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Dutch GP
F1 Dutch GP Live Commentary and Updates - Race day
Updates from Sunday at Zandvoort for the Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix
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Max Verstappen starts from pole position for his home race after beating Charles Leclerc to top spot in qualifying by just 0.021s. Leclerc’s Ferrari team-mate Carlos Sainz starts from third, ahead of the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton, as Sergio Perez qualified fifth after spinning late on.
F1's trip to Zandvoort will be its second in a row after the seaside circuit was reinstated to the calendar last year, having been dropped at the end of 1985. Verstappen won last year's race.
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And Verstappen is, indeed, eking up on Russell, with the gap at about a second. Good E-cupping.
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"Start to eke up on Russell," Verstappen is told. We think GP said "eke up". It could be E-cup.
Vettel has not got on with these mediums since his early pitstop and he's already down in 17th place.
Back on the track, Bottas had Vettel clashed wheels at Turn 1 fighting for position. The incident was noted by the stewards but there will be no investigation on it.
The FIA stewards have a bit of work to do after this race - they've decided they will investigat the pitlane incident involving Perez and Sainz after the race.
Stopwatch
Verstappen now grabs a 1m15.904s with his fresh boots. He's over 5s clear of Leclerc.
Penalty
Zhou has duly been given a five-second penalty for speeding in the pitlane. The Alfa Romeo driver is currently in 14th place.
Sainz continues his charge from that slow pitstop by taking sixth place from Albon with the aid of DRS at Turn 1.
Stopwatch
Perez is the quickest man on track at the moment, doing a 1m16.138s on his fresh mediums. He's looking to get ahead of the Mercedes duo when they eventually stop.
McLaren rather show Ferrari how to do it with a speedy 2.4s pitstop for Norris. The Brit comes out directly behind Sainz and is on the hards, so it looks like he's one-stopping.
Pit stop
Verstappen pits from the lead, grabs the medium compound and heads out. Hamilton takes the lead for the time being.
Sainz is up to eighth after a couple of drivers pit ahead of him but he's currently 42.2s off the leaders - who are yet to pit - but he's a long way back.
Pit stop
Leclerc comes in to stop from second. All four tyres are in position before the Monegasque comes in, so it's a lot quicker. Mediums for Leclerc.
That latest error from the Ferrari Catalogue of Cock-ups lifts Hamilton into third, and Russell into fourth for the time being.
Zhou's been noted for potentially speeding in the pitlane. That'll be a clearcut thing, so it looks like he'll be in trouble.
Ferrari looked like it was missing a rear-left tyre as Sainz came in for the stop. "Oh my god..." Sainz responds, lost for words.
Pit stop
Sainz comes in to pit from third place, grabbing a set of mediums - but it's a slow stop! Sainz loses well over 10s there and drops to 11th. Perez also pitted at the same time and comes out ahead.
Pit stop
Schumacher endured a painfully long pitstop, 10s stationary, and comes out in 17th behind Zhou. That's potentially wrecked his race and fight for points.
Pit stop
Zhou also pits, to come out in 18th behind Gasly but ahead of Vettel.
Pit stop
Further ahead Alonso charges by the other AlphaTauri of Tsunoda at Turn 1 to take 11th place, but then pits at the end of the lap to cycle back through the pack.
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"Some soft runners showing high deg," Norris is told - which is playing into the medium runners' hands somewhat.
Pit stop
Gasly and Ricciardo respond to Vettel's early stop by pitting a lap later. But it is too late for Ricciardo, as Vettel has pulled off the undercut on him.
Pit stop
Vettel is the early pitter, taking his first stop at the end of lap 11. He has gone from the softs to the mediums.
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"Track is very green, I think it's going to rubber up a lot," Russell says of the circuit. The sandy surroundings don't help as the circuit can easily dust up between races.
But just like that, Alonso proves us wrong as he uses DRS to fly by Gasly into Turn 1 to take 12th place.
Due to the tight, twisty and narrow nature of the circuit, there isn't too much early movers while everyone also has tyre wear protection to think about at this point in the race.
"We may expect both Ferraris to push," Verstappen is told. But Verstappen has covered Leclerc off nicely, pushing the lead up to 1.8s by the close of lap 9.
Stopwatch
Leclerc does a 1m16.213s on lap 6, just to try and get back into the one-second bracket behind Verstappen. But Verstappen responds to try and forge a strong lead.
After his early salvo into the top six, Norris is keeping clear of Stroll in the battle for seventh. The McLaren driver's mediums are starting to come into the ideal window compared to Stroll's softs.
Hamilton's got DRS on Sainz and he's hovering in his wake as he finds pace on the medium tyres.
Ocon made the best start of the midfield runners to climb from 12th to ninth on the opening laps and is tucked up behind Stroll.
Verstappen has broken clear of the DRS buffer, so the onus is on Leclerc to catch up.
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"Car is OK," reports Magnussen. He glanced the wall square on with both of his left-hand side tyres but got going again without too much trouble. Magnussen is two seconds off Latifi at the back of the pack.
It's as you were at the end of lap 2 in the top six, after Norris cleared Russell for sixth. But Russell is keeping close.
Crash
Magnussen hits the wall! The Haas driver goes wide at Turn 2 on the second lap and bounces over the gravel and into the outside wall. He continues on his way but is down in last place.
A clean start by all runners, as Norris gets ahead of Russell into Turn 2 to take sixth place!
Verstappen cuts across to cover the lead, as Leclerc follows - and Sainz evades an assault from Hamilton into the opening corner!
Lights out
And the Dutch Grand Prix begins! Let's go!
The overcastness and the ferris wheel in the background puts one more in mind of Suzuka rather than Zandvoort. Maybe we just miss Suzuka.
Green flag
The formation lap is away. Let's get to it.
By: autosport.com
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