Max Verstappen wins the Dutch Grand Prix as Red Bull driver’s victory on home track sees him regain the F1 championship lead

Max Verstappen set ablaze the Dutch crowd by leading the Netherlands GP from start to finish to retake the lead in the championship standings with Mercedes duo Lewis Hamilton and Valterri Bottas rounding out the podium.

Clean get away for Verstappen and Hamilton

Verstappen and Hamilton started on the grid’s front row for the first time since the crash at Silverstone, but there was no repeat this time. There was no fight at all. Both drivers got away well but by turn four, Verstappen had left Hamilton in the dirt. 

The lead steadily grew through the first stint of the race to around three seconds, which led to Mercedes changing Hamilton to a two-stop strategy by pitting him on lap 20. Red Bull successfully covered him off by bringing Verstappen in on the next lap.

Verstappen again pulled out a three-second lead so, again, Mercedes pulled Hamilton in early for the undercut. But once again, Red Bull covered them off. 

Hamilton and Bottas battle for the fastest lap

It got very interesting in the final two laps, despite the lack of overtakes on track. Mercedes pitted third-placed Valterri Bottas due to him having a big enough gap behind him. This is usually done to get the fastest lap, but Hamilton had the fastest lap, and that would take a point away from Hamilton.

Bottas was told by his engineer not to get the fastest lap, and then told by chief technical director James Allison to abort the fastest lap that he was on. Bottas ignored this order and took the fastest lap. This led to the team pitting Hamilton on the penultimate lap to take the fastest lap on the final lap.

Pierre Gasly completes a great weekend for Alpha Tauri

Pierre Gasly, meanwhile, capped off a fantastic weekend by taking his Alpha Tauri to finish fourth. While Charles Leclerc finished fifth for Ferrari. 

Fernando Alonso overtook fellow Spanish driver Carlos Sainz on the final lap for sixth place for the Alpine team. 

From a pit-lane start after an engine change, Sergio Perez ended up in eighth place. Esteban Ocon came in ninth and Lando Norris took the only point for McLaren by finishing 10th. 

F1 next heads to the temple of speed, Monza, as the championship race heats up. 

By Charlie Parker