F1 Dutch Grand Prix Debrief

Gabrielle Hammond

gabsbitesizeblogs@gmail.com

It's lights out and away we go...

What a race we had for the Dutch Grand Prix, and perfectly so, as it will be the last time it'll be on the F1 calendar. Plus, the first race back from summer break. With Kimi Antonelli on top- can he keep it up the second half of the season? We all sat down to watch as the first race unfolded...

Lando Norris in the McLaren was on pole position, with George Russell in the Mercedes 2nd which meant an all-british front line. However, as this was the last Dutch GP (due to it leaving the schedule next year) it thus meant that it was four-time Dutch World Champion- Max Verstappen's last home race. I, for one, was expecting him to go hard or go home (ironically), so I had a feeling what happened only in lap three would be his fate. More on this in a second...

Formation lap starts... has the course dried out? It was raining heavily earlier... the drivers will be the judge of that and adapt their driving to suit it.

They go back to the start line. Suspense builds and it's lights out. Oh no! A bad start for Russell, with Piastri attempting to overtake but minimally not being able to. But while I am not looking Kimi Antonelli (George's teammate) manages to sweep past and overtake so now it's Lando 1st, Antonelli 2nd and just about Russell 3rd.

It's all looking quite smooth. Maybe it's not so damp after all, I remember thinking. When all of a sudden... a crash from a Red Bull colliding into the sidelines and spinning out of control with a lot of damage! Quite clearly seeing that this would put them out of the race. And oh my goodness- it's Verstappen! What a heartbreak for him and all the fans. I jinxed it I think- sorry Max! But behind him there's another spin at the same time from Gabriel Bortoletto in the Audi (somehow managing to recover and stay in the race) but while the red flag was issued we can see close up replay footage. With some miracle, Nico Hulkenburg (also in Audi) manages to avoid a collision with Bortoletto- watch the footage- his reaction time is impeccable. Hats off to him.

The race is restarted after some time. With penalties given out to drivers due to exiting the pit lane with a red flag (accidental red flag though given by the authorities). They escaped a major penalty and were given reprimands.

The race sets to restart with a few hiccups along the way too. It's a very bitty race so far. Formation lap happens again and oh no, it's Ollie Bearman in the Haas has broken down. Unfortunate for him but engine failure is hard to recover so he is out of the race. Will this race ever actually start?

Thankfully it does as they clear Bearman's car fast. Lights are out and away we go again! And oh wow what a start for Antonelli managing to sweep past Lando beautifully (much to my disgrace) so now he is our race leader. Now what's this? An amazing move from Oscar Piastri and overtakes Russell with beautiful speed. The positions stay consistent like this for many laps but Lando is reducing the gap between him and Antonelli (race leader).

I could go on and on about everyone's pit stops, every radio message, every different tyre and every overtake BUT this is already a long debrief of the race and we want the dramatic ending of the race to be covered.

George Russell boxes on lap 18! He goes onto the hard tyre which makes him drop to 9th position in amongst the traffic of the middle table. Russell has to make this up again. Lots of overtaking awaits him...

Piastri pits and a very slow pit stop for team McLaren which leaves him at 7th and allows Russell to sweep past at 6th. Disappointment for the McLaren teams all around. Poor decision and bad timing on their part?

And a radio message for Antonelli to box. This will be interesting... Hamilton in the Ferrari now takes the lead as everyone else on top seems to be pitting. Hamilton needs to gain some time here out in front if he has any chance of staying in contention for podium. But obviously he will need to pit himself.

The top part of the table is moving around a lot due to pit stops and different tyres. So is the middle lot too. With a great battle from the mid table was interesting to watch too at around lap 26/27.

We are now in lap 34 and Lando is closing the gap from race leader Antonelli (after Hamilton does pit). Will he be able to overtake and claim back 1st position?

But then Piastri in 4th place gets overtaken by LeClerc in the Ferrari. Wow! A great overtake sweeping around the outside. And now the other Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton, is looking to attack Piastri aswell. Which leaves us McLaren fans at the edge of our seats. And oh no! Piastri has a late reaction from the potential ploy from Hamilton to overtake and Hamilton becomes successful in his drive to overtake. It's now 4th and 5th to the two Ferrari's and Piastri is now 6th.

It's lap 40 now and Antonelli is called to box again. Which leaves Lando to lead the Dutch GP- will he be able to do this? Please! Can you tell who I support yet?

Antonelli comes out of the pit lane and comes out 4th but on a fresh new rubber.

Lap 47. Will Lando pit now? Yes. Oh god. Let's hope the McLaren's can operate a quick and smooth pit stop like they are renowned for. Much smoother thank goodness. Hamilton takes first position again as Lando comes out of the pits 3rd.

This is looking to be an exciting end. It's super close. Literally anyone (well apart from Lance Stroll) can win. And I say that at the same time that Stroll is retired and is out of the race.

And now it's Hamilton, Antonelli & Norris all close together. Antonelli looks to gain back 1st place from Hamilton but as he attemps to do that Lando comes in around the outside of them both but not enough to get through to Hamilton but he is now 2nd. Excellent stuff.

And now Norris is on the hunt. He wants more. He needs 1st. It's lap 54 now out of 72 and we are nearing the end and this is where he needs 1st. He can smell it... and he does it. He is now in the lead again. Honestly, I can't keep up.

Oh no! A yellow flag. Ocon from the Haas has stopped. Nothing too serious so no red flag needed but a Virtual Safety Car is distributed. Perfect news for Lando Norris. Everyone slows down. Who will take advantage of this opportunity for a great quick pit stop? Hamilton is looking likely.

But no news? Then we get a radio message from Hamilton- he is not happy with the team for keeping him out so long with the same tyres. He says he feels like he is being used as a "guinea pig" so with that they bring the GOAT of Hamilton into the pits. Aswell as teammate LeClerc too.

McLaren do not decide to put Lando into the pits. Will this pay off? As Mercedes have put both their drivers on the soft tyre- could this be an advantage?

Race is away as normal and it's Norris 1st, Russell 2nd and Antonelli 3rd. The Ferrari's not far behind. All stays the same until lap 66.

The gap between Russell and Antonelli is tiny. And the team decide to make Russell let Antonelli overtake him in the aim for him to catch up Lando. He has more speed than Russell. Russell seems to be unhappy by this decision quoting to the team "you've lost double podium there". Will that be the case? The Ferrari's are getting closer to him for 3rd and for a podium place but it's not looking likely after a few saves from Russell.

Final lap comes around and it's looking quite clear what will happen. We just need the confirmation. It's looking like first place Lando Norris in the McLaren, second place Kimi Antonelli in the Mercedes and third place George Russell in the Mercedes. And over the finish line goes them all. And it's confirmed. AYY! Lando Norris WINS the last Dutch GP.

What a race back from summer break and last race for the Dutch GP. Action packed and full of excitement. Just as we like to see.

But maybe the biggest shock of the race is Fernando Alonso in the Aston Martin finished 9th with the upgraded car after summer break. Brilliant.