect his championship lead. Hamilton only leads Verstappen by three points going into Sunday's race.
Max Verstappen of Netherlands and Red Bull Racing waves to the crowd on the drivers parade ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of The Netherlands at Circuit Zandvoort on September 05, 2021 in Zandvoort, Netherlands
Image credit: Getty Images
VERSTAPPEN WINS!
Verstappen wins the Dutch GP! The Dutchman takes the chequered flag and the home crowd at Zandvoort goes wild! Hamilton regains the fatest lap on the final lap, but this day belongs to Verstappen! He led from start to finish!
72/72 - Last lap!
Verstappen has this race victory in the bag, but there is still some drama behind the race leader where Hamilton is trying to regain the fastest lap bonus point.
70/72 - New fastest lap!
That was weird! Hamilton had the fastest lap, but Bottas was pulled in for a fresh set of tyres. He then claimed the fastest lap despite being told to abort his attempt to claim it! Now Hamilton is pitting to try and claim it back!
69/72 - Gasly lapped
Verstappen laps Gasly which now means that only the top three drivers are on the lead lap. It's that sort of track, to be fair!
67/72 - Perez past Norris!
Perez up into P9! That had been coming and there was actually contact between Perez and Norris, but the former claims the position and the McLaren is now down into P10.
66/72 - Battle for P6!
Alonso has now caught Sainz and the former world champion will have six laps to get past the Ferrari. This is where the late excitement could be in this race which now looks to have been settled at the front.
63/72 - 10 laps to go...
1) Verstappen 2) Hamilton 3) Bottas 4) Gasly 5) Leclerc 6) Sainz 7) Alonso 8) Ocon 9) Norris 10) Perez
62/72 - Panic over for Verstappen
There was a moment a few laps ago when it appeared Hamilton was close to catching Verstappen, but the Dutchman now has a lead of over 4 seconds again and it looks like he has this race victory in the bag. 10 laps to go.
59/72 - Max running red!
The TV graphics show that Verstappen is running on red on his front left tyre and that could be something to keep an eye on! Has the Red Bull been forced into pushing the hard tyres to their limit by Hamilton's pace!
57/72 - Perez into P10!
"Let's go! Who's next?" says Perez as he celebrates passing Ricciardo into P10 around Turn One. The Mexican is doing a very good job of making his way through the pack!
55/72 - Gap narrowing...
That gap between Hamilton and Verstappen is now down to 1.3 seconds! Which is interesting because the discourse from Hamilton on the team radio is very negative and has been for a number of laps!
54/72 - Tsunoda restires
Tsunoda's race is over! It started with a spin in FP3 for Tsunoda and now he has been forced to retire due to a power unit issue.
53/73 - 'Killing my tyres'
"I'm killing my tyres to keep up," says Hamilton on the team radio, all the while the difference between the seven-times world champion and Verstappen is narrowing! Now down to two-and-a-half seconds!
51/72 - Hamilton playing games?
49/72 - Lando is released!
Norris has been allowed past Ricciardo and he's setting off after Perez, Ocon and Alonso ahead of him. That's something to keep an eye on!
48/72 - Lewis isn't happy
"Doesn't seem to be an advantage," says Hamilton as Verstappen finds good pace on the hard tyres. "Called our bluff too soon." Indeed, it's going to be tricky for Hamilton to win from here.
47/72 - Perez problem!
"I have a plastic bag in my front left brake," says Perez on the Red Bull team radio and that's a bit of an issue for the Mexican if that's true. This hasn't been his weekend at all.
43/72 - 30 laps to go!
It's looking good for Verstappen at the moment who has a lead of nearly three seconds over Hamilton with 30 laps left of this race. Mercedes rolled the dice with that second pit stop and it didn't really work.
41/72 - Max responds
Verstappen on to the hards! Red Bull have responded to Hamilton's pit stop by pitting Verstappen, but they don't have a set of mediums to use and so the Dutchman is on to the hard compound tyres.
40/72 - Hamilton stops!
Hamilton into the pits! Mercedes have once again gone first and have pulled Hamilton in to shift him on to a fresh set of medium compound tyres. He rejoins the race in P2.
38/72 - As they stand...
1) Verstappen 2) Hamilton 3) Bottas 4) Gasly 5) Leclerc 6) Sainz 7) Norris 8) Perez 9) Alonso 10) Ocon
37/72 - Vettel spins!
Yellow flags in Sector 1 as Vettel spins and the former world champion very nearly took out Bottas who was forced to use the run-off to avoid the Aston Martin!
34/72 - TIME PENALTY
Russell penalty! Russell has been handed a five-second time penalty for speeding in the pit lane. That will be frustrating for the young Brit who is running in P12 and in the mix for some points.
33/72 - Hamilton frustration
"He's getting super lucky with the traffic, man," complains Hamilton over the Mercedes team radio about Verstappen who now has a lead of a-second-and-a-half after 32 laps!
31/72 - Verstappen past Bottas!
Verstappen back in front! The Dutchman deploys DRS to pass Bottas down the pit straight and he's back in front again. Meanwhile, Bottas lets Hamilton past and that's a net gain for the world champion.
30/72 - Max on Valtteri!
Verstappen had a look at Bottas around Turn One there, but he wasn't close enough and this could be a problem for the Dutchman who is being held up by the Mercedes on tyres that are quickly losing grip.
29/72 - Around the outside!
That is a lovely overtake by Gasly who goes the long way around Alonso at Turn One. The Frenchman is now up to sixth place. He is on course for some good points here.
27/72 - Bunching up
The strategy for Mercedes might well be working as the difference between Verstappen and Hamilton has narrowed to around a-second-and-a-half! Bottas is backing up the two championship contenders.
24/72 - Strategy!
This is where having two cars at the head of the pack could work wonders for Mercedes. While Perez is in P14, Bottas is in P1 with Hamilton in P3. Surely the Finn will be on a one-stop strategy to bunch up Verstappen and Hamilton?
22/72 - Max goes quicker in the pits!
Now Verstappen pits! Red Bull have reacted to the Mercedes strategy by pitting Verstappen and that's slightly quicker from the Dutchman - a 2.9-second pit! He's out in P2.
21/72 - Hamilton pits!
Hamilton into the pits! Mercedes have pulled in the seven-times world champion... but it's not an especially quick pit stop! A 3.6-second stop for Hamilton and he's out into P3, crucially ahead of Gasly.
19/72 - Hurry up, Valtteri!
"At this pace you will not be interacting with the leaders," Bottas has been told over the team radio. That's a very gentle way of saying: "hurry up!"
16/72 - Perez past Mazepin
Perez up to P17! The Mexican throws the dummy down the inside and then uses it to pull outside and pass Mazepin who has now been passed twice in the last three laps.
14/72 - An overtake!
The first overtake of the race takes place as Latifi passes Mazepin at Turn 1 and the Canadian is now running in P16. This isn't exactly the easiest track to overtake around!
13/72 - Landmark for Max
Verstappen has now led 1,000 laps in an F1 car! And he's still only 23!
12/72 - Lewis two-stop?
Red Bull think Mercedes have shifted Hamilton on to a two-stop strategy and they have told Verstappen. Should Red Bull also switch to a two-stop? Interesting...
11/72 - Perez pits
Perez is into the pits to change his tyres after developing flat spots and he has rejoined the race in P19. That's interesting because Verstappen and Hamilton could be about to lap him.
10/72 - 'Plan B'
Leclerc has just been told on the Ferrari team radio that they are shifting to "Plan B" - whatever that means!
9/72 - Verstappen in control
The worry ahead of this race was that this circuit would produce a procession and that seems to be panning out with Verstappen already three seconds ahead of Hamilton at the head of the pack!
7/72 - Ocon has pace
"Fernando is extremely slow in front," says Ocon. He has been trying to pass his Alpine teammate for the last two laps. Will Alpine give Alonso team orders?
6/72 - Hamilton concern!
"These tyres are going to struggle to keep this pace," says Hamilton over the team radio. Only five laps in and the world champion is already concerned about his tyres!
4/72 - Problem for Ricciardo?
This doesn't sound good for Ricciardo who is running in P9 after three laps...
3/72 - Verstappen fast!
At the end of the second lap, Verstappen has a lead of over two seconds! What a start by the Dutchman who looks determined to put on a show for his fans here.
1/72 - LIGHTS OUT!
Good start by Verstappen! That couldn't have gone much better for Verstappen who made a quick move to cut off Hamilton into Turn 1 and he already has a healthy lead!
14:01 - Formation lap!
The drivers have embarked on their formation lap around Zandvoort. What an atmosphere this! There's no doubt who the home fans want to win!
14:00 - Here we go!
Not long until the start of the formation lap at Zandvoort. This isn’t the easiest track to overtake at and so grid position could be very important to the final outcome this afternoon.
13:55 - Tweet me
I’m Graham Ruthven and you can catch me on Twitter ahead of the race to let me know your thoughts. Is today the day that Verstappen will take back control of the title race over Hamilton? Tweet me - @grahamruthven!
13:50 - Gasly impressing again
Pierre Gasly continued his excellent 2021 season by putting his AlphaTauri on P4 yesterday. The Frenchman is flying under the radar as one of the best young drivers in the sport right now.
https://twitter.com/AlphaTauriF1/status/1434497340031881217
13:45 - How they start
The grid - 1) Verstappen 2) Hamilton 3) Bottas 4) Gasly 5) Leclerc 6) Sainz 7) Giovinazzi 8) Ocon 9) Alonso 10) Ricciardo 11) Russell 12) Stroll 13) Norris 15) Tsunoda 17) Vettel 18) Kubica 19) Schumacher 20) Mazepin * Latifi and Perez start from the pit lane
13:40 - Bottas in P3
Valtteri Bottas did well to stick close to Verstappen and Hamilton in qualifying, but it is an open secret that the Finn will be replaced in the second seat at Mercedes by George Russell for next season.
13:35 - All about Max
Max Verstappen will start on pole after edging out Lewis Hamilton in Q3 by three one hundredths of a second. The Dutchman will have the support of tens of thousands of natives roaring him one.
13:30 - Welcome to Zandvoort!
Good afternoon and welcome to Eurosport’s LIVE coverage of the Dutch Grand Prix. Today, Zandvoort will host its first F1 race since the 1980s. What a brilliant circuit this is! Old-school. Drivers seem to love it.
Hamilton 'really happy' despite missing pole
"I'm generally really happy with how today has gone. Considering everyone else has had three practice sessions and I've had two," said Hamilton after an engine issue meant he missed FP2.
"It's a track where you really build your confidence up lap after lap after lap so when you lose 30 laps that made a difference.
"So today I was just trying to catch up as fast as I could and I was so close at the end."
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