Set the scene for me.
After a four-week break, the entire F1 fraternity has returned from the beach for the second half of the season, with the Dutch Grand Prix kicking off a 10-race stretch to the end of the season in Abu Dhabi in December.
The championship looks like this: Red Bull’s Max Verstappen has a lead of 78 points over McLaren’s Lando Norris, while Charles Leclerc in his Ferrari is 100 points behind the Dutchman. TL;DR, it’s a long shot that anyone can reel in Verstappen. Not impossible, but unlikely.
In the constructors’ championship however, it’s all to play for: Red Bull is now only 42 points ahead of McLaren, largely because second driver Sergio Perez is, er, going through a rough patch. His future has been the subject of much debate, although the team says it’s sticking by him… for now.
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Meanwhile Mercedes seems to have finally worked out how these ground effect aero rules work, winning three of the last four races almost out of nowhere. Two of those went Hamilton’s way: might a few doubts be creeping in over his move to Ferrari next season?
One thing we do know: race engineer Pete ‘Bono’ Bonnington won’t be going with him. No more ‘It’s hammer time’ or ‘Get in there Lewis!’ End of an era.
What time does the Dutch Grand Prix start?
Set a reminder for Sunday 25 August at 9pm (Philippine time), because that’s when the formation lap for the Dutch Grand Prix will commence this weekend. Qualifying starts precisely 24 hours earlier, at 9pm on Saturday, August 24.
Want to keep abreast of the practice sessions? FP1 starts at 6:30pm on Friday 23, FP2 follows it at 10pm, and then FP3 is a 5:30pm start on Saturday before qualifying. And no sprint race shenanigans this week.
Is it going to rain?
Good question. Zandvoort is located right on the coast of the Netherlands, which means the weather can change in an instant. However, the current forecast suggests we can expect showers on Friday and lots of rain on Saturday, which means qualifying in particular could be an absolute frenzy. The teams better be bringing spare parts.
Race day though is expected to be dry, with relatively cool highs of 18 degrees Celsius. Might make tire warm-ups tricky.
Give me some history in 100 words or fewer.
The Dutch Grand Prix was an almost constant presence on the F1 calendar between 1950 (it was a non-championship race, initially) until it fell by the wayside in 1985. Three decades later, some Dutch chap called Max Verstappen started being very good at driving quickly, and someone decided he should have a home race. And lo, Zandvoort was revamped to welcome back the Dutch Grand Prix… only for Covid to delay its return. Ugh. Finally, it rejoined the F1 calendar in 2021 and it was won by the local hero… who’s won the two races since then as well. Dominant.
The top three will be…
With four teams fighting at or near the front at this stage of the season, it’s become almost impossible to predict who will fill out the podium every week. Good, that’s just how we like it. Zandvoort is a lot like the Hungaroring—tight and very twisty—so you’d fancy McLaren to be slight favorites, so let’s tentatively back Lando Norris for the win with Max Verstappen narrowly getting beaten in his own back yard for the first time. Maybe. Oscar Piastri to round off the podium.
Shock of the weekend?
George Russell will be in red hot form for Mercedes, having returned from the summer hiatus with exactly 1.5kg of extra neck muscle purely to make a point about his car being disqualified in Belgium.
NOTE: This article first appeared on TopGear.com. Minor edits have been made.
