Zandvoort (the Netherlands), Sep 4 (IANS) Red Bull driver and defending champion Max Verstappen won the 2022 Dutch Grand Prix dramatically, quelling a strong late showing by the Mercedes’ George Russell and Charles Leclerc of Ferrari on Sunday.
With the virtual Safety Car in force, Verstappen took a second pit stop on lap 48 with Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes in the second position and Russell third. However, Hamilton’s hopes were dashed as the Safety Car was deployed on lap 55.
The seven-time champion stayed out on mediums to inherit the lead while Verstappen came in for soft tyres, followed by Russell and Leclerc, for the restart on Lap 61. In that restart, Verstappen swept past the Mercedes for the lead, with Russell and Leclerc following suit to pry Hamilton away from the podium.
Hamilton ended up fourth as Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez who was handed a five-second penalty for an unsafe release in a pit stop — battled late on for P5. That allowed Alonso and Norris to close in too, and when the penalty kicked in Sainz was dropped to eighth, promoting Perez to fifth, Alonso to sixth, and Norris to seventh.
With this win, Verstappen moved to 310 points with Charles Leclerc of Ferrari on 201 while Sergio Perez of Red Bull also at 201 points. Esteban Ocon finished ninth, just ahead of Lance Stroll – who started and finished 10th for Aston Martin. Pierre Gasly missed out on the points in P11 for AlphaTauri while Alex Albon finished 12th from 15th on the grid.
Sebastian Vettel started 19th and finished 14th, losing out to Mick Schumacher — who lost out due to a pair of slow pit stops.
Kevin Magnussen hit the barriers on Lap 2 but continued to finish 15th, behind his Haas teammate. Daniel Ricciardo pitted first out of the pack and couldn’t make up ground, finishing 17th for McLaren behind Zhou Guanyu, who served a five-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane.
Valtteri Bottas was classified 19th for Alfa Romeo, his car stopping on track to bring out the late Safety Car.
Yuki Tsunoda stopped on track on Lap 48 after reporting a driveshaft issue, the AlphaTauri driver having previously reported that his tyres were incorrectly fitted before a lengthy pit stop.
–IANS
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