Verstappen leads from pole, ahead of the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz. They all started on soft tyres, while Mercedes duo Lewis Hamilton and George Russell opted for mediums from the start – allowing them to target a one-stop strategy after switching to hards.
This strategy was ruined by a strange scenario with Yuki Tsunoda of AlphaTauri stopping on the track twice, which gave Verstappen the advantage after a virtual safety car, but the pendulum swung back when the Alfa Romeo of Valtteri Bottas also stopped, bringing out a full safety car.
Hamilton regained the lead, but was disadvantaged by the tires behind, so Verstappen passed him straight away on the restart. Hamilton dropped to fourth and raged on the radio about his tire strategy.
2022 Dutch Grand Prix Results
How was the Dutch Grand Prix
Verstappen retained his pole advantage in the race at Turn 1, leading Leclerc and Sainz, the latter narrowly escaping Hamilton at Turn 1.
Under pressure from Alex Albon’s Williams, Kevin Magnussen suffered a second-lap exit that sent his Haas to the back after brushing against the wall. Russell’s Mercedes DRS passed Lando Norris’ fast McLaren for sixth on lap three.
Sainz was the first of the favorites to stop on lap 15 but suffered a disastrous 12.7s pit stop as the left rear wheel was not ready, allowing Perez to move ahead – although he had to smash Sainz’s spare tire to get out of his pit. Sainz dropped to sixth as a result.
Leclerc, who lost 5 seconds to Verstappen, pitted on lap 18. Verstappen pitted a lap later which freed the Mercedes, which both started on mediums as opposed to the soft tire starters ahead of them .
On cooler tyres, Verstappen passed Russell for second at Tarzan on lap 28 and chased Hamilton, who was 2.6 seconds down the road. Hamilton pitted for hard tires a lap later, moving into fifth place, with Russell following suit a few laps later.
Hamilton attacked Perez for third place on lap 36 and, after a few near misses around the lap, passed him a lap later at Tarzan, but was again delayed by three seconds by a Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin) who joined – and was now above a pit stop behind Verstappen as a result. Russell easily passed Perez two laps later.
However, Verstappen was unhappy with the middle tire and Hamilton started to catch him and second-placed Leclerc. Perez was called for hard tires at this stage, to help Verstappen’s next tire choice – and immediately set the fastest lap. Leclerc stopped on lap 46 for the hards.
Yuki Tsunoda stopped at turn 5, claiming his tires weren’t properly fitted, but joined without provoking a safety car. After another pit stop, he parked again, causing a virtual safety car – which killed Mercedes’ planned one-stop strategy, and locked the recently stopped Ferraris on hard tires while Norris and Fernando Alonso (Alpine) switched to softs behind them.
Verstappen found new hard tires, as did Hamilton and Russell for new mediums. The race restarted with Verstappen leading by 13s over Hamilton, Russell and Leclerc.
Valtteri Bottas’ Alfa Romeo came to a halt before Turn 1, just as Sainz passed Ocon for sixth under the yellows. Verstappen pitted for the softs, allowing Hamilton to take the lead ahead of Russell.
Beneath the safety car, Russell again stopped for softs, as did Sainz who nearly crashed into Alonso as he entered the fast lane.
The race started again with Hamilton, on worn mediums, leading Verstappen, Russell and Leclerc, shod in soft shoes. Perez finished fifth on the medium, ahead of Sainz, Alonso, Norris and Ocon.
Verstappen passed Hamilton for the lead ahead of Tarzan with 11 laps to go, with Sainz similarly passing Perez for fifth.
Russell passed an angry Hamilton for second on lap 64, the two almost collided at high speed on the start/finish straight. Leclerc also passed Hamilton to push him off the podium.
Sainz came under pressure from Perez for fifth place but also received a 5 second time penalty for a dangerous outing, Perez running wide on the gravel at Tarzan with a few laps to go.
Verstappen batted home to win, ahead of Russell and Leclerc. Hamilton hung on to finish fourth, with Sainz losing fifth due to his penalty which dropped him to eighth place behind Perez, Alonso and Norris.
