Max Verstappen won in front of his home crowd at the Dutch Grand Prix after late safety car drama in Zandvoort.
The Dutchman had to pass Lewis Hamilton late on to secure the win, finishing ahead of George Russell, while Charles Leclerc completed the top three.
Kevin Magnussen had an early trip across the gravel as he ran wide, glancing the barrier but managing to avoid major damage to his Haas.
Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez were the first of the front runners to come in for new tyres, stopping at the same time. The Ferrari mechanics had an issue, seemingly not having the right tyres ready for the Spaniard, keeping him stationary for more than 12 seconds, while they also left a wheel gun in the pitlane, which Perez ran over as he pulled away from the Red Bull garage.
The majority of the leaders stopped within the first 20 laps after starting on the soft tyre, but Mercedes kept both of their drivers out longer, having started on the medium tyre.
Towards the rear of the field, Daniel Ricciardo was struggling to make progress after a disappointing qualifying on Saturday, and was the first driver to make a second stop, coming in again on lap 29.
Mercedes eventually switched both drivers onto hard tyres, attempting to one stop the race, and both showed good pace, with Lewis Hamilton closing the gap to Perez, and George Russell close behind.
Hamilton did move ahead of Perez, but almost lost the place when Sebastian Vettel emerged from the pitlane in front of the pair’s battle – picking up a five-second time penalty for ignoring blue flags and hindering Hamilton, but the seven-time champion managed to stay ahead, before Russell past Perez a lap later.
Yuki Tsunoda encountered an issue when he reported a loose tyre after making his second pitstop, but after he pulled to the side of the track, his team told him the tyres were fine.
The Japanese driver came into the pitlane where the team checked his seatbelt and changed his tyres again, but he continued to struggle with the car and had to pull to the side again, this time bringing out the virtual safety car.
The VSC period meant Verstappen was able to come in for a second pitstop without losing track position to Hamilton, before Mercedes also brought both drivers in again.
Hamilton’s hopes were boosted a couple of laps later though as Valtteri Bottas lost power, grinding to a halt on the pit straight, resulting in a full safety car.
Most of the front runners stopped for new tyres, but Hamilton stayed out, taking over at the front of the field, but facing the prospect of having to defend against cars on newer tyres.
There was more drama in the pitlane for Ferrari as they released Carlos Sainz into the path of Fernando Alonso, who had to brake hard to avoid damage, resulting in a five-second time penalty for the Ferrari driver.
As the safety car pulled back into the pits, Verstappen lined up a move, and cruised back in front of the Mercedes to regain the lead with 12 laps to go.
Russell’s decision to change tyres behind the safety car paid off as he managed to move ahead of his teammate a couple of laps later, before Charles Leclerc closed in on Hamilton, overtaking to secure the final place on the podium.
Provisional classification:
1 Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
2. George Russell (Mercedes)
3. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
4. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
5. Sergio Perez (Red Bull)
6. Fernando Alonso (Alpine)
7. Lando Norris (McLaren)
8. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)
9. Esteban Ocon (Alpine)
10. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
11. Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri)
12. Alex Albon (Williams)
13. Mick Schumacher (Haas)
14. Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin)
15. Kevin Magnussen (Haas)
16. Guanyu Zhou (Alfa Romeo)
17. Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren)
18. Nicholas Latifi (Williams)
DNF:
Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo)
Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri)
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