As with every Dutch Grand Prix, the grandstands were flooded with a sea of orange, roaring in support of their home hero, Max Verstappen. However, the Winners’ Trophy did not land in his hands, it instead fell into the hands of the driver from Down Under, Oscar Piastri. The race resulted in heartbreak for Ferrari as both drivers faced their own problems and were forced to DNF accordingly.
All Eyes on the Championship
As both McLaren drivers fought for pole-position on Saturday’s qualifying session, only one could come out on top — and that was the current championship leader, Oscar Piastri. Starting at the very-front for the Grand Prix, he managed to maintain his lead throughout all 72 laps of this dramatic, safety-car packed race. With one of these safety cars being brought out by his teammate, Lando Norris.
Piastri expressed his sympathy for Lando and shared his thoughts on the weekend in his post-race interview:
“I felt in control from Lap 1 and used the pace when I needed to, but sorry for Lando.”
“The start of the weekend looked like a difficult one, got it together in Qualifying and very happy with this one. A couple of Safety Cars to spice it up. It was a big team effort.”
“There’s a long way to go, so we’ll keep going, one race at a time.”
Piastri is now 34 points ahead of Norris, and with 9 races left, has his eyes set on winning the championship.
The Daring Dutch Falls Short of Victory
Dutch-Belgian racing driver, Max Verstappen, qualified P3 for his home Grand Prix, bringing hope to the orange army for a home win. Unfortunately, the win was not on the cards for him this time around as Piastri kept his position in the lead. Verstappen attempted an overtake on Norris, and succeeded — until his mirrors filled with papaya orange as the McLaren swept past.
“Wasn’t easy – gave it everything at the start to move forward and had a little moment in Turn 2. But in general to be on the podium here is a great result.“
“I tried to send it into Turn 3, but there was to much sand in Turn 2!”
A New Face on The Podium
Who would’ve thought a Racing Bulls driver would be standing on the podium today? During Saturday’s qualifying session, all eyes were locked onto the RB drivers as they both made it into Q3. Hadjar pushed the car to its max and grabbed a career-best fourth for the team — marking a second row start behind the home-hero. Despite the chaos that errupted from several safety cars, Hadjar held off Russell and converted his P4 start into a P3 finish.
Following celebrations with the team, Hadjar poured out his emotions, describing the moment as unreal.
“It feels a bit unreal. What was most surprising to me was keeping the fourth place for the race. Unfortunate for Lando, we took advantage of his [DNF]. I maximised what I had and made no mistakes.”
“This was the target since I was a kid, this is the first step and hopefully more to come.”
Never underestimate the rookie drivers.
Photo Credit: Red Bull Content Pool
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