Formula 1 Heineken Dutch Grand Prix 2021 Preview

This weekend sees Formula 1 travel to the Netherlands in what is set to be the first Dutch Grand Prix since 1985 where the late Niki Lauda finished above teammate Alain Prost by 0.2 seconds with the legendary Ayrton Senna who was soon to sign for McLaren after Lauda, finishing 48 seconds behind his soon to be French nemesis in a Lotus-Renault.

Last weekend’s GP at Spa Francorchamps in Belgium has caused a lot of controversy amongst the F1 paddock, as there was essentially no racing, but points were rewarded. Due to the waterlogged conditions, the race start was delayed which meant that the cars started behind the safety car before coming in after one lap. After over three hours of delay, two more laps were completed which then triggered an F1 rule that two or more laps in a race means that a race has been held and that half points are awarded, gifting pole-sitter Max Verstappen the win, ahead of a joyous George Russell in the Williams, whilst a furious Lewis Hamilton filled the podium places, knowing that his Championship lead to Verstappen had been cut from eight-point to three due to these abnormal circumstances.

The Belgian GP went down as the shortest in the history of the sport and was highly controversial, with Hamilton saying "Two laps behind a safety car where there is no possibility to gain or lose a place is not racing" the seven-time World Champion also regarded the GP as a “farce” too. Two-time World Champion Fernando Alonso also said that the top ten get an “early Christmas” and labelled himself as “the first idiot” for being in 11th place and not allowed to overtake under the safety car.

The weather is expected to be cloudy with patches of sunshine, so we should expect a much more normal grid to start this weekend’s race. Last time out the most notable parts of qualifying was Lando Norris’ heavy crash at Eau Rouge which red-flagged the session shortly after four-time world champion Sebastien Vettel had complained that the conditions were too dangerous for the session to take place. The German who was next on track pulled his Aston Martin over to check that the Brit was ok.

As mentioned above, Russell took advantage of the right tyre strategy and put his car on pole for a matter of seconds before Verstappen crossed the line. This was the first time since 2017 that a Williams had started a race n the front row.

The race virtually finished in qualifying with a few tweaks to the initial top 10, as Bottas’ five-place grid penalty saw him drop down to 13th, whilst Norris’ heavy collision with the barriers forced a gearbox change and put the McLaren driver down to 15th from 10th. Sergio Perez was the only change on race day, as in getting to the grid the Mexican’s car aquaplaned into the barrier at Les Combes, seeing him finish in 19th.

Zandvoort is a high pace and action-packed circuit alike no other on the calendar and even has an embanked final corner like that which we saw at the Brickyard in Indianapolis in the early to mid-2000s. Verstappen will be hoping to excite and live up to expectations in what is his first ever home GP. The 23-year-old controversially clawed back five points on Hamilton in the Driver’s Championship last week and will know that a pole position will give him a great chance of taking the lead on points at his home race.

What will be crucial at a track like this is if a teammate can play into the strategy of their team alike when Perez took points off Hamilton at both the Monaco and Azerbaijan GP’s, so both the Mexican and Bottas will be expected to do much better than their seventh and eight placed qualifying efforts last time out.

Prediction: Pole Position – Verstappen. 2nd – Hamilton. 3rd Perez

Red Bull have had their best start to a championship since 2011, winning seven of 12 races, with Verstappen winning six of them, with Perez winning in Baku due to slightly fortuitous circumstances following the Dutchman’s tyre blowout down the pit straight.

Whoever starts on pole position will be expected to go on and win this race due to how tight and quick the track is, meaning that it will be tough for cars to trail in the turbulent and dirty air of one another. This track should suit the Red Bull’s, although we did see Hamilton drive an extraordinary race at Hungary, so it won’t be a walk in the park.

As mentioned above, if either Bottas or Perez can help out their teammates during this race strategy wise then it would be a huge bonus to their colleagues, as well as the team in the Constructor’s Championship which Mercedes lead by just seven points at present.

Prediction: 1st. Verstappen. 2nd Hamilton. 3rd Bottas.

As always, the McLaren duo of Norris and Daniel Ricciardo will be looking to impress. Norris has now gone two race weekends without scoring a point, but, the 21-year-old Bristol-born driver still sits in third place in the Driver’s Championship standings on 113 points, despite Bottas and Perez driving superior cars. Ricciardo will also be looking to build on what was his best result of the season last time out as the Australian qualified and finished in fourth place.

Pierre Gasly who is up there as one of the drivers of the season scored a sixth-place finish at Spa and is only two points behind Ricciardo in the standings with 54, which is a testament to how consistent the former Red Bull driver has been since switching back to their sister team in Alphatauri.

Both Charles LeClerc and Carlos Sainz are expected to be competitive once again as they aim to help the Prancing Horse to a third-place finish in the Constructor’s Standings as they are currently three and a half points adrift due to scoring two and a half points in Belgium compared to Ricciardo’s six.

The Alpine’s look as though they have got into the swing of things, as Esteban Ocon impressed on a track that his car was expected to struggle on by qualifying in ninth, but finishing in seventh courtesy of Bottas’ penalty and Perez pre-race crash. The Frenchman will still be brimming with confidence from his first win in the sport at Hungary, whilst Alonso will be fired up following a great drive at Budapest and having been 11th on the grid at Spa.

Vettel also looks to be settled in his Aston Martin, as the German battled for the win at the Hungarian GP before being disqualified due to fuel irregularities. The former Red Bull man qualified and finished in fifth place at Spa and even had time for a kickabout with fellow German Mick Schumacher in the Haas garage during the hours of the race’s postponement.