The 2021 Dutch Grand Prix (officially known as the Formula 1 Heineken Dutch Grand Prix 2021) was a Formula One motor race held on 5 September 2021 at Circuit Zandvoort. It was the thirteenth round of the 2021 Formula One World Championship and the first Dutch Grand Prix to take place since 1985. The race was won by Max Verstappen – prior to him, no Dutch driver had won or gone to the podium at their home race.

Background

The event, which was held over the weekend of 3–5 September at Circuit Zandvoort, was the thirteenth round of the 2021 World Championship. The race took place one week after the Belgian Grand Prix and preceded the Italian Grand Prix.

Track layout The circuit has a total length of , consisting of 14 corners and two DRS zones. As one of the shorter tracks on the Formula One calendar, the drivers complete 72 laps resulting in a total race distance of . The track was changed to upgrade it to FIA Grade 1 specifications and was a different layout compared to when F1 last raced in 1985.

Championship standings before the race After the Belgian Grand Prix handed out half-points due to heavy rainfall, Lewis Hamilton's championship lead was reduced to just three points to Verstappen in second. For the second race in a row, Lando Norris, Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Pérez all scored no points, meaning they stayed third, fourth and fifth respectively. Mercedes also led the Constructors' Championship by 7 points to Red Bull. McLaren regained third place after Daniel Ricciardo scored six points. Ferrari trailed McLaren by 3.5 points and Alpine sat in fifth place.

Entrants

The drivers and teams were initially the same as the season entry list with no additional stand-in drivers for the race.

Before the third practice session, Alfa Romeo Racing driver Kimi Räikkönen tested positive for coronavirus. He was replaced by the reserve driver Robert Kubica, who last raced at the 2019 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, driving for Williams.

Williams team principal Jost Capito also had to go into isolation following a dinner with Räikkönen the night before.

Tyre choices Sole tyre supplier Pirelli allocated the C1, C2, and C3 compounds of tyre to be used in the race.

Practice Free practice 1 took place at 11:30 CEST on 3 September, while free practice 2 took place at 15:00 CEST on the same day. Free practice 3 took place at 12:00 CEST on 4 September. All three practice sessions lasted for one hour.

The first session ended with Lewis Hamilton fastest for Mercedes ahead of Red Bull's Max Verstappen and Ferrari's Carlos Sainz Jr. The session was red flagged for 35 minutes after an engine failure of Aston Martin's Sebastian Vettel.

The second session ended with Charles Leclerc fastest for Ferrari ahead of his teammate Carlos Sainz Jr. and Alpine's Esteban Ocon. The session was red flagged for nine minutes after a loss of power for Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton. The session was also red flagged for Haas's Nikita Mazepin after he spun into a gravel trap. Verstappen was investigated by the stewards for overtaking another driver during the first red flag period of the session, though the stewards ultimately decided a penalty was not necessary.

Qualifying Qualifying took place at 15:00 CEST on 4 September.

Qualifying classification DriverConstructor133 Max VerstappenRed Bull Racing-Honda1:10.0361:09.0711:08.8851244 Lewis HamiltonMercedes1:10.1141:09.9761:08.9232377 Valtteri BottasMercedes1:10.2191:09.7691:09.2223410 Pierre GaslyAlphaTauri-Honda1:10.2741:09.5411:09.4784516 Charles LeclercFerrari1:09.8291:09.4371:09.5275655 Carlos Sainz Jr.Ferrari1:10.0221:09.8701:09.53767991:10.0501:10.0331:09.5907831 Esteban OconAlpine-Renault1:10.1791:09.9191:09.9338914 Fernando AlonsoAlpine-Renault1:10.4351:10.0201:09.9569103 Daniel RicciardoMcLaren-Mercedes1:10.2551:09.8651:10.166101163 George RussellWilliams-Mercedes1:10.3821:10.332N/A111218 Lance StrollAston Martin-Mercedes1:10.4381:10.367N/A12134 Lando NorrisMcLaren-Mercedes1:10.4891:10.406N/A13146 Nicholas LatifiWilliams-Mercedes1:10.0931:11.161N/A1522 Yuki TsunodaAlphaTauri-Honda1:10.4621:11.314N/A141611 Sergio PérezRed Bull Racing-Honda1:10.530N/AN/A175 Sebastian VettelAston Martin-Mercedes1:10.731N/AN/A151888 Robert KubicaAlfa Romeo Racing-Ferrari1:11.301N/AN/A161947 Mick SchumacherHaas-Ferrari1:11.387N/AN/A17209Nikita MazepinHaas-Ferrari1:11.875N/AN/A18107% time: 1:14.717Source: – Nicholas Latifi received a five-place grid penalty for an unscheduled gearbox change. He was then required to start the race from the pit lane for a front wing change and nose assembly in parc fermé. – Sergio Pérez was required to start the race from the back of the grid for exceeding his quota of power unit elements. He was then required to start the race from the pit lane for a new energy store specification.

Race The race started at 15:00 CEST on 5 September.

Race classification DriverConstructorLapsTime/RetiredPoints133 Max VerstappenRed Bull Racing-Honda721:30:05.395125244 Lewis HamiltonMercedes72 +20.932219377 Valtteri BottasMercedes72 +56.460315410 Pierre GaslyAlphaTauri-Honda71 +1 lap412516 Charles LeclercFerrari71 +1 lap510614 Fernando AlonsoAlpine-Renault71 +1 lap98755 Carlos Sainz Jr.Ferrari71 +1 lap66811 Sergio PérezRed Bull Racing-Honda71 +1 lap4931 Esteban OconAlpine-Renault71 +1 lap82104 Lando NorrisMcLaren-Mercedes71 +1 lap131113 Daniel RicciardoMcLaren-Mercedes71 +1 lap101218 Lance StrollAston Martin-Mercedes70 +2 laps12135 Sebastian VettelAston Martin-Mercedes70 +2 laps15149970 +2 laps71588 Robert KubicaAlfa Romeo Racing-Ferrari70 +2 laps16166 Nicholas LatifiWilliams-Mercedes70 +2 laps1763 George RussellWilliams-Mercedes69Battery111847 Mick SchumacherHaas-Ferrari69 +3 laps17 22 Yuki TsunodaAlphaTauri-Honda48Engine14 9Nikita MazepinHaas-Ferrari41Water leak18Fastest lap: Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) – 1:11.097 (lap 72)Source: Notes – Includes one point for fastest lap. – George Russell was classified as he completed more than 90% of the race distance.

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Driver Points 11 Max Verstappen224.5 12 Lewis Hamilton221.5 13 Valtteri Bottas123 14 Lando Norris1145 Sergio Pérez108Source:

Constructors' Championship standings Constructor Points1 Mercedes344.52 Red Bull Racing-Honda332.5 13 Ferrari181.5 14 McLaren-Mercedes1705 Alpine-Renault90Source:

Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

See also 2021 Zandvoort FIA Formula 3 round 2021 W Series Zandvoort round

Notes

References

External links