One last time: Zandvoort closes its curtains with final F1 race

The final Dutch Grand Prix started with a British front row lock out— Norris stealing pole position from George Russell. As the cars lined up on the grid, weather was unpredictable and rain water was stagnant on the track resulting in puddles of water, especially on the final corner. On the other hand blue skies graced Zandvoort, all teams opted for dry tyres in hopes for the asphalt heating up and evaporating the water.

As Sergio Perez made his way down the pit lane, the lights went out and Russell failed to get a good enough launch off the start, allowing Antonelli to overtake around the outside. This overtake incited a knock-on effect causing Hamilton to inch into Verstappen and slightly pushing him off the track.

There was no calm after the first lap as Verstappen crashed on the final corner of his last home Grand Prix leading to a red flag. Verstappen was carrying too much speed and spun when he skidded through a wet section of the track, ending his race. His teammate for this race, Liam Lawson, narrowly avoided crashing into the Dutch driver. Bortoleto was counting his lucky stars as he, too, spun 360 degrees but fortunately missed hitting any walls or any other cars. Another stroke of luck for Audi as Nico Hulkenberg came inches away from careening into his teammate when driving blind in the smoke emitted from his fellow Audi driver.

The race restarted with Norris still holding onto first place, however, the Ferraris of Leclerc and Hamilton sought to claim some more positions with their fresh soft compound tyres. On the other end of the timings, Stroll and the two Audis were delayed due to a mechanical issue, building a large gap between themselves and the rest of the grid. 

Oliver Bearman ended his race on the 11th corner due to suspected engine issues, causing an extra formation lap. A sad day for the British driver.

Finally the cars went racing again, Norris didn’t hold out in first place, as Kimi Antonelli rapidly overtook the world champion. However, the other Mercedes was not as fortunate, as Piastri executed a crisp overtake on the British driver. The Mercedes silver arrow of Hamilton then faced the relentless prancing Ferrari of Charles Leclerc. 

This season's rookie driver— Arvid Lindblad— was handed a drive through penalty for yellow flag infringements. He was later joined by Colapinto with the same consequence on lap 8. Having to sacrifice his position in the top 10, Franco Colapinto chose to serve the penalty immediately. 

Leclerc and Hamilton eagerly followed George Russell. Lap after lap the Monegasque utilised the break in air behind Russell to close the short gap. Under pressure from his opponents, Russell voiced his thoughts on a “plan A”, a probable change in one stop tyre strategy. In an attempt to maintain track position, Russell pits on lap 18 ultimately releasing Charles Leclerc of his endless battle with the Mercedes. This decision forced McLaren's hand, and the team pitted Oscar Piastri. Meanwhile Russell was facing traffic on his out lap, keeping the McLaren pit crew safe from the undecut— until they performed a devastatingly slow pitstop, meaning that the Australian exited behind the Mercedes driver. 

Lap 22 saw an influx in pit stops: Antonelli, Leclerc, Lawson. The majority of these stops were +3 seconds. Ferrari also chose to leave Hamilton out on track in hopes for a safety car, however Hamilton remained firm in his beliefs that his tyres were fine.

On the other end of the grid, Alex Albon trudged his Williams into 8th position on his hard tyre. Still yet to pit, he faced the danger of Fernando Alonso. Further in the midfield, the other Williams driver, Sainz, was holding up the entirety of the track behind him. Pierre Gasly defended from rookie Lindblad and Yuki Tsunoda, as the Audi of Nico Hulkenberg overtook the pack of drivers. Not only does Gasly lose his point scoring position to constructor rival Arvid Lindblad, but so does replacement driver and ex-teammate Yuki Tsunoda.

After their pit stops, Leclerc and Piastri are stuck in a battle for fourth. This back-and-forth allows for Lewis Hamilton to inch closer. As they started a new lap, Piastri covered the inside corner in an attempt to defend from the Ferrari, however, Leclerc dropped behind him and switched onto the inside and held onto the racing line through corners 3 and 4. 

Hamilton later performed the same manoeuvre, as Piastri attempts to defend with a late lunge that the British driver noted as quite dangerous— Piastri then received black and white flags for erratic driving.

On Lap 41, Mercedes performed a double stack pit stop, giving both drivers smooth and quick tyre changes providing the drivers with an advantage against the two Ferraris, so as to not build too large of a gap.  In a counter attempt, Ferrari intended to switch their drivers by pitting Charles Leclerc and allow the faster car (Hamilton) to overtake and hopefully compete with Lando Norris for first place. Leclerc ignored their decision in favor of building a tyre gap between himself and George Russell— disadvantageous to his teammates' tyre life.

Lap 47, Lando Norris headed into the pits with a +10 second gap separating him from Hamilton, and exited the pit lane in between the two Mercedes. Fresh tyres on, Norris placed pressure onto Championship leader, Antonelli, whose own tyres are degraded. 

Heading around the first corner on lap 54, Antonelli chose the inside line, but Norris read his defensive attempt and swerved around the young driver on the outside, swiftly overtaking the Mercedes— followed quickly by Hamilton’s Ferrari.

Esteban Ocon was seen stopped at the side of the track prompting a virtual safety car. A virtual safety car saves drivers large amounts of time on their pit stops— an advantage for Hamilton’s aforementioned degraded tyres. Taking inspiration from Mercedes, Ferrari performed a double stack, allowing Hamilton to leave the pit lane ahead of his teammate in fourth place. With Lando Norris vulnerable out in front, McLaren pitted his teammate in a ploy to regain former track positions from rival teams, Mercedes and Ferrari. With all the drivers behind Russell and Norris on fresh soft compound tyres, both drivers are disadvantaged by their degraded tyres.

Lap 65 saw the end of Valtteri Bottas’ race due to a hydraulic issue. This lap also saw Mercedes decide to switch drivers, an obvious change that should have been made earlier to allow Antonelli to take on Norris. This left the British driver vulnerable to Lewis Hamilton and his own fresh tyres— did Mercedes just lose a potential double podium?

A second penalty was sent to Franco Colapinto, a +10 second time penalty for failing to slow down under yellow flag conditions in the closing laps, a disappointing result for the Argentinian who was sailing in 14th place. The sole Red Bull car on the track also received a penalty for yellow flag infringements for a second time. Contrastingly he may stay within the point margin.

In turn 1, both Williams made contact and Alex Albon ran off the track. Not the greatest stunt for the team after both drivers have re-signed multi-year contracts— the drivers tumbled down the standings as well as ending both of their races, losing critical points in the constructors championship.

With the final lap in play, both Ferraris were on the hunt for at least one prancing horse on the podium, and to steal that position from Mercedes. Inching closer and closer Russell kept a tight hold onto that third place as the Ferraris almost made contact. Norris is in first coming round the last corner, swiftly followed by both Mercedes. 

A stressful and thrilling end to such a magnificent track, Zandvoort provided fans with a final race to remember.