With a Grand Prix that had as much orange as a Donald Trump make up room, or any episode of most UK reality TV shows, it was a very popular home victory for those dressed and drenched in orange. Which was just about everyone. Our 2021 Dutch Grand Prix Result Review is more grey than orange but we’ll get in the party mood regardless.
There was a definite party vibe the whole Grand Prix weekend, with the Zandvoort track providing a great venue to enjoy F1 again after last weekend’s disappointment. While the racing wasn’t great, it did last more than two laps which was a bonus.
Our review usually covers what happened in the race so you don’t have to in the laps that matter. Plus we throw in our Race Ratings, the Best (Great) and Worst (Grape) drivers of the race weekend. This time there’s not much to do.
The perfect bite sized review for those who couldn’t be bothered. And we don’t blame you.
The 2021 Dutch Grand Prix Result Review + Great and Grape gives you just enough to catch up, and stand by for our Power Rankings which highlight our driver of the season so far.
2021 Dutch Grand Prix Result Race – THE LAPS THAT MATTERED
Didn’t see the race live? Don’t have time to watch the whole race? Well here are the laps that mattered.
We write these live as we go, sort of like a minute by minute for the football, but marginally more interesting.
Lap 0 – The Dutch Grand Prix was in danger of not starting on time due the fog caused by a thousand orange flares going off for Max Verstappen’s lap to the grid. It could be a genuine hazard if it happens on lap one.
Lap 1- All the drivers behaved themselves this time around. Max Verstappen gets off the line best and leads Lewis Hamilton into the first turn. By the end of the lap Verstappen in 1.7 seconds in front. Woof for the Dutch fans. Looks like a 72 lap party for them. Slightly further back Fernando Alonso gained a couple of places.
ORDER – VER HAM BOT GAS LEC SAI ALO OCO RIC GIO
Lap 5 – Nothing much has changed. Replays of the start/first few laps show Mazepin trying to push his team mate into the start of the pitlane wall, which won’t improve their already strained relationship after qualifying. Lewis Hamilton is already moaning about tyres. Ocon is already advising his team that his team mate Alonso in front “is going slow”. Good luck getting a green light to pass on that one. Looks like we’re not going to see a lot of overtaking, if any. But who cares with this magnificent track.
Lap 11 – Ooooooooo, a bit of intrigue. Lewis Hamilton shrugs off his long covid to set fastest lap, and maybe shift to a two stop strategy. So what would Max Verstappen do in response. Copy or as Fleetwood Mac would say Go His Own Way. And has anyone noticed Valtteri Bottas yet? These side questions are enough to distract from the lack of overtaking. Seb Vettel pitted for the record.
ORDER – VER HAM BOT GAS LEC SAI ALO OCO (Still Faster) RIC GIO
Lap 16 – In battle of the billionaire sons, which is a richer yet poorer version of Game of Thrones’ Battle of the Bastards, Nicholas “Queen” Latifi overtakes Mazespin for 16th or similar. But hey, it is a pass.
Lap 20 – Directors of the F1 coverage are starting to get desperate as they film yet another move for 16th. This time it is Perez on the Queen. He overtakes the Cube the next lap.
Lap 21 – Lewis Hamilton pits for tyres and looks like he is now on a two stop strategy. He drops only to third behind Nottas and in front of Gasly.
Lap 22 – Just to bore things up a little, Max Verstappen covers the pit stop on the very next lap. Hamilton is two seconds behind after Red Bull’s pitstop was slower than the Mercedes team. Meanwhile Bottas leads.
Lap 25 – Gasly pits from 4th. Yet another drive that is going unnoticed in a superb season. No wonder he is so high in our 2021 Season Driver Rankings.
Lap 31 – Max Verstappen takes Valtteri Nottas for the lead, but the Finn has done the right thing by the team that is just about to boot him out by holding up the Red Bull for as long as possible. Hamilton gets past his team mate but by the time he does Verstappen is a second and a half up the road. Nottas pits at the end of the lap and rejoins 25 second behind his team mate and in front of Gasly in fourth. But ight in the middle of obscurity. One of the Ferraris pits. Hamilton blames traffic for Max’s luck. Not the fastest car.
Lap 35 – Alonso pits, and he comes out in front of his team mate. Which slightly surprises as we didn’t pay any attention to Ocon pitting in the first place. They are playing for 9th by the way. Behind Sergio Perez who is doing what he does best. Maximising race day.
ORDER – VER HAM BOT GAS LEC SAI NOR PER ALO OCO
Lap 38 – Sebastian Vettel spins at turn three and right in front of a following Valtteri Bottas who takes evasive action and requests the team get an underpant change ready for his next tyre stop.
Lap 40 – Lewis Hamilton pits again in an attempt to do something for the race. Sadly Red Bull pit a lap later. Perhaps the two teams will keep on pitting every 10 laps until the end for entertainment purposes.
Lap 40 something – Nikita Mazespin is the first retirement, ending a lot of betting interest into the race.
Lap 50 – We haven’t done an update for a while, so here’s the half century leaderboard.
ORDER – VER HAM BOT GAS LEC SAI ALO OCO NOR RIC
Lap 55 – Sergio Perez gets past Daniel Ricciardo for 10th, meaning another potential pointless race for the Australian and one with out points also.
Lap 58 – The gap between Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton maintaining somewhere Lewis Hamilton moaning again how slow his car is on the radio and not quite close enough to really complain.
Lap 63 – To ensure we haven’t fallen asleep in the we hours of Monday morning on the other side of the world, the dog next door is barking. In non-dog related news Perez is battling Norris for ninth. Alonso is on the tail of his fellow Spanish driver Sainz for sixth. And hopefully Lewis Hamilton will pit for new tyres for our amusement.
ORDER – VER HAM BOT GAS LEC SAI ALO OCO NOR PER
Lap 67 – For those following the non-dog related coverage Perez overtakes Norris for ninth. For dog barking news, we can confirm it was a nearby cat and is under control.
Lap 68 – Bottas pits for tyres. Pure fastest lap filler. If he’s lucky.
Lap 71 – Hamilton pits to try and grab fastest lap from his team mate.
Lap 72 – Max Verstappen wins his home race. Cue F1 ruining their Carbon footprint for September in fireworks and Orange flares. Lewis Hamilton sets fastest lap
FINAL ORDER – VER HAM BOT GAS LEC SAI ALO OCO NOR PER
2021 Dutch Grand Prix Result – RACE RATING
We rate the big race itself so we know which races to go back and watch in the off season or one to simply remember the winner for the post season quiz nights.
SEASON IMPORTANCE – 6/10
Is it just the track with all his fans? Max Verstappen dominated the weekend and takes the Championship lead again. Lewis Hamilton sure does get rattled when he isn’t in front in the fastest car by a mile. He is still one of the best of all time, but his tone on the radio seems a little defeatist.
ON TRACK ACTION – 3/10
There was a little bit of racing, mostly midfield and upper lower pack. The track is still great, so we won’t complain.
ENDING – 3 / 10
A battle for fastest lap is all good, but is that all they have?
OVERALL RATING 12 / 30
Great track that is crap for overtaking. Which is at least a change from modern tracks which are crap and no overtaking. It was mildly interesting at the front, but not really. There were a few overtaking moves further back but not too many. But the track was great to watch regardless, and it was a welcome change.
2021 SEASON RACE RANKINGS
Bahrain GP – 25/30
Emilia-Romagna GP – 17/30
Portuguese GP – 11/30
Spanish GP – 18/30
Monaco GP – 12/30
Azerbaijan GP – 23/30
French GP – 22/30
Styrian GP – 12/30
Austrian GP – 20/30
British GP – 22/30
Hungarian GP – 26/30
Belgian GP – 0/30
2021 Dutch Grand Prix Result – Great & Grape
Here we go through the field and highlight the three drivers we think deserve a little extra love, and one driver whose had the grapest weekend of all.
These points get added to our Driver of the Season scores. Five points for a great nomination, and -5 for the worst or grapest driver in the pack. Then it is +2 / -2 for honourable or dishonourable mentions.
It used to be called the good, bad and ugly, but everyone is using that now. And who doesn’t like grapes.
THE GREAT-EST – MAX VERSTAPPEN
A win on his home track from pole in front of many, many fans. Possibly breaking a little of Mercedes’ spirit in the process. Retakes the Championship lead. Yeah, that’s a great weekend if ever we saw one.
THE GREAT – PIERRE GASLY
Fourth place and the Best of the Rest title for the Dutch Grand Prix. Meanwhile his team mate continues to make him look even better.
HONOURABLE MENTIONS
SERGIO PEREZ – Recovered well after a very underwhelming qualifying.
FERNANDO ALONSO – Gained a couple of places at the start, and was pushing Sainz’s Ferrari towards the end.
THE GRAPE-EST – NIKITA MAZEPIN
First retirement and nearly pushed his team mate Mick Schumacher into the pit lane entry, if hit at the pace the Haas was travelling would have split the car in tow.
DIS-HONOURABLE MENTIONS
DANIEL RICCIARDO – Turned 10th into 11th and ensured his team mate finished ahead of him in the points. Meh.
YUKI TSUNODA – Wasn’t his worst race, but miles off Gasly’s pace and results, and any Red Bull team aren’t going to wait tooo long for improvements.
2021 Dutch Grand Prix Result – Power Rankings
Stay tuned for our Power Rankings from the 2021 British Grand Prix and the overall 2021 F1 Season Power Rankings leader/s.
Read our last edition from after the Belgian Grand Prix here.
