List of All Articles with Tag 'so'

The weather gods did their best on the coast of the North Sea. Twice in fact: once at the start, once at the end. But as has been the case in Formula 1 in the last 18 months, Max Verstappen and his imperious Red Bull team had all the answers again. The inevitability of the Dutch national anthem being bellowed out on the podium – this time in front of 100,000 drenched home supporters – has become as customary as the podium ceremony itself. However, unlike many of this year’s processions for the three-time champion-in-waiting this year, this race was enthralling from start-to-finish. Unusually, team Verstappen were a step behind Sergio Perez’s strategists in the pit stop stakes early on, as rain forced a rethink for the whole pack. Once Red Bull, seemingly aware of the post-mortem should the Dutchman not win in his homeland, undercut Perez for their championship leader, the rest seemed entirely predictable. Until another heavy downpour – and Zhou Guanyu’s hefty shunt – forced a red flag eight laps from the end. Yet upon the race resumption, 45 minutes later, Verstappen maintained his lead from Fernando Alonso, who recorded an impressive finish in second for Aston Martin. Alpine’s Pierre Gasly finished third, after Perez was penalised with five seconds for inexplicably speeding in the pit lane. The Mexican ended up fourth. It is a ninth consecutive victory for Verstappen; his 11th this season and 46th grand prix win overall. A third-straight victory at Zandvoort, too, basking to the tune of the orange-clad contingent in the stands. A victory next week at Monza will see him overtake fellow record-holder Vettel, becoming the first man to reach double figures in consecutive wins. On this trajectory, who would possibly bet against him? Carlos Sainz came home fifth but it was a tumultuous afternoon for Mercedes. George Russell, who started in third, retired late on after a tangle with Lando Norris for seventh, while Lewis Hamilton could only manage sixth. Norris will be disappointed with P7, having started the race on the front row alongside Verstappen. What will hurt more is that the leading contenders had glimmers of hop here, straight off the bat. Just as Verstappen rolled his Red Bull into his grid box after the formation lap, flickers of rain were visible and the drama began. Whilst the hometown hero kept the lead from Lando Norris at the start – unlike at Silverstone last month – a miscalculation in the forecast set him back. But for Perez, with little to lose starting in seventh, it was a route to the front. The Mexican pitted straight away onto the intermediate tyre; a decision which proved inspired. By the time the rest of the pack, amidst pit-lane carnage in the first few laps, realised a change was a necessity Perez had an 11-second lead out in front. Alfa Romeo’s Zhou and Alpine’s Gasly, who also boldly dived into the pits after lap one, completed a helter-skelter top-three early on. Verstappen, to the bemusement of the Dutchies in the stands, had dropped down to eighth. But his ascent was inevitably rapid, passing Zhou within five laps and soon on the cusp of his team-mate. Perez had sparred with Verstappen in the early races of the season before losing his way, impressive staving off the challenge in Saudi Arabia and Azerbaijan. Could he follow suit here? He was given no choice in the matter. By lap 11, it was time to switch back to slick tyres. The track dried out quickly and Red Bull, in full control of their bullets, opted to pit Verstappen first. By the time Perez was out of the pits himself a lap later, the Dutchman was back ahead. Normal order restored. TOP-10 - DUTCH GRAND PRIX 1. Max Verstappen 2. Fernando Alonso 3. Pierre Gasly 4. Sergio Perez 5. Carlos Sainz 6. Lewis Hamilton 7. Lando Norris 8. Alex Albon 9. Oscar Piastri 10. Esteban Ocon “Did Max undercut us?” Perez asked. “Yes, he undercut us,” came the response. You can imagine the look on the Mexican’s red-hot face underneath his helmet. The early shenanigans moved the British contingent out of contention, too. Badly timed pit stops saw Norris drop from second to outside the top-10, while an aghast Russell slumped from third to third-last. “I was forecast for a podium… f***, how did we mess this up?!” he questioned. Hamilton fared little better; a weekend to forget for the Silver Arrows. But within a matter of minutes, light rain had returned. It was too much for Williams rookie Logan Sargeant to handle, dumping his car into the wall to bring out a safety car on lap 17. The order bunched. The race then set forth a familiar tone: Verstappen gradually extended his lead, while those who’d benefited from the early downpour were slowly caught by their superior rivals. Charles Leclerc retired on lap 42; his season with Ferrari going from bad to worse. By the time heavy downpours returned with 12 laps to go, Red Bull had had their dress rehearsal. No panic stations this time – or so they thought. Perez’s spin at turn 1 in the wet allowed Alonso to take second, before Zhou’s crash triggered a red flag. Order reset in the pits, a rolling start plateaued any potential of a late shakeup right at the front. Come the chequered flag, bobbing heads in the crowd showed they were undeterred by the conditions. A victory for their man once more; no rain will stop their celebrations long into the night. Read More F1 Dutch Grand Prix LIVE: Race updates and times as Max Verstappen reclaims lead F1 returns with the now inevitable question: can anyone beat Max Verstappen? Daniel Ricciardo ruled out of Dutch Grand Prix F1 Dutch Grand Prix LIVE: Race updates and times from Zandvoort Daniel Ricciardo ruled out of Dutch Grand Prix F1 returns with the now inevitable question: can anyone beat Max Verstappen?

Max Verstappen delighted his home crowd by taking pole position for Sunday’s Dutch Grand Prix. In an incident-packed wet-dry session, the unstoppable double world champion delivered a crushing lap to finish half-a-second clear of Lando Norris, who qualified second for McLaren. George Russell will start from third place for Mercedes with the impressive Alex Albon fourth. Lewis Hamilton was eliminated in Q2 and will line up from only 13th spot in Zandvoort. Follow live race updates with The Independent Read More F1 grid: Starting positions for Dutch Grand Prix Max Verstappen claims pole position at home Dutch GP as Lewis Hamilton falters Daniel Ricciardo ruled out of Dutch Grand Prix

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Max Verstappen delighted his home crowd by taking pole position for Sunday’s Dutch Grand Prix. In an incident-packed wet-dry session, the unstoppable double world champion delivered a crushing lap to finish half-a-second clear of Lando Norris, who qualified second for McLaren. George Russell will start from third place for Mercedes with the impressive Alex Albon fourth. Lewis Hamilton was eliminated in Q2 and will line up from only 13th spot in Zandvoort. Follow live race updates with The Independent Read More F1 grid: Starting positions for Dutch Grand Prix Max Verstappen claims pole position at home Dutch GP as Lewis Hamilton falters Daniel Ricciardo ruled out of Dutch Grand Prix

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Max Verstappen has revealed Sebastian Vettel told him he will break his record of nine consecutive victories after the home favourite put his Red Bull on pole position for Sunday’s Dutch Grand Prix. The unstoppable Verstappen will equal four-time world champion Vettel’s streak from 2013 if he takes the chequered flag in front of 105,000 expectant fans. Verstappen starts his quest from the front after he topped a chaotic wet-dry qualifying session in Zandvoort. Verstappen finished nearly six tenths clear of second-placed Lando Norris with a mighty final lap. George Russell qualified third for Mercedes, one place ahead of Alex Albon – the London-born driver continuing his impressive campaign with Williams. Lewis Hamilton lines up only 13th after he was surprisingly eliminated in Q2. Verstappen dominated the opening half of the season, taking 10 victories from the 12 rounds so far, and he has emerged from the sport’s summer break still as the man to beat. He last failed to win in Azerbaijan on April 30, and it will be a major surprise if his crushing run comes to a halt in front of his orange-clad army. “After five wins in a row, Seb texted me to say, ‘well done with what you are doing at the moment, keep it up, you are going to get the record’,” said Verstappen following his eighth pole of the campaign. “I was like, ‘that’s nine wins in a row, and that is something very impressive’. I never thought I would be able to get to eight. If it is possible tomorrow of course I go for it. “But it is not something that is in the back of my head. I am not in this sport to try and break records. I am just here to win in the moment.” Verstappen is in a league of his own as he closes in on a hat-trick of titles. But it has been suggested that his reign – akin to Michael Schumacher’s emphatic dominance for Ferrari at the turn of the century – has been a turn-off for the sport’s booming fanbase. “It is clear that unpredictability is what makes the sport exciting,” said Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff. “You want to look at the television on Sunday and see a fight. That is not the case at the moment. “But that is because one team and one driver are doing a much better job than anybody else, and we need to acknowledge that.” While Verstappen has been aided by his all-conquering Red Bull machine, it is worth noting that his team-mate Sergio Perez – the only other driver to win a race this year – qualified seventh here, 1.3 seconds behind in the same car. Qualifying started on a wet track before a dry line emerged for Q3. Two red flags followed as Logan Sargeant and Charles Leclerc crashed out. By this stage, Hamilton was back in the Mercedes garage. The seven-time world champion appeared to be impeded by AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda and he failed to post a time fast enough to progress to Q3. The incident was noted by the stewards, but Hamilton did not feel he lost time. However, Wolff added: “Tsunoda is a nice guy but he clearly impeded Lewis. “The answer is to penalise. If you know you don’t go to prison for cheating tax, you cheat the tax. I don’t understand why these things are not penalised. “You could say Lewis dived on the inside and it didn’t cost him much. But going from a dry line, to a wet line, and back to a dry line costs time and a tenth of a second would have put him into Q3. “We need to be harsh on penalties and then people will start looking in their mirrors.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Max Verstappen is one of the best drivers in F1 history – Lando Norris Daniel Ricciardo ruled out of Dutch Grand Prix after breaking wrist in practice Daniel Ricciardo to miss Dutch Grand Prix after suffering broken wrist in crash

Max Verstappen delighted his home crowd by taking pole position for Sunday’s Dutch Grand Prix. In an incident-packed wet-dry session, the unstoppable double world champion delivered a crushing lap to finish half-a-second clear of Lando Norris, who qualified second for McLaren. George Russell will start from third place for Mercedes with the impressive Alex Albon fourth. Lewis Hamilton was eliminated in Q2 and will line up from only 13th spot in Zandvoort. “It was a very tricky qualifying session,” said Verstappen. “It was all about putting your laps in and staying out of trouble and we managed that quite well. “The pressure is always there to perform but when you pull it off it’s incredible.” Q3 was red-flagged twice. First when Logan Sargeant crashed out in his Williams. The American rookie lost control of his machine on the entry to Turn 2, sending him into the gravel and then the tyre wall. Sargeant, 22, emerged unscathed from the accident but the force of the impact contributed to significant damage on the front of his machine. The running was suspended for 20 minutes as Sargeant’s stricken Williams was removed and the barriers were repaired. A dry line had emerged and it was Norris who put his McLaren at the top of the order before Charles Leclerc put his Ferrari into the wall. Leclerc carried too much speed into the ninth bend and ran onto the grass and then into the Armco. A six-minute stoppage followed with just four minutes and five seconds left on the clock, with Norris hoping to hold on to claim only his second career pole. Norris said: “Every now and then you hope Max makes a mistake, but he doesn’t, so frustrating in a little way. But I’m very happy. The team did a good job and I will take P2.” Russell, seven tenths behind Verstappen, said: “We are in a great place tomorrow to battle for a podium. “I’m sure Max will have his Sunday drive and be waving to the crowd but I hope to have a good fight with Lando, Alex and the rest of the boys.” But Verstappen delivered an emphatic answer by racing to top spot with his final lap to huge roars from the Orange Army. On Sunday, he will bid to match Sebastian Vettel’s record of nine consecutive wins. Hamilton revealed in the build-up to Sunday’s race that his goal for the second half of the season was to take runner-up spot in the championship. But on Formula One’s return from its summer slumber, the seven-time world champion – who is currently fourth in the standings – will start way down the order following a disappointing qualifying session. The British driver, 38, appeared to be impeded by AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda on his final run in Q2 and failed to deliver a time speedy enough to progress. The stewards have noted the incident, but Hamilton, 41 points adrift of Sergio Perez, who is currently best of the rest behind team-mate Verstappen, now faces an uphill task to salvage a respectable result. Fernando Alonso qualified fifth for Aston Martin, one place ahead of Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz, with Perez only seventh, 1.3 seconds behind team-mate Verstappen. Liam Lawson has been handed his F1 debut here as a substitute for Daniel Ricciardo. The 34-year-old Australian suffered a broken left wrist in a practice crash on Friday and has been ruled out of this weekend’s race with the prospect of missing further rounds, too. In Ricciardo’s absence, New Zealander Lawson, 21, will start his maiden F1 race from 20th and last. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Max Verstappen is one of the best drivers in F1 history – Lando Norris Daniel Ricciardo ruled out of Dutch Grand Prix after breaking wrist in practice Daniel Ricciardo to miss Dutch Grand Prix after suffering broken wrist in crash