What happened at last year's Dutch Grand Prix?

It was a clean start off the grid for Verstappen, who pulled away cleanly into the lead. The only drama occurred 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 slightly brushed the barrier at turn three, dropping to the back of the grid. 

Game of chess

The race's first stint was dictated to tyre management and seeing what kind of pace each driver had in store. While both Red Bulls and Ferraris started on the soft tyres, Mercedes drivers started on the mediums, allowing 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 halfway through the Grand Prix, it was Hamilton and Russell in the lead, having to do one less stop than their rivals.

Ferrari circus continued

Under pressure from Hamilton, the Ferrari of Sainz came into the pits on very late notice. This caused the Ferrari garage to be unprepared when the Spaniard entered the box, with the rear-left tyre not even there for the driver. The pitstop was slow, 12.7 seconds, and 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 Norris.

Tsunoda flipped the script

On lap 45, Mercedes fans around the world collectively held their breath as the AlphaTauri of Yuki Tsunoda stopped by the side of the 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 leapt them both in the pits and emerged in the lead, killing the hopes for a Mercedes victory. At least it seemed that way until...

Bottas pulls the Uno reverse-card

After the race got going again, it seemed like the ending had been snubbed, with Verstappen cruising away for 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, causing a full Safety Car to be deployed. 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 an exciting finish.

Verstappen victorious, Hamilton livid

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 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.

The Dutch Grand Prix returns this weekend. Click here to view the full session times.