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Max Verstappen extended his Formula 1 winning streak to four races after beating the Mercedes drivers to his second victory on home soil.
But just how good was the performance of Verstappen and his peers?
Here’s the verdict on each driver’s weekend at Zandvoort:
After each grand prix, The Race will rate each driver’s weekend with a mark out of 10.
An average mark is 5 out of 10, so that score is indicative of a decent drive given the high standard of drivers in F1.
For a more in-depth explanation, read our outline of the system.
Started: 1st Finished: 1st
Qualifying
Gearbox troubles in FP1 and set-up difficulties in FP2 meant Verstappen and Red Bull headed into Saturday behind, but by qualifying, they were on top of the car. Verstappen drove superbly to get the most from the RB18 and beat Leclerc to pole position.
Race
Despite the way the strategy played out making the race a little more complicated than might have been expected, Verstappen didn’t put a foot wrong in ensuring he stayed in control. That earned him another well-executed victory.
Verdict: Made both pole position and victory easier than it might have been through his excellence.
Started: 5th Finished: 5th
Qualifying
Perez was on a lap that might have put him on the second row if he was less optimistic on the throttle in Turn 13 and avoided spinning. He never showed anything like Verstappen’s pace on a track that, by his own admission, is one “I have to work pretty hard on” because “my balance doesn’t come as easy as others”.
Race
Always seemed set to finish at the back of the leading group on an orthodox two-stopper. However, he was able to stay close to the penalised Sainz in the final stint to be able to jump him in the final results.
Verdict: Solid, but utterly average consider the potential of the car.
Started: 4th Finished: 4th
Qualifying
Had to rely on his first-run time from Q3, set on fresh softs, thanks to being forced to abort his final attempt by Perez’s spin.
That lap would likely have been at least good enough for third with an outside chance of grabbing pole position, with Toto Wolff saying “we were a tenth up before the incident”.
Race
Emerged as Verstappen’s strongest challenger on a planned one-stopper, but the timing of the first VSC denied both Mercedes drivers the chance to see how their strategy played out against Verstappen. Staying out under the final safety car led to him being a sitting duck, although being in the wrong engine mode for the restart made it easy for Verstappen to pass him for the lead.
Verdict: Quick and a genuine contender for victory, although the power mode error counts against him.
Started: 6th Finished: 2nd
Qualifying
Was a step behind Hamiton through qualifying, exemplified by having to use two sets of softs during Q2 after struggling with the Pirellis on the first run which left him with only one fresh set for Q3. He should at least have taken fifth on his final run but for lifting needlessly when he mistook a green flag for a yellow and having to fall back on his first-run, used-soft time.
Race
Slipped to seventh at the start but soon got back past Norris. On an attempted one-stop strategy, he jumped ahead of the delayed Sainz and Perez, as well as Leclerc, although the first VSC proved ill-timed. His call to take fresh softs under the VSC when Mercedes planned to leave him out proved to be the correct one. That made it easy for him to pass Hamilton, earning second place.
Verdict: Another good weekend’s work, even though Hamilton had the edge.
Started: 2nd Finished: 3rd
Qualifying
Had the pace for pole position having finally found the strong front end he required in Q3. The decisive time swing was in the middle sector, with Leclerc struggling in Turn 9 and the rear-end stepping out at exit then suffering from time-sapping understeer in the Turn 10 left-hander that meant the rear misbehaved as he attempted to get the power down.
That put him 0.021s slower than Verstappen thanks to giving away 0.178s to his previous best in the middle sector.
Race
Held second from the start but any hint of a challenge to Verstappen faded when it became clear he couldn’t match the leader’s pace over a stint. That led to him gradually dropping away and falling behind the Mercedes drivers on their attempted one-stopper. While that meant Russell beat him, Leclerc easily passed the struggling Hamilton in the closing stages to claim third.
Verdict: Should have been on pole but couldn’t have done more in the race.
Started: 3rd Finished: 8th
Qualifying
Topped Q2 but was “surprised at how much grip we gaining in Q3”. That led to him underachieving on his first run, which he reckoned meant he didn’t have the ideal reference to judge how much to attack on the second run. Even so, he was 0.092s off Verstappen as he couldn’t carry his small first-sector advantage through the rest of the lap.
Race
Time lost in his first pitstop owing to the left-rear tyre not being ready and then an unsafe release at his second stop, which was a result of him having to brake to get round the McLaren pitcrew, compounded his tyre troubles. Although he still beat Perez having passed him on lap 61, he was relegated from fifth-on-the-road to eighth by the penalty as his pace wasn’t strong enough to build a big enough gap over the leading midfielders.
Verdict: A difficult weekend for Sainz, who couldn’t match Leclerc for pace or tyre management.
Started: 17th Finished: 17th
Qualifying
Ricciardo was struggling relative to Norris, but he was on target to nick a place in Q2 only for dust kicked up by Stroll entering the penultimate corner to cause him to have a wide moment. The lap was still an improvement but, without that time loss, he would likely have jumped Zhou.
Race
Never ran higher than 16th and was unable to make any progress from the lower reaches of the midfield, finishing ahead only of Latifi. The best positive he could offer was that his pace on the hard Pirellis was decent.
Verdict: Another poor weekend, even by the standards of this difficult season.
Started: 7th Finished: 7th
Qualifying
Norris wasn’t delighted with his final lap in Q3, his only attempt on fresh rubber, but although he could have jumped Russell on the grid had he produced the pace he could have done – lapping 0.139s off his theoretical best – the important thing was he sealed a place at the front of the midfield.
Race
Battled his way past Russell through the first couple of corners, but was always going to be repassed and settled into seventh place. He had control of the midfield battle for the majority of the race, but his pitstop to take fresh softs under the final safety car cost him track position to Alonso. He hassled the Alpine in the final laps, but despite a 10-lap tyre-life advantage couldn’t get ahead.
Verdict: Generally got the most out of the car and was unlucky to lose out to Alonso.
Started: 12th Finished: 9th
Qualifying
Ocon couldn’t build confidence in the rear end of the Alpine and was very much the second-best Alpine driver. But he was able to beat Alonso thanks to his team-mate’s fresh-tyre run in Q2 being compromised by traffic, even then only just shading him despite using new softs for his lap.
Race
Gained three places on the opening lap to run ninth, which is where he finished. But he took an unusual strategic route, switching to mediums for the second stint and staying out under the VSC. He had to stop under the final safety car, which dropped him behind Norris and Alonso.
Verdict: Got a decent result, but wasn’t on top of the car.
Started: 13th Finished: 6th
Qualifying
Alonso was comfortably quicker than Ocon and would have made Q3 easily, but for happening on Perez at Turn 9 on his one Q2 lap with fresh softs. That ruined his lap, meaning he relied on his used-tyre first run for 13th on the grid.
Race
Gained places initially but ran wide coming through Turn 2, which left him 13th at the end of the first lap. He passed the AlphaTauris and picked up a place through the first round of stops to Schumacher’s delay to move into the points. A long middle stint on hards allowed him to capitalise on the VSC to jump Stroll, then stops for Ocon and Norris under the final safety car promoted him to seventh – which became sixth thanks to Sainz’s penalty.
Verdict: Conclusively quicker than Ocon and relentless in the race, even if he did need some safety car fortune.
Started: 11th Finished: 11th
Qualifying
After a difficult Friday, and then understeering off at Turn 9 – a problem corner all weekend – and wiping out a marker bollard, he recovered decently in qualifying. While he was not as quick as Tsunoda through qualifying, he did enough to close to 0.084s off his team-mate and salvage 11th in a car that was still suffering from understeer.
Race
Had a good launch, but Tsunoda’s slow start cost him momentum and left him in the ‘middle’ lane at Turn 1, allowing the two Alpines to swoop past him. He repassed Alonso into and through Turn 3, but ended the first lap 12th.
That became 13th when Alonso later passed him, although Schumacher’s slow stop gave him that place back. He was sat behind Tsunoda in the second stint before their strategies diverged with Gasly switching to hards. That, combined with Tsunoda’s demise, gave Gasly 11th, which is where he finished.
Verdict: Lacked Tsunoda’s edge of pace but still put together a decent weekend.
Started: 9th Finished: DNF
Qualifying
As has often been the case, Tsunoda fared better with an understeering car than Gasly could, reaching Q3. He had to lift for the Perez-induced yellow flag, which meant he had to rely on his first-run time, allowing Schumacher – who wasn’t interrupted by Perez – to jump him.
Race
Didn’t have a great launch and slipped behind Stroll on the run to Turn 1, then Ocon through the Turn 3 banking. He was still 11th when he made his second pitstop on a planned two-stop strategy, only for a diff problem to manifest itself. After an initial stop, he then returned to the pits to have his tyres changed and belts tightened, and he was then told to stop with a diff problem.
Verdict: Pace was strong, although positions lost at the start dented his points threat in the race.
Started: 19th Finished: 14th
Qualifying
Opted for three runs in Q1 – albeit with the second on used softs – and comfortably had the pace to advance to Q2 and probably Q3. But he went off at Turn 13 on his final Q1 lap after hitting dust pulled onto the track by Stroll and ended up 19th.
Race
Vettel got up to 17th early on, but with tyre degradation and traffic against him opted for an early stop. A slightly slow stop weakened his undercut attempt, and then a five-second penalty for ignoring blue flags when being lapped by Verstappen and Hamilton was a further blow and ensured he wasn’t able to make enough inroads to threaten the points.
Verdict: Q1 misfortune ruined his weekend, but Stroll looked the quicker Aston Martin driver.
Started: 10th Finished: 10th
Qualifying
Comfortably made it through to Q3 on a weekend where he looked strong throughout. Unfortunately, a hydraulic leak prevented him from running in Q3 and denied him the chance to pick off a few more places on the grid.
Race
He Jumped Tsunoda off the line and then got around Schumacher at the first corner to run eighth. But making his second stop relatively early hurt him as it allowed Alonso to pit under the VSC and emerge ahead. Ocon, meanwhile, had extended and could stop under the final safety car, ensuring he also stayed ahead.
Verdict: A strong weekend, with Q3 problems and safety car timing going against him.
Started: 20th Finished: 18th
Qualifying
A misbehaving water system and resulting temperature spikes cost Latifi power on his first run and forced him to abort a lap that had started promisingly on his second. It at least wasn’t a hardware problem and was later fixed, but it condemned him to last.
Race
Spent most of the afternoon running last, with the only driver he temporarily ran ahead of other than through pitstop sequences Magnussen after the Haas driver’s early off. He showed reasonable pace early in stints, but struggled with degradation.
Verdict: Another disappointing weekend, albeit with Q1 problems outside of his control.
Started: 15th Finished: 12th
Qualifying
Sailed through Q1 in 10th place, although his sole attempt on fresh rubber in Q2 was just over a tenth slower. That was thanks to struggling with the rear tyres, which initially manifested itself with the rear stepping out in Turn 1. That left him 15th when it was possible to be higher, although a Q3 slot was probably beyond the Williams.
Race
The Williams didn’t quite have the pace to score points and Albon, therefore, did a good job to finish two places outside the top 10. Twelfth was probably as good as it was going to get on a three-stopper, the final stop under the safety car not costing him any ground, given Gasly always had the pace to stay ahead.
Verdict: Should have done slightly better in qualifying, but the race was strong.
Started: 14th Finished: 16th
Qualifying
While the Alfa Romeo wasn’t at its best, Zhou managed to extract a little more pace from it than Bottas and advanced to Q2 as a result. His Q2 lap wasn’t as good as it could have been, with several small lockups costing him, but realistically there wasn’t the pace to do much better.
Race
Alfa Romeo felt it had stronger race pace than qualifying pace and spent his short first stint in the queue behind Alonso. But speeding in the pits meant he had to serve a five-second penalty at his second stop, which dropped him out of the Gasly/Albon area on the periphery of the points behind Bottas. He then lost more places to a stop under the safety car.
Verdict: Beat Bottas on merit in qualifying but the speeding error cost him in the race.
Started: 16th Finished: DNF
Qualifying
Felt he’d extracted the most from the car on a weekend when tyre warm-up troubles made his one-lap pace a big weakness, hence the three runs in Q1. Zhou had the advantage by 0.135s on the final Q1 runs with the decisive swing against Bottas in the final two corners and dash to the line.
Race
Made a good start but was shuffled down to 19th on the run out of Turn 3 after having to lift to avoid touching Albon. He made up some ground thanks to Magnussen’s off, overcutting Ricciardo and passing Vettel in the second stint – the pair making wheel-to-wheel contact at Turn 1. He jumped Zhou and Albon in the second round of stops and held 13th when his engine failed.
Verdict: Behind Zhou in qualifying but did make decent progress in the race before retiring.
Started: 18th Finished: 15th
Qualifying
Magnussen had his best Q1 lap deleted for exceeding track limits at the banked Turn 3, although that only cost him one place. A moment in Turn 9, traffic and a struggle to pick up the extra grip others found meant he was three tenths slower than Schumacher even on his quicker deleted lap.
Race
Drove a storming first lap to climb to 15th, getting around the outside of both Ricciardo and Albon in the fast Turn 7. But an off coming through Turn 2, brushing the wall, dropped him to the back and ruined his race. He did at least recover to beat Latifi, Ricciardo and Zhou.
Verdict:
“A wasted weekend”, as Magnussen himself put it.
Started: 8th Finished: 13th
Qualifying
Given the intense pressure on his shoulders amid doubts about his Haas, and F1, future, this was just the performance Schumacher needed. He felt at one with the car throughout qualifying, outpacing Magnussen in Q1, judging the track evolution superbly and was rewarded with eighth place – albeit with the advantage of not having his fresh-tyre lap ruined by Perez’s spin, which allowed him to beat Tsunoda.
Race
Had a good launch but was passed by Stroll around the outside of Turn 1 then Ocon around Turn 3, not helped by starting on mediums compared to their softs. Held 10th in the first stint, but he lost just over six seconds in his pitstop thanks to the front jack not releasing the car. That dropped him behind Zhou, where he stayed for much of the race before getting ahead when the Alfa Romeo driver pitted under the late safety car.
Verdict: A much-needed strong weekend compromised by a pitstop delay.
