Formula 1’s Dutch Grand Prix was a homecoming for defending World Champion Max Verstappen, and he delivered with another crushing victory.
Autoweek rounds up the main talking points.
What more is there to say about Max Verstappen and Red Bull? It was simply another dominant day for a Formula 1 partnership that is head and shoulders above its opponents in 2022.
Verstappen started from pole position, managed the race, and made the off-strategy moves that were required to perfection. Verstappen beat Mercedes' George Russell to the finish line by 4.07 seconds, while Ferrari's Charles Leclerc completed the podium, 10.9 seconds off the lead.
Verstappen has won 10 of this year’s 15 Grands Prix, including four in a row during a crushing ongoing run, and is zeroing in on the record for most victories (13) in a single year. His coronation of a second F1 championship could now come as soon as the F1 Grand Prix at Singapore on October 3, in just two races’ time, given that he now holds a title advantage of 109 points. That lead has swelled across his current run given his own results and his rivals’ inability to muster a challenge: it has gone from 38, to 63, to 80, to 93, to 109.
Should Verstappen clinch at Singapore, that would mean he would celebrate a championship with five races still left in the season.
Ferrari’s inability to get through a race weekend without an unexpected comedy setback continued at Zandvoort.
This time it was Carlos Sainz who bore the brunt of Ferrari’s failings. Sainz was holding a podium position when Ferrari’s late call to pit caused chaos, leading to the left-rear tire not being in place when Sainz came into the pits. Sainz had to be held for 15 seconds while the tire was unearthed, and in the chaos the spare wheel gun was placed incorrectly and run over by Sergio Perez.
At his last stop Sainz, was released unsafely in the pit lane, leading to a time penalty, which dropped from fifth at the flag to eighth position.
Of more concern to Ferrari, which had Leclerc third, was the overall pace of the F1-75.
“I don’t know, honestly, it’s something we need to look at and review,” said Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto on the car’s recent drop in Sunday speed. “Is it down to the car which is not fast enough, is it the car balance? Certainly, the experience of today gives us more data to analyse and to address because we need to react. It is three races where we have not performed on a Sunday and we should, and no doubt I think not only Red Bull but Mercedes is faster than us.”
Ferrari’s title aspirations are done and dusted for 2022 and now it is in danger of not finishing second in either championships.