Introduction
McLaren driver Lando Norris charged to a statement victory during the 2024 Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort, overhauling Max Verstappen after his Red Bull rival moved ahead at the start – and denying the Dutchman what would have been a fourth-straight home triumph.
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Norris lined up on pole position for Sunday’s race, but his hopes of converting it into the win took a hit when Verstappen jumped him off the line and slotted ahead at the first corner before moving clear and breaking free of the DRS window.
However, Norris gathered himself to mount a fight back as the race developed, finding another level of pace – while Verstappen battled a mid-stint lack of grip – to close back in on the three-time world champion and reclaim a lead he would not relinquish.
Norris only extended his advantage before and after the front-runners’ sole pit stops of the day. He eventually took the chequered flag some 20 seconds clear of Verstappen to add to his Miami win from earlier this season and cut the latter’s championship lead.
[bsa_pro_ad_space id=41]Charles Leclerc delivered a similarly impressive drive, climbing from sixth to third to salvage a podium on what has been a challenging weekend for Ferrari, with Oscar Piastri having to settle for fourth in the other McLaren after extending his opening stint and losing track position as a result.
Ferrari’s points tally was boosted by Carlos Sainz’s own rise to fifth, ahead of Sergio Perez’s Red Bull and the Mercedes machines of George Russell and midfield starter Lewis Hamilton – the teammates opting for late second stops to bolt on soft tyres and bid for the fastest lap.
Ninth-placed Pierre Gasly gave Alpine something to celebrate on Oliver Oakes’s first weekend as their new team boss, while Fernando Alonso grabbed the final point on offer for Aston Martin by getting the better of Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg in the closing stages.
Lance Stroll was the 12th driver to cross the line in his Aston but fell back to 13th, behind RB’s Daniel Ricciardo, after being found guilty of speeding in the pit lane and getting slapped with a five-second time penalty by the stewards.
Alex Albon fought valiantly from the back of the grid after his exclusion from a P8 result in qualifying over Williams’s illegal floor upgrade, but despite briefly working his way into the points, he ended up 14th on a two-stop strategy.
Next up were Esteban Ocon and Logan Sargeant in their Alpine and Williams cars, the latter thankful to his mechanics for overnight repairs after his massive FP3 shunt that ruled him out of qualifying, with RB’s Yuki Tsunoda another two-stopper en route to 17th.
Kevin Magnussen went longest of all in the opening stint as he looked to recover from a pit lane start following power unit changes, but the Haas man could manage no more than 18th, followed by Kick Sauber pair Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu, who both pitted twice.
While Russell and Hamilton – the latter also catching the eye with his recovery drive – looked set to post the fastest lap on softs, it was Norris who ultimately clocked the benchmark to secure the bonus on offer and cut Verstappen’s advantage from 78 points to 70 with nine rounds remaining.
Mario Isola, Motorsport Director, Pirelli:
It was a very intense race, where we witnessed one driver and team – Lando Norris and McLaren – demonstrate clear superiority over his rivals and team-mate. Behind him was a great battle between the two teams that emerged this season: the leading group, made up of McLaren, Red Bull, Ferrari, Mercedes, and the rest of the field, all fighting for the remaining points.
Our predictions going into the race were confirmed in terms of strategy, namely that the one-stop was the quickest option. From the small amount of data acquired during free practice and based on earlier simulations, we expected to see more cars run the Soft to benefit from its performance advantage over the Medium. Still, most teams probably decided to tackle the first stint more cautiously, given that not much information was available to them. The Soft proved to be up to the task, as was evident with Hamilton, as he was the driver who made up the most places from his grid position, starting on the C3 and then opting to use it again for his third stint.
The day on the track:
16 drivers chose to line up on the grid on the Medium, while three – Hamilton, Tsunoda and Bottas – opted for the Soft and Magnussen started from the pit lane on the Hard. Three-quarters of the drivers ran a one-stop race, fitting the Hard as their second set (Magnussen switched to the Medium). The Mercedes drivers made two stops, with Hamilton using two sets of C3 and Russell one, while Tsunoda, Bottas and Zhou used all three available compounds, and Albon used two sets of C2 split by one stint on the Hard.
Hulkenberg produced the longest stint of the race, doing 57 laps on the Hard. The prize on the Medium goes to Piastri (33 laps), while Hamilton did 24 on the Soft.
2024 Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix Race Results
| Pos | No | Driver | Country | Team | Time | Points | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 4 | Lando Norris | Great Britain | Mclaren Racing | 1:30:45.519 | 26 | 225 |
| 2. | 1 | Max Verstappen | Netherlands | Red Bull Racing | +22.896s | 18 | 295 |
| 3. | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Monaco | Scuderia Ferrari | +25.439s | 15 | 192 |
| 4. | 81 | Oscar Piastri | Australia | McLaren Racing | +27.337s | 12 | 179 |
| 5. | 55 | Carlos Sainz | Spain | Scuderia Ferrari | +32.137s | 10 | 172 |
| 6. | 11 | Sergio Perez | Mexico | Red Bull Racing | +39.542s | 8 | 139 |
| 7. | 63 | George Russell | Great Britain | Mercedes-AMG Petronas | +44.617s | 6 | 122 |
| 8. | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Great Britain | Mercedes-AMG Petronas | +49.599s | 4 | 154 |
| 9. | 10 | Pierre Gasly | France | Alpine F1 Team | +1 lap | 2 | 8 |
| 10. | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Spain | Aston Martin F1 Team | +1 lap | 1 | 50 |
| 11. | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Germany | Haas F1 Team | +1 lap | 0 | 22 |
| 12. | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Australia | Visa Cash App F1 Team | +1 lap | 0 | 12 |
| 13. | 18 | Lance Stroll | Canada | Aston Martin F1 Team | +1 lap | 0 | 24 |
| 14. | 45 | Alexander Albon | Thailand | Williams Racing | +1 lap | 0 | 4 |
| 15. | 31 | Esteban Ocon | France | Alpine F1 Team | +1 lap | 0 | 5 |
| 16. | 2 | Logan Sargeant | USA | Williams Racing | +1 lap | 0 | 0 |
| 17. | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | Japan | Visa Cash App F1 Team | +1 lap | 0 | 22 |
| 18. | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Denmark | Haas F1 Team | +1 lap | 0 | 5 |
| 15. | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Finland | Kick Sauber F1 Team | +2 laps | 0 | 0 |
| 19. | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | China | Kick Sauber F1 Team | +2 laps | 0 | 0 |
2024 Constructor Standings
| Pos | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | McLaren Racing | 666 |
| 2. | Scuderia Ferrari | 652 |
| 3. | Red Bull Racing | 589 |
| 4. | Mercedes-AMG Petronas | 468 |
| 5. | Aston Martin F1 Team | 94 |
| 6. | Alpine F1 Team | 65 |
| 7. | Haas F1 Team | 58 |
| 8. | Visa Cash App F1 Team | 46 |
| 9. | Williams Racing | 17 |
| 10. | Kick Sauber F1 Team | 4 |
Here are the team-by-team highlights:
Red Bull Racing
Oracle Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen was unable to score a home victory in the 2024 Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix, but the defending Formula One world champion was able to celebrate a return to the podium with second behind inner Land Norris of McLaren at Zandvoort following a two-race absence from the rostrum.
[bsa_pro_ad_space id=41]After qualifying second behind Norris during a blustery qualifying session on Saturday, Verstappen made a brilliant start to pass Norris. He held the British driver off for 18 laps but had to settle for second in his 200th Grand Prix start.
Sergio Pérez, meanwhile, scored his best result since the Miami Grand Prix in May with sixth place. The Mexican driver started the race from fifth on the grid and fought hard to hold sixth to the finish line.
Despite Norris’s win, Verstappen remains at the top of the Drivers’ Standings, leaving Zandvoort now holding a 70-point advantage over Norris, with nine Grand Prix remaining in the 2024 season. Things are tighter in the Constructors’ Standings, where Oracle Red Bull Racing are just 30 points ahead of McLaren Mercedes.
Max Verstappen, Driver, Red Bull Racing
Today, the start was good, and we got a lead in front, which was a positive start. However, once I was overtaken, it became about managing my own race, as I knew I didn’t have the pace to catch Lando. The car balance has been challenging this weekend; we just didn’t have the pace and struggled with our tyres. I tried my best, but it just didn’t work today, and we had quite a big gap. We didn’t have our best weekend, and we will go back and analyse what we can do better. It’s my 200th race, and driving in front of the crowd at home was nice. Those races have gone by quickly, and when I grew up, I thought about this; I imagine I will look back and be proud of this moment. It was great to be here in my home Grand Prix and in front of fans, but it is a shame as you always want to win for them.
Sergio Pérez, Driver, Red Bull Racing:
I had a great start but, unfortunately, was squeezed into turn one and then lost a position to Charles Leclerc. In the beginning, things looked really good, but we didn’t have the pace to keep up as the other cars started pulling ahead. We struggled with the grip on the hard tyre and balance all race. We have a lot of work to do, but it has been a good weekend in terms of understanding the car issues, and we can go forward with taking this as the base and developing from here. I also feel like this is a very extreme scenario with the tailwind corners, and we struggled more than other teams. Monza will be a different kind of track, and we hope to be more positive. We will keep our heads down and be fully focused on getting to the bottom of our issues. We’ve got a lot of work to do to understand where the pace has gone, especially in the race, so hopefully, we can get back up to speed in Monza next week.
CHRISTIAN HORNER, CEO and Team Principal
Congratulations to McLaren and Lando; their car was in a different league today. We did everything we could, and Max converted P2 into a lead at the start, but you could see he couldn’t compete with Lando’s pace. In hindsight, the gamble we made with more downforce, following very little Friday running, perhaps wasn’t the best route. We need to understand where the deficit is to McLaren and how we can improve the performance of our car. We have some ideas and will work hard to develop them. We will have to respond; I’m confident we have the strength and depth to do that.
“Max has a 70-point lead in the Drivers’ Championship, but we have to keep scoring as a team and on the days we can’t win, you have to finish second. Checo had a solid drive, too, and looking at his pace, he looked strong, particularly in the second half of the race, which is positive. So, we have plenty of work to do, but we have learnt a lot of lessons this weekend that can be very valuable. We have tried some things on the car that we have good data from to assess. We must ensure we use that; it is time to digest what happened here and try to bounce back in Monza.
Scuderia Ferrari
The 2024 Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix gave Scuderia Ferrari HP a more than satisfactory result. As the sun finally appeared in Zandvoort, the SF-24 proved to have a great race pace, and the entire team’s execution of the race was almost faultless. Overall, the team made up eight places on a track where overtaking is known for being almost impossible. Charles Leclerc went from sixth to third, and Carlos Sainz from tenth to fifth. That delivered another 25 points, which means the gap to Red Bull in the constructors’ classification has hardly changed, with the team and Leclerc third in their respective championships with Carlos fifth.
[bsa_pro_ad_space id=41]Perfect execution. The Scuderia’s Sunday showing was something of a crescendo after the first two days saw it in difficulty. Despite both lining up on the dirty side of the track, Charles and Carlos got very good starts, immediately making up places. The Monegasque went around the outside of Sergio Perez to take fifth place, while Carlos immediately got ahead of Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso to go eighth and then seventh on lap 11 with an aggressive move on Pierre Gasly. The team called Charles in on lap 24 for the switch from Medium to Hard tyres, and he then pushed hard, with a wonderful undercut on George Russell and Oscar Piastri, which took him from fifth to third. It was another six laps before Carlos came in, and he only missed out on emulating his teammate, who could not get ahead of Perez. The Mexican held on for around 15 laps until, with a clearly stronger pace, Carlos made a move on lap 47 at turn 1, which the number 11 Red Bull could do nothing about. He was now sixth and set off in pursuit of Russell, who pitted on lap 56, thus conceding fifth place. From then on, the Spaniard maintained his excellent pace to the flag, closing on Piastri and Leclerc, who were fighting for the final spot on the podium. The Monegasque had a brilliant final few laps, fending off the McLaren to bring him a seventh podium of the season, the 12th for the team, the 37th of his career and the 819th for the Scuderia.
Heading for Monza. It goes without saying that the SF-24’s performance in today’s race, despite not sporting any upgrades, is a great confidence boost for the whole Scuderia Ferrari HP team, which can expect the usual welcome from the huge number of Tifosi in Monza for next week’s Italian Grand Prix. The home track is one of a kind and should better suit the characteristics of the Maranello-built cars, which will have some upgrades that it is hoped could up the level of competitiveness compared to the rival teams, which, as always, are proving to be very strong. Today’s podium is undoubtedly the appetiser that will warm up the fans, and their support will further boost Charles and Carlos.
Carlos Sainz #55
This is a good result, as we didn’t expect to have such a positive race, especially after a very difficult start to the weekend. We executed a very solid race all along with good overtakes on track and a fast pace, especially with the hard tyre once I cleared the cars ahead. Charles also had a very good Sunday; I’m happy for the team. We’ll arrive in Monza in high spirits, and I can’t wait to race in front of our Tifosi!
Charles Leclerc #16
It’s not often that I would say I am happy with a P3, but today, I am extremely happy with the team’s job on such a difficult weekend. We struggled in all sessions since FP1 and managed to put it all together when it mattered most. We found the pace we needed, executed a perfect strategy, undercut our competitors and kept them behind. It feels great to start the second half of the season like this. Next up is Monza, our home race. We will give it our all to make our Tifosi proud there.
Frédéric Vasseur – Team Principal
We were not very optimistic coming to Zandvoort, but today it went very well for both sides of the garage: we had good starts, strategy, and pit stops, with both drivers managing their tyres very well. Charles could keep (Oscar) Piastri behind him and deserved this podium. We have to be positive and appreciate this, even if we have to remember that (Lando) Norris was a long way ahead, and we need to focus on getting wins, not finishing P3. Looking at the race, already on Friday, we felt we were in better shape on used tyres than on new ones. So, overall, it has been a good weekend, and we must build on this. There are still nine races to go; some of them will suit us better than others, and we must see what we can do with the new package that is coming soon, but today has undoubtedly been a confidence boost for the team. Tonight, we will allow ourselves to enjoy this podium, and from tomorrow, we will focus on Monza.
Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team
George Russell finished P7 and Lewis Hamilton P8 in Sunday’s 2024 Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort. They lined up P4 and P14 respectively on the grid; Lewis receiving a three-place grid penalty for impeding another car in Qualifying.
[bsa_pro_ad_space id=41]Both gained positions on the opening lap, with George jumping the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc for P3. Lewis, meanwhile, set about carving through the field and cycled through to P9 before his first stop. Once others had pitted, he had made his way up to P8. Meanwhile, George was undercut by Leclerc and could not resist the McLaren of Oscar Piastri in his middle stint. Struggling on the hard compound tyre, George made a second stop on the soft tyre and rejoined ahead of his teammate, who had done the identical five laps earlier. They pushed hard in the final laps to close down Sergio Perez and Carlos Sainz ahead but could not.
The team’s attention now turns towards next week’s Italian Grand Prix at Monza.
George Russell
Today’s race was an odd one. We didn’t have the pace and that was the case on all three tyre compounds. It felt that I was sliding around quite a lot, suffering from high degradation, and slowly went backwards. We will have to understand why that was as we were relatively quick on Saturday. Performance does swing circuit to circuit, but we have been up near the front in the past six races. I am therefore confident that this is an outlier.
We will get to work immediately to understand why we were slower than our competitors today. We have another race next weekend in Monza and we will aim to put in a much better showing there.
Lewis Hamilton
We knew today was all about damage limitation. We managed to work our way back into the points but ultimately, we didn’t have the pace to fight for much more today. If we had qualified better yesterday, than it may have been a little different. I enjoyed getting past several cars though and putting the Soft tyre to use in that opening stint. It felt good to move forwards but I’m a little disappointed as if we had a better Saturday, then the fight would have been for more points.
Strategy wise, we were looking at running to the end on the one-stop. I had a lock-up on the Hard tyre though and that meant we switched to the two-stop. It was a shame to lose the point for fastest lap at the end, but I should have put in a quicker effort earlier on.
Toto Wolff, Team Principal & CEO
We had a bad race today. It was quite a contrast to the previous Grand Prix in Spa where we had set the pace and finished first and second on track. We clearly got some decisions wrong in terms of how we were running the car here. We will evaluate that quickly so we can avoid another race like this. It is bruising. Sometimes it is good to be bruised though to take a step forward.
With George, we switched to a two-stop strategy as he was running out of tyre in his second stint. That higher degradation was likely in part due to some set-up decisions we took. We will need to do a full analysis to understand how much of it was down to that or other factors. With Lewis, we planned a two-stop race for him, although we were evaluating the one-stop midway through. However, he suffered a lock up on the Hard tyre and, with no risk behind, we switched him onto the two-stop strategy. His pace was good throughout though and that gives us encouragement. There is clearly lots of learning we can take from this weekend and hopefully we can bounce back next weekend in Monza.
McLaren Racing
Hear from McLaren Formula 1 drivers Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri, and Team Principal Andrea Stella after the 2024 Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix.
[bsa_pro_ad_space id=41]Both drivers lose a place each at the race start. Lando settles into P2, with Oscar in P4. Lando stays with Verstappen throughout the first stint and begins gaining on him. Lando passes Verstappen on Lap 17 for the race lead. The pit stops begin, giving Oscar clean air to extend his stint into. On lap 28, Lando boxes for a hard set of tyres, and Oscar does the same a few laps later. Lando continues to extend his lead while Oscar is pushing hard from P5. On Lap 39, Oscar gets the pass done on Russell. Oscar closes up to Leclerc but can’t get past in the dirty air. Lando sets the fastest lap on his final lap and takes the race win, with Oscar crossing the line in P4
Lando Norris
This feels amazing! The pace was very strong, and the car was unbelievable today. I could get comfortable, push and get past Max Verstappen, and just go from there. Honestly, it was a pretty straightforward race. It was still challenging but very enjoyable.
Thank you to everyone at the factory for delivering such a strong car and the whole team here for executing the weekend flawlessly. Win number two in the bag. Let’s get some more.
Oscar Piastri
There were some great points for the team, especially with Lando’s win, but it was a little bit disappointing on my side. I made some excellent progress, but I got stuck in the dirty air behind the Ferrari, which had more pace than we were expecting, so I couldn’t maximise the points on my side. However, we’ve got a quick car, so the next part of the season will be pretty fun.
I am looking forward to it.
Andrea Stella
We come away from the Dutch Grand Prix with a strong victory and further validation of our progress as a team. On Lando’s side, he completed a dominant weekend with a comfortable victory and fastest lap, in addition to his pole position yesterday, giving further proof of the calibre of driver we know him to be. Oscar also had a strong weekend and was unlucky, finishing just outside the podium. He was caught in dirty air for an extended period of the race, limiting his forward progress but still bringing home important points for the Constructors’ Championship.
This weekend’s performance was enhanced by the new upgrades we brought to the track, which have proven to add competitiveness to the car, and my thanks go to the entire team for their work in developing, producing and delivering these upgrades. We will celebrate this victory and quickly turn our attention to next week’s Italian Grand Prix, where we hope to continue with the momentum we have built over the past several races. Thanks again to our entire team, fans and partners, and we look forward to racing again in Monza.
Aston Martin F1 Team
Fresh from the summer shutdown, we’re back in the paddock for the 2024 Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix. Read on for Lance and Fernando’s thoughts from across the weekend.
[bsa_pro_ad_space id=41]In a challenging Dutch Grand Prix by the seaside, Fernando and Lance duelled with drivers out on the dunes to finish P10 and P13, respectively, picking up a valuable point in our first race back from the summer break.
Fernando Alonso
We knew that the top-four teams would take the top-eight positions today, so our fight was for P9 and P10. However, we didn’t have the pace we needed and Pierre [Gasly] did a better job than us, so we had to settle for P10 and one point.
It was a challenging race, and we need to do more to understand the car and find where to improve. We’ll work through the data here and at the Campus before racing again next week in Italy.
Lance Stroll
We knew some faster cars were starting behind us today, so it wasn’t a surprise to see [Lewis] Hamilton and [Carlos] Sainz passing us. From then on, the focus was on holding position as we didn’t have the pace in the car to challenge for more. We’ll debrief this weekend and then shift our focus to Monza, knowing we must keep pushing to bring additional performance.
Mike Krack, Team Principal:
It was a disappointing Dutch Grand Prix – although we did manage to secure a hard-earned point. We knew it would be tough with some faster cars behind. [Pierre] Gasly managed to overtake Fernando on the first lap and we weren’t able to get back in front at a track which doesn’t provide many overtaking opportunities.
With such fine margins, Lance locked up entering the pitlane which meant he exceeded the pit lane speed limit triggering a five second penalty but that didn’t change the result. After a positive Qualifying, we were still not quick enough today, especially against the midfield challengers. We now need to refocus our energy and attention on the next challenge in Monza next weekend.
Visa Cash App F1 Team
Visa Cash App RB endured a difficult weekend at the 2024 Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix, with both of the team’s drivers missing the points. Daniel Ricciardo drove hard to advance from 16th on the grid to finish in 12th place, while Yuki Tsunoda crossed the line in 17th position.
[bsa_pro_ad_space id=41]Daniel Ricciardo
We didn’t get points today, but I feel much better than yesterday and am more pleased with how the day went. I was frustrated after qualifying as it didn’t help to start from the back, but today, I was able to put together a better race, as I really felt we had a strong showing. We were in that kind of midfield battle, and I think the cars in front of us were a bit faster, especially Pierre (Gasly), so we probably couldn’t do much more. I’m happy with the bigger picture of the race in terms of the pace we pushed during the times we had, catching Lance (Stroll) and Nico (Hulkenberg) towards the end of the race. Hopefully, in Monza, we’ll be even more okay putting it all together from start to finish and qualify better to have a more leisurely Sunday.
Yuki Tsunoda
We split the strategy across the garage, but it didn’t work this time, especially on my side. We knew it would be 50:50 with 2 stops, but the lap we pitted was too late, and the timing was wrong. Using the soft tyre and losing a position at the start was unideal, and then I was just stuck in traffic and always behind dirty air. I finished the race way behind where I started, which was frustrating. We certainly could have done better as a team, but we can learn from it, improve and work on things for the future.
Laurent Mekies – Team Principal
Of course, we wanted to start the second part of the season with a better performance than today’s. From qualifying onwards, it became clear that we were missing some performance compared to our nearest competitors and dropping your relative performance by just a tenth or so is the difference between fighting in the top 10 or not. We tried a few things in the race to make up some positions and took a bit of a risk by putting Yuki in a two-stop race, but it clearly did not work, and he was stuck in traffic for most of the race. Daniel had a good go at staying with the Astons in front all race long and drove a strong, consistent race, but this was not enough to get points today. It was not the smoothest weekend for us, but it was one that we will undoubtedly learn from as a team and come back stronger. Overall, we are well aware that we need to bring more speed to our car to keep fighting at the front of the ultra-tight midfield, and everyone is flat out in Faenza and in Bicester to bring more developments to the car soon.
Haas F1 Team
MoneyGram Haas F1 Team finished with Nico Hulkenberg 11th and Kevin Magnussen 18th at the 2024 Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix, Round 15 of the 2024 World Championship – held Sunday at Circuit Zandvoort.
Hulkenberg started from 12th on the grid on Pirelli P Zero Yellow medium tyres and gained a spot off the line before conceding a place to the recovering Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton. Hulkenberg made an early pit stop on lap 14, switching onto White hard tyres, and cycled through to ninth place as the pit stop phase played out. Hulkenberg consequently ran a lengthy 57-lap stint on the hard tyres but could not prevent Pierre Gasly and Fernando Alonso – on fresher tyres – from moving ahead in the closing stages, leaving the German driver to classify in 11th position.
Magnussen started from the pit lane after the Energy Store and Control Electronics were changed in his VF-24 before the race. Magnussen ran a long first stint on the hard compound before pitting on lap 40 for medium tyres, cycling through to emerge ahead of Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu. Magnussen finished the race in 18th, battling in the closing stages with RB driver Yuki Tsunoda.
Kevin Magnussen
Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal
Nico had an excellent race, of course, he started the weekend off the backfoot which translated into poor qualifying position but from P12 he had a very strong race. We didn’t execute our strategy very well, we didn’t do certain basics well, and I think we could’ve fought for P9 or P10 if we’d had better race execution. We had to change his battery on Kevin’s side, so he started from the pit lane. It’s very difficult to recover at this circuit, but I think we did the best we could. With the traffic and our car’s strengths and weaknesses in certain places, he couldn’t do much, so he was limited. There are certain positives, like Nico’s performance being very strong, and I think Kevin in clear air was also strong. There are positives, but we must put it all together next weekend.
Williams Racing
After a DSQ and a DNQ on Saturday, the team knew arriving on Sunday at the 2024 Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix that they were in for an uphill battle. Lining up from P18 and P19, both drivers enjoyed a clean opening lap. Alex gained two spots by T3, whilst Logan also climbed a place at the end of the final tour.
[bsa_pro_ad_space id=41]Alex Albon
It was a tough one today. Being out of position at the start meant we didn’t have the pace to get through the midfield battle. If we had started where we should have, P9 would likely have been possible for this circuit, but that’s just how it is. Unfortunately, our championship rivals are the ones that benefited the most from this, which is a bit of a double whammy. We tried different things with our strategy but were covered off by other cars in front of us trying to help their teammate, so it’s a bit unfortunate. Regarding silver linings, it’s positive that the upgrade worked and the car is strong, so we’ll take the challenges and learnings from this tough weekend and try to focus on Monza.
Logan Sargeant
Sven Smeets, Sporting Director:
Alpine Racing
Esteban started from P15 on New Mediums and finished P15: Pit Stop on Lap 30 for New Hards. Fastest Lap: 1min 15.390secs. Pierre started from P9 on New Mediums and finished P9: Pit Stop on Lap 32 for New Hards. Fastest Lap: 1min 14.855secs.
[bsa_pro_ad_space id=41]Esteban Ocon
It’s a weekend for us to learn from, as I came here with different expectations. Overall, it was a tricky race day and a tough weekend. Finishing in the fifteenth was our end position, and all I could achieve was cars ahead and traffic throughout on a challenging track for overtaking. We need to understand why we struggled here and where we can improve, which we will do together as a team. On the other hand, there are some positives to take away from Zandvoort, such as Pierre showing a good pace and scoring valuable points for the team. We only have a few days to turn things around and return more substantial next week at Monza.
I look forward to racing there again and seeing what some of the track changes might bring.
Pierre Gasly
It was a fun race today, and coming away with some points is always nice. I’m thrilled with the progress we made as a team since Friday, and in the end, we managed to turn things around and become the best team after the top four. Off the line, I passed Fernando [Alonso] and Lance [Stroll] outside of Turn 1. That massively helped our race as I had a good track position and could manage the race and look after the tyres. After the pit stop, we had some overtakes to make, and I had confidence in the car to brake and keep a good line outside of Turn 1. There were exciting moves, and we’ve come away with two points. We continue to show signs of progress and hopefully keep that going.
Oliver Oakes – Team Principal
I’m pleased that the team came away from Zandvoort with points on the board in a race where we were the fifth-fastest team. We made good progress after a tricky Friday, which is credited to the work done overnight into Qualifying. The race had good strategy calls, such as extending the first stint, racing the Aston Martins, and allowing the drivers to push to the end, so credit them also. Before the race, we hoped to try at least to maintain position, knowing that would be difficult due to some cars being out of position behind us. Pierre drove a great race, crucially getting ahead of both Aston Martins early on and pulling off some good overtakes to pick up two crucial points for the team. Esteban’s day was a little compromised from the start after a problematic Qualifying yesterday, and he also ultimately finished where he started on a track that’s notoriously hard to overtake. With the double-header, we don’t have to wait long until Monza, which we expect will be a little trickier for us.
Kick Sauber F1 Team
Stake F1 Team KICK Sauber had a problematic Sunday afternoon at the 2024 Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix. Despite a solid start, with Valtteri Bottas climbing up to 14th place, the team struggled to remain competitive in the remainder of the race, and Valtteri and their team-mate Zhou Guanyu, finished 19th and 20th, respectively, in a race with no retirements.
[bsa_pro_ad_space id=41]The team will return to action in the next week’s Italian Grand Prix in Monza.
Valtteri Bottas
This has been arguably our weakest weekend of the season, and the race just confirmed this. We had a good start and climbed to a decent position: everything was under control for the first few laps, but we soon realised we couldn’t keep up with the cars ahead. That’s when reality struck; we were just not fast enough in the race, and that’s where we ended up. I hoped things would improve with a different tyre compound, but we tried them all, and they wouldn’t make a difference. I believe this unique circuit amplifies our weaknesses, as it highlights the sensitivity of our car: the bankings, the surface, the camber and the wind – they are all working against us here. I know we haven’t taken a step back. This weekend gave us a lot of things to take in for the future and lots to learn. Most importantly, next week’s track in Monza will be very different: I have higher hopes for the next race. As a team, we must continue working hard and keep pushing to not lose confidence, as we still have many races ahead of us.
Zhou Guanyu
This weekend has been challenging for us, and it’s not what we wanted coming back from the break. We were pretty far off compared to our main rivals throughout the weekend when the track turned dry, which is how we ran today’s race. In any case, it will be vital for us to understand why we struggle so much on high fuel – as the changes we implemented didn’t quite work for us. We had prepared for a difficult race today: I struggled with grip from the opening lap and quickly found myself unable to keep up with the pack. On a different track layout, things should be better for us in Monza, in which windy conditions should have less impact. Our car has been quite sensitive to extreme conditions, and we must work on that for the remainder of the season.
Alessandro Alunni Bravi, Team Representative
Today’s recognition goes to our pit crew, who achieved a remarkable 1.9-second pit stop with Valtteri on lap 36. This is a significant achievement for the team, especially after the issues we faced at the start of the season: it shows that we are now together with top teams for pit stop times. Having recovered from this challenging situation, we now need to focus on closing the gap in car performance through everyone’s effort, both trackside and back in Hinwil. For Zhou, the race was cut short early on: an issue on lap three, which we tried to fix remotely, ultimately forced us to retire the car on lap six. We’ll need to investigate what seems to be an electrical issue; this is very unfortunate as he had a strong start and was pleased with the car balance, which could have been a positive race for him. With Valtteri, we fought in the midfield for most of the race; starting on medium tyres, we extended the stint on hards to attempt a one-stop strategy, similar to Alonso and Stroll. However, the pace was insufficient to protect us against Stroll, Ricciardo and Ocon, so we pitted for a final stint on new mediums, pushing to close the gap to the Alpines, Williams, and Astons. Despite initial good laps in which the gap was shrinking, Valtteri struggled with the rear tyre overheating, preventing him from getting closer to the cars ahead.
Nevertheless, he had a strong race with overtakes on Hulkenberg and Tsunoda. This weekend, we’ve shown progress in qualifying and the race with Valtteri’s upgraded car, but it’s still not enough to fight for points. As we head into the summer break, drivers and the team must recharge and return to Zandvoort with strong determination. The trajectory of our recent developments has been positive, and with another step forward, we can compete for points. This is our target and firm intention for the second part of the season.