F1: Max Verstappen Storms To Dutch GP Win Against Resurgent Mercedes

New Delhi

Verstappen won a tricky home race which now almost makes it impossible for him to not win his 2nd world title.

Key Highlights

Verstappen won a tricky race where for the first time the Mercedes car was a threat
Ferrari again bungled pit strategy and couldn't match Red Bull on pace
George Russell managed P2 and overtook Lewis Hamilton in the last leg of the race

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen further extended his lead over Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in the 2022 F1 world championship as he won a chaotic Dutch GP at Zandvoort. The reigning world champion had the measure of Leclerc in the first half of the race but then faced a challenge from the Mercedes duo of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell as their cars gathered pace on the medium and hard tyres, but a series of safety cars meant that Verstappen gained a tyre advantage on the Mercedes duo who had overtaken him by virtue of being on a single pitstop strategy. But the Mercedes strategy was ruined by two safety cars that allowed Verstappen short pitstops and parity on tyres.

Russel still managed P2 for Mercedes ahead of Leclerc in P3 for the Ferrari, but Hamilton’s race was ruined by a faulty tyre strategy and the 7-time world champion just managed P4 after being the favourite to win the race at one point of time. He was followed by Red Bull’s Sergio Perez in P5 followed by Fernando Alonso in P6 for the Alpine who managed an amazing recovery drive.

Carlos Sainz Jr in the Ferrari had qualified in P3, but his race was ruined by a pitstop issue and then in the latter half of the race he was penalised for overtaking while the yellow flag was on. He ended up P8 behind even Lando Norris in the McLaren. Esteban Ocon managed P9 in the second Alpine. Lance Stroll capped off the points scorers with P10 for the Aston Martin while his teammate, the soon-to-be retiring Sebastian Vettel had a horrid race In P14.

Pierre Gasly managed P11 for AlphaTauri while his teammate Yuki Tsunoda retired after a torrid race and was the catalyst to trigger the first safety car. Alex Albon finished in P12 Williams while his teammate Nicholas Latifi managed P18. Under pressure, Mick Schumacher who is fighting for a race seat next year finished in P13 for Haas ahead of his teammate Kevin Magnussen who managed just P15. Guanyu Zhou managed P16 for Alfa Romeo ahead of his teammate Valtteri Bottas who didn’t finish the race. Outgoing McLaren driver Daniel Ricciardo continued his horror show of form with the team as he just managed P17.

2022 Formula 1 Round 15 Dutch GP: Race Results

Pos	Car No	Driver	Team	Time	Points
1	1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	1:36:42.773	26
2	63	George Russell	Mercedes	4.071s	18
3	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	10.929s	15
4	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	13.016s	12
5	11	Sergio Perez	Red Bull	18.168	10
6	14	Fernando Alonso	Alpine	18.754s	8
7	4	Lando Norris	McLaren	19.306	6
8	55	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari	20.916s	4
9	31	Esteban Ocon	Alpine	21.117s	2
10	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	22.459s	1
11	10	Pierre Gasly	AlphaTauri	27.009s	0
12	23	Alexander Albon	Williams	30.390s	0
13	47	Mick Schumacher	Haas	32.995s	0
14	5	Sebastian Vettel	Aston Martin	36.007s	0
15	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	36.869s	0
16	24	Zhou Guanyu	Alfa Romeo	37.320s	0
17	3	Daniel Ricciardo	McLaren	37.764s	0
18	6	Nicholas Latifi	Williams	1 lap	0
NC	77	Valtteri Bottas	Alfa Romeo	DNF	0
NC	22	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri	DNF	0

2022 Formula 1 World Driver's Championship Standings After Round 14 - Belgian GP

Pos.	Driver	Team	Points
1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	310
2	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	201
3	Sergio Perez	Red Bull	201
4	George Russel	Mercedes	188
5	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari	175
6	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	158
7	Lando Norris	McLaren	82
8	Esteban Ocon	Alpine Renault	66
9	Fernando Alonso	Alpine Renault	59
10	Valtteri Bottas	Alfa Romeo	46
11	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	22
12	Sebastian Vettel	Aston Martin	20
13	Daniel Ricciardo	McLaren	19
14	Pierre Gasly	AlphaTauri	18
15	Mick Schumacher	Haas	12
16	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri	11
17	Zhou Guanyu	Alfa Romeo	5
18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	5
19	Alex Albon	Wiliams	4
20	Nicholas Latifi	Williams	0
21	Nico Hulkenberg	Aston Martin	0