RACE REPORT | Verstappen victorious at home amid Hamilton meltdown

Max Verstappen takes a monumental victory at his home Grand Prix in Zandvoort after an intense game of strategy chess between Red Bull and Mercedes. In the end, a late Safety Car gave Verstappen the opportunity to take the victory in a race that provided drama from the Dutchman and Hamilton that hasn't been seen since last year.

It was a clean start for the grid where Verstappen pulled away cleanly into the lead, the only drama occuring from a slight tap between the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz and the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton. Lando Norris launched nicely into sixth, taking the position from George Russell, but that was reverted by the fourth lap. Kevin Magnussen found himself slightly brushing the barrier at turn three, dropping to the back of the grid.

The first stint of the race was dictated by managing tyres and seeing what kind of pace each driver had in store. While both Red Bulls and Ferraris started on the soft tyres, both Mercedes drivers started on the mediums which allowed them to stretch their stint and turn their race into a one-stop. Once the first pitstops were carried out, one thing was clear; Mercedes made the right call, and half-way through the Grand Prix it was Hamilton and Russell in the lead, having to do one less stop tham their rivals and looking strong to finish that way.

Under pressure from Lewis Hamilton, the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz came into the pits on very late notice. This caused the Ferrari garage to be unprepared when the Spaniard came into the box, witgh thre rear-left tyre not even there for the driver. Not only was the pitstop itself slow, 12.7 seconds in fact, but the mechanics left the wheel gun out on the pitlane, causing the Red Bull of Sergio Perez to drive over the piece of equipment. Luckily, the Mexican suffered no damage to his car from the incident. Sainz went from third and fighting for a podium to behind the McLaren of Lando Norris.

On lap 45 Mercedes fans around the world collectively held their breath as the AlphaTauri of Yuki Tsunoda was stopped by the side of track. "Tyre not fitted!" The Japanese driver yelled on the radio. However, the team gave him the go-ahead to continue, telling their driver that the car was fine. But that wasn't the case, because soon after Tsunoda left the pits, he was told to stop once again, causing a virtual Safety Car to be deployed. With Verstappen in the lead as the two Mercedes had already pitted, he leaped them both in the pits and emerged in the lead, killing the hopes for a Mercedes victory. At least it seemed that way until...

After the race got going again, it seemed like the ending had been snubbed with Verstappen cruising away into an easy win. However, one last twist was in store for the Grand Prix as the Alfa Romeo of Valtteri Bottas came to a stop on the front straight, causing a full Safety Car to be deployed. Max Verstappen dived into the pits from the lead to put on a set of soft-tyres, dropping him behind the Mercedes of Hamilton and Russell in the lead. However, Russell made the call to bolt on the softs a lap later, leaving Hamilton to defend the lead alone. Everything was set-up for a grand finish.

Once the Safety Car came in, it wasn't even a contest. Verstappen flew around the outside of Hamilton into turn one and didn't look back. The game of chess was over. Soon after Russell blew past his teammate for second, almost running into the back of him, with Charles Leclerc getting past the seven-time champion a few laps later. Hamilton was furious over the radio, shouting expletives of how the team screwed him over. In the span of a few laps, Hamilton went from leading the Grand Prix to finishing fourth, not even on the podium. It was a dramatic ending to a dramatic race.