This time he didn’t make a mistake, despite a start to forget once again. Dutch GP is of Landon Norriswho crossed the finish line with a 22″8 advantage (and the fastest lap) over the Red Bull of the home idol Max VerstappenThe Dutchman received a moral slap not indifferent in front of his fans. A victory that launches the McLaren both among the Drivers (Verstappen 295-Norris 225) and among the Builders (with the British team now only 30 points down on the energy drink team). On the podium a Ferrari perfect with Leclercan unexpected result considering the day before (Charles started sixth) thanks to an excellent car configuration, rewarded by a more loaded set-up on the long Dutch curves, and by a crazy race of the Monegasque, good at resisting the return of Plates (4th) who had the freshest hard tyres almost 10 laps after the pit.
Excellent race also for Sainzfifth, in the final ahead of the other Red Bull of Perez (6th). The Spaniard also deserves applause, having gone blind in qualifying on Saturday after having paid for the very few laps in free practice due to the rain, the problems with the gearbox and the accident on Saturday morning in FP3. The Mercedes (Russell 7th, Hamilton 8th), the Alpine closed the top-10 Gasly (9th), lively in several overtaking moves in turn 1 (such as the one on Hulkenberg), and the Aston Martin of Alonso.
Impossible podium for Ferrari, Leclerc said on Saturday. But if Norris and Verstappen showed a better pace, the substance is that the Reds had a good race pacewhich gives hope for the future Monza when the updates on the SF-24 will arrive. Leclerc was very good at the start to drink the ghost of Pérez with a super trajectory on the outside, just like Sainz did on Stroll and then, in a handful of laps, on Alonso and Gasly. Up front, however, the script did not change: Norris (who did not learn from his mistakes) found himself behind Verstappen at the start, releasing the clutch badly for the umpteenth time.
The most loaded setup shown by the Rossa, with a completely revised bottom during the summer break by the engineers at Maranello, rewarded a more stable car in the long bends in the race pace. This benefited a SF-24 lively, which in a few laps appeared behind the second McLaren of Piastri (with Leclerc), just over a second and a half behind Russell’s Mercedes. chase which lasted until lap 25, when the very good strategy Ferrari, excellent in calling the Monegasque on lap 25 so as to overtake with the undercut both the Silver Arrow of the British driver (inside on lap 26) and Piastri, who remained on the track until lap 33 aiming to return in the second half of the race with the fresher hard tyre.
The Australian’s strategy was, all things considered, questionable despite his superior race pace to his rivals. Suddenly lighting up after a more anonymous first part, Piastri showed up on Russell’s Mercedes on lap 40, overtaking him with agility in turn 1, before starting the attack on Leclerc’s Ferrari with a disadvantage of 4″1, which he made up in eight laps after having nibbled away over five tenths per lap. The first attempt in turn 1 he was defended by Leclerc by extending the braking, but then the Monegasque was very good at resisting the attacks of his rival, who stressed the tyres a lot by going out of the DRS (1”2 on lap 53). A masterpiece by the Monegasque and a good race by Sainz, who in the meantime, a few laps before, had managed to pass the Red Bull of Pérez at turn 1 taking fifth position, which he maintained until the end.
The race was all between third and seventh place, while in front Norris continued his race alone distancing Verstappen by more than 15 seconds. 57th lap. The Dutchman’s attempt to pass on lap 28 with the undercut, when Max was just over second, didn’t work. The following lap the Englishman put on the hard (like the Dutchman) and then distanced his rival lap after lap, facing a audience stunned from a dominant McLaren and a struggling Red Bull (the “I can’t turn into Turn 10” and the “I can’t go any further than this” said by Verstappen to his team gave us a lot to think about).
Behind Russell, who started fourth at the start, he did not show a good pace as had been seen in the third free practice sessions on Saturday, the only ones with a dry track. If Hamiltonstarted 14th, finished 8th, but complained about little grip with the reds at the start and the slowness on the straight, the British had none compared to Leclerc and Piastri, attempting the double stop to insert the reds and try the attack in the final. However, reality said that theex Williams finished more than five seconds behind the second Red Bull of Pérez (6th). In short, the Silver Arrow will try to amaze in Monza, also considering what was seen at SpaStroll finally took a five-second penalty for speeding when entering the pit lane during the pit stop, a mistake that saw him finish outside the points zone.
