Dutch Grand Prix weekend preview

Zandvoort was reintroduced to the F1 calendar in 2021 after being off it for 35 years with the previous race being held in 1985 which was famously won by Nikki Lauda, followed closely by Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna. Since then, Netherlands has been dominated by the home hero Max Verstappen who won from 2021 to 2023 by fell short in 2024 to Lando Norris - one of his most dominant drives to date even after being beaten of the line by Verstappen. 


Zandvoort is a short track of only 4.259km long which means 72 laps around the circuit which gives fans a great experience seeing the cars so often. The total race distance is 306.587km and the fastest lap time ever was set by Lewis Hamilton back in 2021 with a 1.11.097. The track has 14 corners with some legendary ones like the massive banking of the last corner which slingshots you onto the main straight with DRS and slipstream.


This weekend, Mclaren look set to dominate once again after that shown true after last years Dutch GP. They will be looking for their 8th 1-2 of the season and another win after only losing out on 3 occasions this season of the 14 races.

Lando, whilst only 9 points behind his teammate (Piastri) looks very comfortable in the tight and twisty nature of Zandvoort and can close the gap this weekend to just 1 point as the 2 go toe-to-toe for eithers first Formula 1 world title.

However, the forecast may have something to say about the result. It has been raining today on thursday and that looks likely to continue throughout the weekend. How will that shake up the order? Or will that make Mclarens glory looks even more inevitable?

Mercedes also look to get back on track here and continue the solid gains from Hungary after Russell secured that podium for the Brackley based team. Kimi Antonelli also looks to carry on that bit momentum he found too with his first point of the European part of the calendar back in Budapest after his struggles with DNFs or lack of pace.  



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Mercedes F1 Boss and Redbull Superstar Spotted in Sardinia

Image
Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 CEO and team part-owner Toto Wolff has been spotted in Sardinia on his yacht with 4x World Drivers Champion Max Verstappen as tensions begin to rise over the future of the Mercedes driver line-up with lots of rumours spreading about where current driver George Russell sits in this conversation. Here we can see the two having 'a laugh together' on the yacht. Verstappen mentioned at the pre weekend interviews at the Hungarian Grand Prix tha t "you can have a personal relationship with someone even if you don't have a working relationship with someone." and "If his boat is next to Toto's then it's next to Toto's." Regardless of his comments the two were spotted together. Max saying he is staying with Redbull Racing for 2026 but could a move on the table be there for 2027? Max not being 4th or lower in the 2025 Drivers Standings means he is not able to walk out of Redbull for free anymore and more than likely a buy...
Read more

Redbull Racing looking likely to keep same driver lineup aswell as sister team VCARB for 2026

Image
Formula 1 team Redbull Racing are widely known for their ruthless driver changes over the years and if a driver is underperforming, they will be easily replaced with the phrase "anyone is replaceable" living up to expectation, even in the peak of motorsport. In 2025, Redbull were at it again and within 2 races Liam Lawson was replaced by VCARB driver Yuki Tsunoda just before Tsunoda's home race in Suzuka , Japan with Lawson returning to the sister team. Liam, who finished 20th and last in both Chinese sprint qualifying and main Grand Prix qualifying was believed to have been "mentally struggling" with the Redbull car according to Rebull mechanics which is famously rumoured to be built around the 4x World Champion Max Verstappen who also has a very aggressive driving style which any other driver cannot match on the grid.                                              ...
Read more

Dutch Grand Prix Round-up

Image
The Dutch Grand Prix was one of the most dramatic races of the season, from DNFS, to rain, to another rookie podium, Netherlands cooked up a a storm of a race and something arguably the fans needed to keep the energy alive for the 2025 season. Even before the race had started, Lewis Hamilton was picked up for a yellow flag infringement meaning that he did not slow down under the yellow flags on the reconnaissance laps to the grid and this was investigated after the race and he was unfortunately given a 5 place grid penalty to serve at monza, something the tifosi will not be happy about and the race was arguably worse for Ferrari too. With Ollie Bearman starting from the pits after taking a new engine, lap 1 was underway and Norris has a slightly better start than Piastri but in the second phase, got cut across by him and had no where to go, leaving the door nicely open to soft runner Verstappen to take the place and up he went to P2. Moments later tried to send it on Piastri at turn 3 ...
Read more