How Red Bull outplayed Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes in Dutch Grand Prix? Max Vertsappen has an answer

Max Verstappen put on a brilliant display of driving in front of his delirious home fans in the Dutch Grand Prix. The circuit of Zandvoort, which was painted totally in Orange and hosting an F1 race after 36 years, saw Verstappen pulling out all the stops in a dominant race win. Verstappen did not have the advantage of getting in the fastest lap of the race as well. But, his performance saw him take the lead in the 2021 F1 championship ahead of Lewis Hamilton. The British driver, who is stuck on 99 race wins and has not won since the British Grand Prix, settled for the second spot.

How did Max Verstappen and Red Bull outplay Hamilton and the Mercedes? The answer lies in the summer break in August. After the end of the Hungarian Grand Prix, the driver and the teams were on a nearly month-long break. At that time, Verstappen had pointed out that Red Bull needed the Need for Speed if they are to stay alive in the title race.

Max Verstappen demands speed in the next part of F1

Speaking after the end of the race in the press conference, Verstappen stated, “You shouldn’t look at statistics. You have to look at the race pace, not the results. That’s why I also thought, and I also said this during the summer break, we really need to speed up the pace because otherwise, they (Mercedes) will run away with it.”

But, despite a flawless performance, Verstappen still stated there was a need for improvement in some areas. “We still need to be faster, but it’s going in the right direction. There are still a lot of different circuits to come. So, it will go both ways anyway. We have to keep pushing and keep developing the car and bringing new parts,” Verstappen said.

This month is a triple-header, with races every week. With Spa turning out to be fracas due to the rain, the race in Zandvoort lived up to tremendous expectations for the home fans. The focus now shifts to Monza, where the high-speed straights will boost both the Mercedes and Red Bull.

Lewis Hamilton questions strategy

At the other end of the spectrum, Hamilton was frustrated at the strategy employed by Mercedes in the Dutch Grand Prix. When he finished his second pit stop, he came out behind traffic. That meant that he could not close the gap with Verstappen. Hamilton, speaking to Sky Sports, has questioned the strategy of Mercedes in the race.

“I think that wasn’t our best strategy. But it was really hard out there. At the end of the day, they were just too quick. We’ll work out how to improve it. We stopped too early. I then came out behind traffic, I don’t know how they didn’t see that,” Hamilton said.

With the next race in Monza next week, Verstappen holds a slender three-point lead against Hamilton. Verstappen has seven wins while Hamilton has four. Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon are the other drivers to have won a race in the 2021 season apart from the top two.