Grand Prix of Holland: jubilation over the victory of Verstappen

Max Verstappen won the Dutch Grand Prix 2021, the 13th round of the Formula 1 World Championship 2021, in Zandvoort on Sunday, and put the 70,000 Orange Army in a frenzy of well-deserved celebrations.

This will be considered one of his greatest victories, not just for him (and Red Bull) but also for his country, which has hugged the 23-year-old with great passion since his appearance as a precocious teenager in 2015.

In retrospect, it’s easy to say that from the moment he put it on pole on Saturday, this trophy was engraved with Max’s name. The tide has turned again and it’s blue and of course orange!

In the Parc Ferme, Verstappen said with a beam: “As you can hear, it’s unbelievable. Of course the expectations were high at the beginning of the weekend and it’s never easy to meet them, but I’m so happy to win here and take the lead in the championship too. It’s just an amazing day. The whole lot … it’s amazing.

“Mercedes tried to make it difficult for us, but we countered very well the whole time. We can be very satisfied with the overall team performance today, ”added Max.

Before the race, there were fears that the first lap on the renovated track, which last held a Grand Prix in 1985, would be difficult and it was certainly hectic and hectic, but no contact or bent metal as it made its way through the dunes snaked.

In fact, the first yellow card was waved on lap 37 when Sebastian Vettel lost the rear of his Aston Martin in banked turn 3. Nice job from the guys.

The front line stayed pretty much the same with the top positions unchanged, with Fernando Alonso, star of the early show, making some bold moves that took him to four positions in the opening laps.

It was quite a stalemate in terms of pace at the front, Verstappen was in control.

On lap 20, Hamilton pitted earlier than expected, Red Bull covering with Verstappen, but he came out in a Mercedes sandwich when Bottas was leading with a stopper at the time and Hamilton was chasing his title rival.

On lap 31, Max took the lead again on the main straight and was greeted with a great roar by the spectators. Hamilton overtook his team-mate shortly afterwards, the lead was 1.6 seconds behind. Game is still running!

Bottas pitted a lap later and failed in third. It was well used by Mercedes that day; said not to set the fastest lap even late in the race.

Hamilton held out bravely, but Versttapen improved by another second to about 2.5 seconds half a dozen laps later.

On lap 40, Mercedes played its final card, bringing Hamilton into play with scrubbed media. Red Bull brought in Max again to cover Merc’s move. He came out three seconds up front on the hard compound when the stops were done.

After that, it was a game of cat and mouse with Hamilton complaining about his tires – he doubted they would make the distance – while doing the fastest laps and keeping the distance to lap 50 under two seconds lock.

With a dozen laps remaining, Verstappen put the hammer aside and began fighting forward again.

At the same time, Hamilton again doubted over the radio that his tires would hold up. They did, but had lost their lead. Verstappen’s lead increased until he crossed the finish line on lap 72 and won confidently when Hamilton ducked into the pits for the fastest lap point.

The world champion was gracious in the defeat: “What a race, what an audience. To be honest, it was a great weekend. Max did a great job, congratulations to him. I gave absolutely everything today, to the full. I pushed as hard as I could. But they were just too fast for us. “

Bottas finished third behind second-placed Hamilton, despite being used as a Merc winger. He said afterwards: “Unfortunately for me it was pretty uneventful. Of course I kept pushing.

“We tried a one-stop and a long first stint and tried to survive with the tires to the end, but in the end we were pretty big behind me so we basically just stopped for safety reasons. We tried, but we didn’t quite have the pace today.

“I didn’t do the fastest lap today. Lewis got it, so we got the points as a team. The audience really supported us, so thank you very much, ”added Bottas.

Right behind the podium, AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly was a distant fourth, but again above his salary bracket, followed by Ferrari duo Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, who finished fifth and sixth.

But Alonso had other ideas when he overtook Sainz late in the race to finish sixth and relegate the Ferrari driver to seventh place.

Red Bull’s Sergio Perez was named Driver of the Day in eighth place for his race from the pit lane and proves that you can overtake in the new Zandy.

Esteban Ocon finished ninth in the other Alpines, followed by Lando Norris in tenth place on a below average weekend for McLaren in Holland. The orange was clearly not for her!

In the end, the day (do this weekend!) Belonged to Verstappen and his fans. Maybe not the greatest race as a competition, but still an iconic victory, a great moment in the history of the sport, unforgettable.

A jubilant Red Bull team boss Christian Horner got right to the point when he telephoned Holland’s favorite son: “Well done, buddy, that was epic. You won your home race, you were brilliant today. “

Preview and construction report

Formula 1 faces an epic Dutch Grand Prix in 2021, with title contenders Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen starting from the front row this afternoon in Zandvoort.

The competition we’ve all been waiting for is happening. Verstappen, the commander in chief of the Orange Army who is 70,000 strong every day, is chanting for his qualifying success and crying out for a win today as Mercedes and Hamilton do everything they can to contest one of their greatest athletic moments in Holland.

While Verstappen may pocket the safe money on Round 13 of this championship race, expect Hamilton to find something special, as he usually does when the Boo Brigade is in place and they are safe in the normally sleepy seaside village.

The Briton ran close to Verstappen in qualifying on Saturday, but in the end the all-important starting position in first place will be blue, not black the distance.

Hamilton’s plan-A will be to keep an eye on the Dutchman and react if and if the blues slips … where it’s hammertime! As always, there will be no margin of error between the two, but maybe even more as this championship is entering a crucial phase.

In addition, there will be more lap times to be lapped this afternoon than usual, so that Bernd Maylander will be in action in the safety car at some point during the race.

Verstappen’s home win is a real fairy tale one would never dare, but it’s not a given as the real work starts when the lights go out, around the 31st his McLaren through the same dunes to victory.

This is going to be a great character building race for Max, who transcends Formula 1 in Holland, where he experiences the kind of admiration from his homeland that Michael Schumacher conjured in Germany or that drew Ayrton Senna in Brazil.

We are experiencing a special journey, a unique legacy that the 23-year-old fortune builds for fans of this sport, so devastated by the monotony of Mercedes dominance. This real fight is long overdue.

Hats off to this guy

These Dutch F1 fans have been on the next level all weekend # DutchGP # F1 pic.twitter.com/Megl5Lguh4

– Formula 1 (@ F1) September 5, 2021

Behind the two rivals, Valtteri Bottas is well positioned to help Hamilton and expects to have to be sacrificed by Mercedes this afternoon if need be.

Verstappen doesn’t have the luxury of a winger as Sergio Perez was stranded during qualifying in Q1. In addition, the Mexican will try to make up for his rookie-like gimmicks at Spa-Francorchamps last Sunday.

The second best Honda rider was the sensational Pierre Gasly, who brought the AlphaTauri to fourth place on the grid and was able to use his Monza winning mojo and become a factor in today’s race.

Good news for Tifosi is that Ferrari found the magic switch in SF21 this weekend, with their drivers Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz sharing the third row, an out of the question podium should they survive the afternoon.

Also keep an eye on the Dutch Grand Prix 2021:

• Mclaren where are you
• Aston Martin where are you
• Robert Kubica, who stands in for COVID-19, met Kimi Raikkonen
• Nikita Mazepin is lapped …

Facts and statistics about the Dutch Grand Prix Reuters

Formula 1 statistics for the Dutch Grand Prix on Sunday in Zandvoort, the 13th round of the World Championship:

• The last F1 race on the circuit took place in 1985.
• Lap distance: 4.259 km. Total distance: 306.648 km (72 laps)
• Start time: 1300 GMT / 1500 local

DUTCH GRAND PRIX

• The first Dutch Grand Prix was held in 1952, with Zandvoort opening as a circuit in the seaside resort’s coastal dunes in 1948, and ended with Ferrari taking the top three places.
• The fast and hilly route, about half an hour’s train ride from Amsterdam, has been modernized, but is still generally considered “old school”.
• The track has a mix of speeds with a few banked turns, the last two at a steeper angle than the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. That will put a lot of strain on the tires.
• There are some notable corner names, the first is Tarzan and the last is named after two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Arie Luyendyk.

RACE VICTORY

• Hamilton has a record of 99 career wins, 78 of them with Mercedes, out of 278 starts. He was on the podium 174 times.
• Verstappen has won six races so far in 2021, Hamilton four and one each for Red Bull’s Mexican Sergio Perez and Alpine Esteban Ocon.
• Ferrari has won 238 races since 1950, McLaren 182, Mercedes 119, Williams 114 and Red Bull 71. Former champions McLaren and Williams have not won since 2012.

POLE POSITION

• Hamilton has a record of 101 career Poles and has won from pole position 59 times. In 2021 he had three poles so far.
• Verstappen took pole position six times this year, while Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was fastest in qualifying in Azerbaijan and Monaco. Bottas was on pole position in Portugal.

CHAMPIONSHIP

• Hamilton is three points ahead of Verstappen.
• Mercedes leads Red Bull at seven.

SECURITY VEHICLE

• The safety car has been used in all but three races this year. There were five red flags, more than any time of the year in 20 years.

MILESTONES

• The Belgian Grand Prix last Sunday was the shortest ever, the race was stopped after a few laps behind the safety car.
• Hamilton can become the first Formula 1 driver to win 100 Grand Prix events.
• Verstappen can be the first Dutch driver to win a Grand Prix on home soil.

(The 2021 Dutch Grand Prix report will replace this build preview later in the day. Please refresh your page for updates.)