Dutch Grand Prix: Weekend Recap

Formula One returned from the summer break to the shores of the Netherlands for the Dutch Grand Prix. The circuit returned to the calendar in 2021 and has been won by home hero Max Verstappen every year since, the current driver's championship leader hoping to keep that statistic alive this weekend. Mercedes come into Zandvoort off the tail of a successful run of races, winning 2 out of the last 3 races. And they won despite the fact that McLaren had the strongest car all around, the woking outfit suffering from errors in execution and McLaren man Lando Norris holding the burden of his poor starts. All three of the top teams went into this race with hopes of winning, but as the weekend unfolded, it became clear that one of them would stand out.

Friday Practice Sessions

The opening day of practice for the 2024 Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix offered a thrilling preview of the weekend ahead, with Mercedes and McLaren leading the charge and Red Bull struggling to find their footing. With Mclaren emerging from the summer break with fresh upgrades, the competition remained fierce, promising a continuation of the multi-team battle that has defined this season.

George Russell topped the timesheets in FP2 with a 1m10.702s, but McLaren showed strong potential, particularly in the long runs. Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris finished second and fourth, respectively, with Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes splitting the two McLarens. Norris also led FP1 despite challenging weather, a testament of McLaren’s competitiveness and their potential edge for Sunday’s race. Meanwhile, Robert Shwartzman hopped into Valterri Bottas’s Sauber for the first practice session.

Red Bull had a less promising Friday, with Max Verstappen only managing fifth in FP1 and third in FP2. Verstappen expressed concerns about the car’s pace, especially in long runs, and hinted at uncertainties in how to improve. Sergio Perez struggled further, failing to crack the top 10 in FP2.

Ferrari’s Friday was plagued by reliability issues and poor timing during qualifying simulations. Carlos Sainz missed most of FP2 due to a gearbox issue, and Charles Leclerc’s best effort only placed him ninth in FP2, hindered by traffic and older medium tires. Ferrari's long-run performance was less impressive compared to rivals, signaling potential trouble for the weekend. As Saturday approached, the focus was on whether Red Bull could recover their pace or if McLaren and Mercedes would continue to dominate. With rain expected in FP3 and potentially during qualifying, the weekend promised to be both unpredictable and exciting, with multiple teams in contention yet again.

Final Practice

The final practice session for the 2024 Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort was dramatically interrupted by a heavy crash involving Logan Sargeant, causing a 44-minute stoppage. Sargeant's crash occurred at Turn 3 after he took too much curb in wet conditions and touched the grass, sending his Williams into the barrier. The impact caused significant damage and even ignited a fire, however, to the delight of all, Sargeant emerged uninjured. The session was red-flagged as crews repaired the damaged Armco barrier and cleared the debris.

Before the crash, Fernando Alonso set the fastest time, leading Oscar Piastri by 0.4 seconds. The wet conditions made grip elusive, putting Alonso in a strong position when the session was halted. Race control aimed to resume with five minutes remaining, but delays left only two minutes for a final flurry on intermediate tires.

In the brief dash, Kevin Magnussen temporarily topped the timesheets, but Pierre Gasly claimed the fastest lap just before the session ended. Magnussen held second, followed by Valtteri Bottas and Lando Norris. Alonso’s earlier time secured fifth place.

Max Verstappen drew scrutiny after an incident where he exited the pitlane, passing Oscar Piastri and George Russell but crossing the white line, an incident that was noted by the stewards. Both Yuki Tsunoda and Sergio Perez missed the chequered flag, unable to set competitive times.

The truncated session left teams with limited data heading into qualifying, adding unpredictability to the weekend. With qualifying ahead, the conditions and aftermath of FP3 were poised to play a crucial role in setting the grid for Sunday’s race, and Sargeant would not take part in qualifying due to his crash.

Qualifying

In a thrilling qualifying session for the 2024 Dutch Grand Prix, Lando Norris secured a dominant pole position, beating local favorite Max Verstappen by over three-tenths of a second with a phenomenal lap. Oscar Piastri completed a strong showing for McLaren by taking third place on the grid behind the Dutchman.

Q1

The first segment of qualifying (Q1) saw intense competition as drivers battled to avoid early elimination. Sergio Perez found himself in the drop zone early on, but a late surge using an additonal set of soft tires allowed him to jump to the top of the timesheets. His quick lap shuffled Daniel Ricciardo out of the session. Perez’s extra lap became necessary after his first attempt was disrupted by Lewis Hamilton, who was going slowly on the outside of Turn 9. The incident led to an investigation by the stewards after the session and a 3-place grid drop for the Briton. Esteban Ocon struggled to find the necessary improvements amid the evolving track conditions and was knocked out in 17th place, despite setting a personal best on his final lap. Sauber teammates Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu also failed to progress, having completed their final efforts earlier than most of the field, not helped by the Sauber's immense lack of pace.

Q2

In the second segment (Q2), the battle intensified as drivers pushed to make it into the top 10 shootout. Charles Leclerc delivered a last-minute improvement that knocked out his Ferrari teammate, Carlos Sainz. Sainz faced additional challenges, having not driven on the soft tires before qualifying due to a gearbox issue on Friday and the rain that affected earlier sessions. The highlight of the session came when Lewis Hamilton, who had been a pacesetter in Friday's practice, shockingly missed the cut and ended up 12th, just behind Sainz. Yuki Tsunoda, along with the Haas duo of Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen, also failed to advance to Q3.

Q3

The final segment (Q3) saw Lando Norris dominate from the start. His initial lap of 1m10.074s placed him ahead of both his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri and his closest challenger Max Verstappen. As the session progressed, the pressure mounted on Verstappen, who led the pack around his home track for the final runs.

Verstappen managed to improve significantly on his last attempt, posting a 1m10.029s, particularly benefiting from a strong middle sector. However, Norris delivered an outstanding final sector and became the only driver to break the 1m10s barrier, setting a time of 1m09.673s. This performance secured him his fourth pole position by a margin of 0.356s over Verstappen.

Piastri could not challenge Verstappen for the front row, as he lost time in the middle sector, finishing 0.499s behind his teammate despite setting a personal best at the end.

George Russell secured fourth place, narrowly beating Sergio Perez, while Charles Leclerc was the fastest Ferrari in P6. Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll, who had only one set of new tires left for Q3, ran an offset strategy and finished seventh and ninth, respectively. Alex Albon slotted in between them with a very impressive lap, with Pierre Gasly rounding out the top 10. After the session, Alex Albon was disqualified from qualifying because his upgraded Williams was found to be illegal. This, along with Haas driver Magnussen starting from the pit lane as a result of taking a new engine, promoted Logan Sargeant, who hadn't driven in Qualfying at all, to 18th place!

The stage was set for an exciting Dutch Grand Prix, with Norris poised to lead the field from pole and Verstappen eager to win on home soil once again.

Race  

Come race day and Lando Norris secured his second Formula 1 victory in a commanding fashion at the Dutch Grand Prix, triumphing over Max Verstappen at the Red Bull driver's home race. Norris finished a staggering 22.9 seconds ahead of Verstappen, the largest winning margin in 2024, capping off a brilliant performance that further narrowed the championship battle. Norris approached the race with a calm head, his confidence boosted by his dominant pole lap. Verstappen knew his P2 was not ideal, but hoped to jump the Mclaren at the start. And as it turned out, that is exactly what unfolded.

Despite both Mclarens losing time at the start, Norris quickly regained control of the race. After being passed by Max Verstappen into the first corner, Norris kept close to the Red Bull driver and began to build momentum. By the time he made his move on lap 18, Norris was in a position of strength, overtaking Verstappen with a decisive pass into Turn 1. From that moment, Norris extended his lead lap by lap, ultimately crossing the finish line with a comfortable margin. Oscar Piastri, meanwhile, had dropped to 4th as he was paced by Russell on the first lap.

Verstappen, who had initially seemed poised to compete, struggled to maintain his early advantage. After gaining the lead at the start, he quickly built a gap of 1.5 seconds over Norris. However, the Dutchman began to encounter difficulties, particularly in the slower corners where his car's turn-in was less effective. Additionally, the Mclaren was found to be kinder to its tires than the Red Bull in terms of degradation. This allowed Norris to close the gap and eventually pass him, leaving Verstappen unable to mount a serious challenge for the remainder of the race.

Charles Leclerc completed the podium in third place, managing to fend off a strong challenge from Oscar Piastri. The Ferrari driver executed a well-timed pit stop to undercut Piastri and George Russell, and then held his position despite significant pressure from Piastri. Leclerc’s ability to navigate through traffic, manage his tires, and maintain his speed on the straights was key to his successful defense of third place, a surprising result given Ferrari's lack of momentum in the development race. The Monégasque driver joined Max Verstappen and winner Lando Norris to complete a phenomenal podium trio. Carlos Sainz put in an impressive recovery drive to finish fifth after a disappointing qualifying session that saw him exit in Q2. The Spaniard executed several well-judged overtakes during the race, including a crucial pass on Sergio Perez. Although Perez defended robustly, Sainz managed to get past and later benefited from Russell’s late pit stop to secure fifth place, to sum up a strong weekend for Ferrari.

Piastri, who had extended his first stint on the hard tires to gain a strategic advantage, managed to pass Russell but found it challenging to overtake Charles Leclerc. Despite his best efforts, Piastri was unable to overtake the Ferrari and had to settle for fourth place as he crossed the line.

George Russell’s decision to pit for soft tires late in the race did not pay off as well as he would have hoped. Although he had the pace advantage, he ran out of time to catch Perez and had to settle for seventh place, his slow pitstop earlier in the race playing into that result.

Lewis Hamilton, on the other hand, delivered a brilliant recovery drive, finishing eighth after executing a series of overtakes against the likes of Hulenberg, Alonso, and Gasly. Pierre Gasly and Fernando Alonso rounded out the top 10, with Alonso overtaking Nico Hulkenberg to secure the final point. Further back, the Williams drivers both made the best out of a tricky weekend, with Albon finishing 14th and Sargeant finishing 16th. The same cannot be said about the Sauber duo, who suffered another uncompetitive weekend, beaten by drivers who had penalties and started behind them.

Norris’s victory was a significant achievement, as it allowed him to reduce Verstappen’s championship lead to 70 points, aided by the additional fastest lap point. It allowed him to quieten the talks of critics who emphasized his poor getaways and inability to convert a good qualifying position into a good result. The McLaren driver demonstrated exceptional pace and composure throughout the entire race, making the most of his car's brilliant performance. Reflecting on his victory, Norris expressed his satisfaction with the race, stating, "It feels amazing, once again I wouldn't say a perfect race because of lap 1 again, but after that it was beautiful. The pace was very strong, the car was unbelievable, and I could get comfortable, push, and pass Max."