The Dutch Grand Prix brought all the common 2022 storylines but, as with most things, without bringing fresh takes, the story grows old. The commanding thread of the season has been Max Verstappen’s dominance out front and, during his second home race in two weeks, he looked in control from the moment the lights went out.
For a moment, Mercedes appeared as if they might thwart another Verstappen victory, but the team gave it away after a late safety car period. With the green flag restarting the race, Verstappen cruised to his 10th win of the year and 30th of his career. He also moved into the top 10 in F1 laps led and, at age 24, looks like he is a future challenger to Lewis Hamilton‘s lofty records.
Verstappen’s win is making a quest for his second championship all but a formality. With Sergio Perez finishing fifth, the gap opens up so that Verstappen could clinch the title as early as the Japanese Grand Prix a full month before the end of the season. That the Ferraris keep dropping points (more on that in a bit) is only helping Verstappen’s cause.
The Mercedes flicker to challenge Verstappen ended with George Russell taking second on the day. In similar fashion, Ferrari played a game with themselves and could manage getting only Charles Leclerc on the podium in third.
Hamilton fumed during the last stint of the race as he started in first and dropped to fourth, ruing what might have been during a winless 2022. After Perez, Fernando Alonso scored sixth in a drive that may have been a stellar example of having your elbows out.
Lando Norris put together a solid effort in what is increasingly looking like a troubled McLaren, scoring seventh on the day. Carlos Sainz had a day to forget even with an eighth-place result.
Esteban Ocon grabbed ninth and – coupled with Alonso’s result – stretched Alpine’s lead over McLaren in the constructors’ title fight for fourth (125–101). Lance Stroll grabbed the final points-paying position on the day, only his fifth top 10 on the year.
The Race
Verstappen took control early, with Leclerc and Sainz giving chase. Hamilton attempted a pass on Sainz going into turn 1 but made contact, showed some oversteer and then slotted into fourth. For the most part, the rest of the field fell into positions rather cleanly with only a couple of drivers moving forward.
The first hiccup of the day came when Sainz pitted and Ferrari forgot to bring out all four tires. The resulting error dropped Sainz from a…
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