Daily News 19

Tag: Dutch Grand Prix

  • Nico Rosberg Praises Nico Hulkenberg’s “spectacular” Dutch GP Save

    Nico Rosberg Praises Nico Hulkenberg’s “spectacular” Dutch GP Save

    2016 Formula 1 world champion Nico Rosberg praised Nico Hulkenberg’s “spectacular” reaction after the Audi driver narrowly avoided a high-speed collision with team-mate Gabriel Bortoleto on the opening lap of the Dutch Grand Prix.

    Although the rain had stopped before the race began, several wet patches remained on the circuit. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen lost control on a damp section while navigating the banked final corner and crashed into the barriers. Bortoleto suffered a similar incident but managed to continue after spinning 360 degrees.

    As Bortoleto spun across the track in front of him, Hulkenberg was briefly engulfed in tyre smoke. When the smoke cleared, he found his Audi team-mate directly ahead.

    Speaking during the Sky Sports F1 broadcast, Rosberg highlighted how the 39-year-old avoided a potentially major crash.

    “It just shows how quick those drivers react. Hulkenberg went in; he knew more or less where Bortoleto was, where his trajectory was going,” Rosberg explained. “He has a white wall, but then at the last moment sees him and bam, reacts and avoids [a crash].

    “It was a spectacular reaction from Hulkenberg, so I don’t think it was just luck. I think there was also some skill there to avoid that big crash.”

    Hulkenberg went on to secure his best result of the season by finishing eighth, earning four valuable points for Audi. Bortoleto recovered from his spin to take 13th place.

    Hulkenberg explains Dutch Grand Prix near-miss

    The German driver later described the incident while speaking to Sky Sports Germany.

    “Yeah, it was tricky and dicey. Naturally, I saw it all happen almost in slow motion at that speed.

    “But Turn 14 was simply still completely wet and, on slicks, it’s a bit of a thriller, of course. I saw him lose the car—like I said, slow motion and at speed. But then you don’t know exactly whether he’s going to slide up or slide down, what’s going to happen.

    “And it was clear to me: hey, I have to try to somehow get around this. On top of that, there was all the debris and the smoke from Max ahead. So it looked wild and spectacular. I slowed down and tried to wait as long as possible before deciding which way to go. A sheet of paper would have fitted between us, but not much more.”

    Nico Hülkenberg, Audi

    Source: www.motorsport.com

  • Williams Collapses in F1 Pecking Order: ‘Aston is a different league right now’

    Williams Collapses in F1 Pecking Order: ‘Aston is a different league right now’

    Williams Formula 1 driver Carlos Sainz says the team is currently faster only than Cadillac, while team-mate Alexander Albon has criticised the excessive number of blue flags the team faced during the Dutch Grand Prix.

    Williams made a steady start to F1’s new era, scoring 11 points in the opening six rounds and sitting eighth in the constructors’ championship after the Monaco Grand Prix. However, Sainz finished only 12th at the following race in Barcelona, and neither Williams driver has since managed a result better than 15th. The team has also struggled to progress beyond Q1 in qualifying.

    At Zandvoort, Albon narrowly reached Q2 in both qualifying sessions, while both Aston Martin cars were eliminated early. Fernando Alonso then delivered an impressive one-stop strategy to finish ninth in Sunday’s race, as Albon and Sainz slipped towards the back of the field.

    “We are pretty much where we expected, which is towards the back,” Williams’ Spaniard lamented. “We are only quicker than Cadillac at the moment. You saw the Astons in race pace, they are a different league right now. So we couldn’t fight them. We couldn’t fight anyone, really.”

    “You can’t imagine in the middle of the race how many blue flags you get,” Albon added. “I literally mean that every other lap is a blue flag.

    “When we pit too early on that first stint, we come out behind a group of midfield cars that we were racing. They all boxed to miss all the blue flags. But because of us pitting early, we had no choice but to take the blue flags. It’s like you get dirtier every lap to cars that you’re not even trying to race, you’re in the marbles. The ones that did box in front of you to miss the blue flags, they’ve now got new tyres, and they’re catching up to three or four seconds a lap because of the blue flags. So, within five laps, the cars that just pitted in front of you are already behind you.”

    Williams struggles with blue-flag traffic

    Albon made those comments before reviewing the race and its data. He was primarily referring to Gabriel Bortoleto, who made his second of three pit stops on lap 34 while running directly behind the Anglo-Thai driver and approaching the point at which the leaders would lap him.

    The Audi driver caught Albon just eight laps later, leaving the Williams driver repeatedly dealing with blue flags and traffic from cars he was not directly racing.

    Neither Williams driver expects the team to challenge for points at the upcoming races in Monza and Baku, despite both circuits being considered potentially suitable for the Mercedes-powered FW48.

    “If you look at the last five races, this is where we’ve been for the last five races. It is where we are,” said Sainz, who scored a podium finish in Azerbaijan last year.

    “We’ve had a very tough weekend on my side with some consistency of the parts, which haven’t allowed me to set up the car correctly for the race. We have to learn from it. There will be some interesting data points to go through as a team with the struggles that I’ve had. We will be able to, for sure, conclude on them and probably help us to understand better in the future.”

    Asked specifically about Monza, Albon added: “It’s always a good track for us. Low [downforce], not much combined cornering, so that tends to suit our car. We’ve got the best power unit on the grid, so it should help us. But I’m not expecting points.”

    Williams sits ninth in the constructors’ standings with 11 points. Audi is ahead on 16 points, while Aston Martin is behind on three.

  • George Russell Describes “tough” Battle to Keep Lewis Hamilton Off the Dutch GP Podium

    George Russell Describes “tough” Battle to Keep Lewis Hamilton Off the Dutch GP Podium

    George Russell has revealed the defensive tactics he used to hold off a late challenge from Lewis Hamilton for the final podium place at the Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix.

    The Mercedes driver started the Zandvoort race from second on the grid, but was overtaken by team-mate Kimi Antonelli on the opening lap. Russell moved back ahead after the pit stops, although Antonelli was running an alternative strategy with a tyre advantage.

    Mercedes subsequently instructed Russell to move aside in the closing stages, allowing the championship leader to reclaim second place. That left Russell defending from Hamilton, who was charging through the field while leading both Ferrari drivers late in the race.

    “It was tough,” Russell said after the race when asked how he kept the seven-time champion at bay.

    “I think Kimi’s and my race was kind of the opposite. I had a tough medium stint, he had a very strong medium stint, then I had a strong hard stint, he was struggling. But that VSC gave Lewis the free pitstop, and obviously Kimi pitted as well.

    “From there on in, I knew I was going to be under threat, but I was managing enough in the high-speed corners to allow me to be fast in sector three and defending into Turn 1. So, I was pleased with that performance.”

    George Russell finished third behind Kimi Antonelli. Photo by: Mark Thompson / Getty Images

    Russell expects Mercedes challenge at Monza

    Russell acknowledged that Mercedes had endured a “challenging couple of weekends” after McLaren won in Hungary and then triumphed again at Zandvoort following the summer break.

    Mercedes remains ahead in both the drivers’ and constructors’ championships, but McLaren has continued to improve through successive upgrades. Ferrari is also expected to introduce a new engine at the Italian Grand Prix in Monza, meaning Mercedes cannot afford to become complacent.

    “I think these coming two or three race weekends will be a challenge for us both [Antonelli and him], purely because we’re out of sync with the upgrades,” Russell added.

    “I think we will be slightly more competitive [at Monza]. However, I believe Ferrari have an engine upgrade incoming, and the truth is we just don’t know. But I do believe that these high-degradation circuits [like Zandvoort] really suit McLaren very well, and especially Lando. He’s always been a bit of a specialist in those conditions. We also saw it last year. Monza may be slightly different, but I think they are the team to beat right now.”

    Russell is currently second in the drivers’ standings, level with Hamilton on 183 points. Both Mercedes drivers are 59 points behind championship leader Antonelli.

  • George Russell Outlines “tough” Battle to Keep Lewis Hamilton Off the Dutch GP Podium

    George Russell Outlines “tough” Battle to Keep Lewis Hamilton Off the Dutch GP Podium

    George Russell has revealed how he defended his podium position from a late attack by Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton at Formula 1’s Dutch Grand Prix.

    Russell explains how he held off Hamilton

    Russell qualified second for the race at Zandvoort but was overtaken by Kimi Antonelli on the opening lap. The Mercedes driver moved back ahead of his young team-mate after the pit stops, although Antonelli was running an alternate strategy with a tyre offset.

    Mercedes subsequently asked Russell to give up second place in the closing stages so Antonelli could reclaim the position. That left Russell defending from Hamilton, who was charging through the field and had already passed both Ferrari drivers late in the race.

    “It was tough,” Russell said after the race when asked how he kept the seven-time champion at bay.

    “I think Kimi’s and my race was kind of the opposite. I had a tough medium stint, he had a very strong medium stint, then I had a strong hard stint, he was struggling. But that VSC gave Lewis the free pitstop, and obviously Kimi pitted as well.

    “From there on in, I knew I was going to be under threat, but I was managing enough in the high-speed corners to allow me to be fast in sector three and defending into Turn 1. So, I was pleased with that performance.”

    George Russell finished third behind Kimi Antonelli. Photo by: Mark Thompson / Getty Images

    Mercedes faces growing McLaren and Ferrari threat

    Russell acknowledged that the podium capped a “challenging couple of weekends” for Mercedes after McLaren won in Hungary and again at Zandvoort following the summer break.

    Mercedes continues to lead both the drivers’ and constructors’ championships, but McLaren has been improving steadily through successive upgrades. Ferrari is also expected to introduce a new engine at the Italian Grand Prix in Monza, leaving Mercedes with little room for complacency.

    “I think these coming two or three race weekends will be a challenge for us both [Antonelli and him], purely because we’re out of sync with the upgrades,” Russell added.

    “I think we will be slightly more competitive [at Monza]. However, I believe Ferrari have an engine upgrade incoming, and the truth is we just don’t know. But I do believe that these high-degradation circuits [like Zandvoort] really suit McLaren very well, and especially Lando. He’s always been a bit of a specialist in those conditions. We also saw it last year. Monza may be slightly different, but I think they are the team to beat right now.”

    Russell is currently second in the drivers’ standings on 183 points, level with Hamilton. Both Mercedes drivers are 59 points behind championship leader Antonelli.

  • Liam Lawson Praised After Impressive Red Bull Comeback at Dutch GP

    Liam Lawson Praised After Impressive Red Bull Comeback at Dutch GP

    Former Red Bull mechanic and current team ambassador Calum Nicholas has praised Liam Lawson’s “absolutely brilliant” adaptation after the New Zealander stepped into Red Bull’s Formula 1 seat at the Dutch Grand Prix.

    Lawson was unexpectedly called up to replace Isack Hadjar, who withdrew from the final F1 event at Zandvoort because of a wrist injury. Despite the short notice, the Racing Bulls driver delivered a strong performance alongside four-time world champion Max Verstappen.

    Nicholas praises Lawson’s Red Bull return

    “He seems to have just taken everything really calmly under his wing, and he’s had a solid weekend,” Nicholas explained during the Talking Bull podcast.

    “For the car that we’ve had underneath us this weekend, he maximised the results that were available with the car he had, and that would be great for him.”

    Lawson’s appearance marked his first return to the Red Bull seat since his demotion from the Milton Keynes team in 2025. The 24-year-old replaced Sergio Perez for the 2025 season but was moved back to Racing Bulls after just two races.

    “It was really important for him to just have a quiet weekend, but do a really, really good job. And that’s exactly what he did,” Nicholas continued.

    “With all the noise about it and obviously what he’d been through before in the car. So to be able to make that hop really quickly at the last minute and do a solid job. Absolutely brilliant for him. I’m really happy for his weekend and for him.”

    Laurent Mekies backs Lawson’s performance

    Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies also acknowledged the difficulty of the task handed to Lawson.

    “It’s never easy to step into a different team, a different car for a race like that, and he’s done a good job,” Mekies said. “He was only one tenth away from Max yesterday in qualifying, and today took the points that were available to him pace-wise with seventh place.”

    Source: www.motorsport.com

  • BBC Sport Weekly Quiz: What Was Wrong With the Sydney Marathon Medals?

    BBC Sport Weekly Quiz: What Was Wrong With the Sydney Marathon Medals?

    It has been another busy week in sport, featuring marathon drama, the Dutch Grand Prix and the return of the Premier League.

    Only around 11% of quiz participants achieved a perfect score in last week’s edition. Can you match their result this week?

    Take More Football and Sports Quizzes

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  • Isack Hadjar’s Dutch GP Withdrawal Was a “Sign of Confidence,” Says Calum Nicholas

    Isack Hadjar’s Dutch GP Withdrawal Was a “Sign of Confidence,” Says Calum Nicholas

    Isack Hadjar’s decision to withdraw from the 2026 Dutch Grand Prix because of a wrist injury showed confidence rather than weakness, according to former Red Bull mechanic Calum Nicholas.

    Hadjar had made an impressive start to the 2026 Formula 1 season alongside four-time world champion Max Verstappen at Red Bull. However, he stood down for the Zandvoort race after sustaining the injury, allowing Racing Bulls driver Liam Lawson to take his place at short notice.

    Lawson finished seventh in a chaotic race after Verstappen’s Red Bull crashed out on the opening lap.

    Hadjar’s Dutch Grand Prix absence praised

    Speaking on the latest episode of the Talking Bull podcast, Nicholas praised Hadjar for prioritising his fitness and the remainder of the season.

    “To take the week out as a precaution to make sure that he was fit for the rest of the season actually shows the confidence that he’s had all year,” Nicholas explained.

    “He’s been doing an incredible job. It’s a real sign of the confidence that he’s got to be able to just say, ‘Look, I’m not 100%. I’m going to take this week out as a precaution.’ And yeah, hopefully we see him back in the car in Monza.”

    Isack Hadjar, Red Bull Racing. Photo by: Andy Hone/ LAT Images via Getty Images

    It has not yet been confirmed whether Hadjar will return to the cockpit for the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, which takes place from 4 to 6 September. The Red Bull driver was nevertheless present with the team at Zandvoort.

    “We also had Isack with us this weekend even though he couldn’t be driving,” team principal Laurent Mekies said. “He was with the team trying to take the learning and trying to make sure we can push all together as strongly as we can next week in Monza.”

    In his first season with Red Bull, Hadjar sits eighth in the drivers’ championship with 68 points. Verstappen is sixth with 112 points.

  • Mercedes Seeking Answers After Kimi Antonelli’s Pace Faded in F1 Dutch Grand Prix

    Mercedes Seeking Answers After Kimi Antonelli’s Pace Faded in F1 Dutch Grand Prix

    Mercedes has launched a “deep dive” into Kimi Antonelli’s performance at the Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix after the championship leader reported a “difficult second half” of the race while struggling with the balance of his W17.

    Antonelli made a strong start at Zandvoort. After qualifying third, he overtook Mercedes team-mate George Russell off the line to take second place before the end of the opening lap. However, the championship leader encountered increasing problems with the car after each tyre change.

    “It was really weird because I felt good with the medium. I felt decent on the first hard, but then on the second one it just felt really odd,” Antonelli explained after finishing runner-up to McLaren’s Lando Norris.

    Mercedes is now investigating the issues Antonelli faced to understand what went wrong before the next round of the Formula 1 season in Italy.

    “Each tyre had a bit more oversteer than the tyre before it and we’re trying to understand why that was,” explained Mercedes trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin in the team’s Dutch GP debrief video.

    “Now, we didn’t change the car, we didn’t add any aero balance, which is the sort of thing that could have explained it. So, we’re having a real deep dive into the data and try and get to the bottom of that because it’s important to solve those sort of things ahead of the next race.

    “It’s obviously getting really tight now in terms of performance. We’re still waiting for our major update to land and that will help but in the meantime, it is going to be a bit of a fight.”

    The championship leader settled for second in the Netherlands

    Antonelli said the problem left him with “little confidence in the car” during the closing stages, when he was defending against Ferrari drivers Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc while also closing on Russell.

    Because Antonelli and Russell were using offset strategies, Russell allowed his younger team-mate through. The move helped Antonelli secure second place and extend his championship lead.

    “George, you know, I have to thank him because he made my life a lot easier,” Antonelli explained. “But I still think probably could have stayed out and gone until the end with the same set because it put us a little bit at risk. Also, I feel we put George at risk with having to let me by and everything.

    “But I still think, at the end of the day, it was a great team execution with how things were, and I think today P2 was the maximum we could have done because the pace of the McLarens, especially in the second half, was just too strong.”

    Mercedes will hope to identify the cause of Antonelli’s handling problems before his home race in Italy. The team has already confirmed that he will take an engine penalty at the event because of reliability issues earlier in the season.

  • Esteban Ocon Defends Controversial Move on Alex Albon, Bemoans F1 Rule

    Esteban Ocon Defends Controversial Move on Alex Albon, Bemoans F1 Rule

    Esteban Ocon defended his controversial overtake on Alexander Albon during the Dutch Grand Prix and criticised the Formula 1 rule that sent him back behind the Williams driver for the second race start.

    Max Verstappen crashed out and Gabriel Bortoleto spun 360 degrees on the opening lap at a slightly damp Zandvoort circuit. As the yellow-flag zone ended, Ocon accelerated faster than Albon and moved into 13th place shortly after crossing the start-finish line. Albon objected to the move over the team radio.

    “I’m sorry, but what Esteban did is crazy,” Albon ranted on the radio. “He’s overtaking me in the middle of the crash.”

    Although Albon was not asked about the incident during his post-race media session, Ocon was questioned about the overtake and insisted that he had not breached the rules.

    “I overtook Alex, yeah, but I had the right, because it was green,”

    the Haas driver said. However, the grid for the second start was determined by the classification at the end of the first lap, making Ocon’s overtake irrelevant to the restart order.

    “What was a big shame is that you have to take all these risks, you know?” Ocon added. “You’re playing with either getting a penalty or not. I was not having a penalty, but it was very tight, because I just passed him when it was green. And then they put you back at the race start.

    “It’s been like that forever, but… Really, if that was 20 metres earlier, then I was having the place. But we still raced, like, for one-and-a-half sector. The red flag only came after Turn 5, you know? So, we passed sector one, and we were getting into sector two. So, I should have started in front of Alex – because that changed my race.”

    Esteban Ocon, Haas F1 Team — Photo by Simon Galloway / LAT Images via Getty Images

    Ocon spent the early stages of the race behind Albon before making an early pit stop on lap 16 in an attempt to find clear air. He had returned to 14th when he retired on lap 53 with a power unit problem.

    “After that, obviously, there’s a lot of things that maybe we could have done differently, with strategy, etc,”

    the Frenchman admitted.

    “Fernando [Alonso] did a really, really good strategy, I don’t think we could have done the same one without degradation. But there are things that we can look into to do a better job.”

    Ocon said Formula 1 should be able to use a more current race classification when forming the grid for a restart, rather than relying on the order recorded at the end of the previous lap.

    “We are not going to believe that in Formula 1 we don’t have timing loops every 20 metres, you know? It’s a very old-school rule, really,”

    he continued.

    “I said it on the radio, let’s not make Alex go in front again at the restart. Because that should not be the case. And for some reason I felt it, that they were going to put him in front again. They still take the line, which is like two kilometres back. It shouldn’t be like that, it should be the last moment.”

  • Fernando Alonso: Dutch GP Strategy Shows “I’m a very good driver”

    Fernando Alonso: Dutch GP Strategy Shows “I’m a very good driver”

    Fernando Alonso credited his driving ability after turning an unexpected one-stop strategy into a points finish for Aston Martin at the Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix.

    The Spaniard finished ninth at Zandvoort on Sunday after starting 18th, securing his second points result of the 2026 season following 10th place at Monaco in June.

    Alonso’s recovery was particularly impressive because he completed 34 laps on a set of soft tyres before switching to hard tyres for the remaining 38 laps of the 72-lap race. While several rivals used at least a two-stop strategy, the Aston Martin driver waited patiently behind competitors who had yet to pit before taking advantage of the overcut in clean air.

    “I’m a very good driver,” said Alonso, when asked how he made it work. “That was not the plan. I think the plan was two stops and to go more conventional.

    “But we need to sometimes deviate a little bit from what is normal. When we are in traffic, we cannot use our potential.

    “We are faster in the corners and the people in front of us, we are slower on the straights, and we’re stuck behind.

    “So, as soon as we have free track in front of us, we try to use it, even if it’s not the optimal performance and the optimal strategy and it’s what we did today.”

    Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin Racing, Alexander Albon, Williams. Photo by: Simon Galloway / LAT Images via Getty Images

    Aston Martin upgrades deliver another step forward

    Alonso’s result followed Aston Martin’s introduction of a radically different chassis at the previous round in Budapest and the arrival of an upgraded Honda engine in the Netherlands.

    The updates have helped the British team move away from its previous position as Formula 1’s slowest outfit, a tag now held by newcomer Cadillac. However, Aston Martin’s Zandvoort weekend began with significant difficulties.

    Alonso qualified last for the sprint race, while team-mate Lance Stroll started 19th. Alonso experienced driveability problems because his straight-line mode was not working, contributing to a lock-up at Turn 1.

    The two Aston Martin drivers eventually finished the sprint in 17th and 18th. They then secured more respectable qualifying positions for Sunday’s race, starting 18th and 19th ahead of Haas and Cadillac.

    Alonso expects Aston Martin to be uncompetitive at the low-downforce Italian Grand Prix in Monza, the next round of the season, but said the Dutch Grand Prix still marked “another step forward” for the Silverstone-based team.

    “Especially on the chassis side,” he added. “We brought four or five components here.

    “Also, the Budapest package was understood in the break and with all the data available after the race, we fine-tuned a little bit the set-up around that new spec, plus the new parts.

    “I think, now, we are optimising the chassis side and we are able to extract the maximum.

    “On the engine, it’s more difficult. I don’t think we can be black and white on if we have more power or not.

    “From the driver’s side of things, you change circuit one month after the other race, so the drivability has been a difficult weekend.

    “We’re struggling with the downshift again and we’re struggling with the engine braking corner to corner. So, it was a challenging weekend in that regard.”