The twelfth round of the Formula 1 season played out on Zandvoort’s rollercoaster of a circuit, carved into the dunes along the North Sea. The track had been lashed by rain until minutes before the start, leaving the surface slick and unpredictable. Against this backdrop, Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc lined up fifth and sixth, both on Soft tires — though Leclerc’s were already worn.
Early Drama
At lights out, Leclerc reacted brilliantly, vaulting into fourth, while Hamilton held steady in sixth. But the race was immediately thrown into chaos: on lap 2, local hero Max Verstappen lost control at the final corner and slammed into the barriers. The stunned crowd fell silent as the red flag waved, halting proceedings.
Restart and Settling In
On the restart, both Ferraris stuck with Softs. Leclerc was quickly repassed by Oscar Piastri, slipping to fifth, with Hamilton close behind. Strategy soon reshuffled the order: Russell pitted on lap 17, Piastri followed a lap later, and the Ferraris climbed to third and fourth.
Mid-race Momentum
Leclerc switched to Mediums on lap 21, dropping behind Piastri, while Hamilton briefly inherited the lead as rivals cycled through their stops. By lap 25, Hamilton had taken on Hard tires, rejoining in sixth. The duel with Piastri became the highlight: on lap 34, Leclerc executed a daring move through Turns 1–3 to snatch fourth. Hamilton mirrored the attack a lap later, putting both Ferraris ahead of the Australian.
Strategic Shuffle
Pit stops from Antonelli and Russell on lap 40 elevated Ferrari to second and third. Leclerc then pitted again for Hards, slipping back, while Hamilton cycled into P2. For a fleeting moment, when Norris stopped on lap 47, Hamilton led the Dutch Grand Prix — a symbolic moment for Ferrari’s veteran. But the order soon reset as Norris and Antonelli surged back past.
Closing Stages
With Esteban Ocon stranded on lap 54, the Virtual Safety Car offered Ferrari a lifeline. Both Hamilton and Leclerc bolted on fresh Softs, rejoining fourth and fifth. Hamilton pressed Russell hard in the final laps, closing to within striking distance, but another VSC neutralized his attack.
Lando Norris controlled the race to the flag, taking victory ahead of Antonelli and Russell. Hamilton crossed in fourth, Leclerc in fifth — a solid double-points finish for Ferrari, though the podium remained just out of reach.
Lewis Hamilton #44 “Overall, it was a solid race and despite the qualifying positions, we had good pace today and brought some important points home for the team. I’m really grateful to everyone back at the factory, who continue to push and find small gains through the upgrades we’re bringing to the car. The team did a great job both with the strategy and in the pit lane, and the mechanics once again were excellent. It wasn’t an easy race, but we were competitive. While it was a good race, we know we need to do more to make sure we’re maximizing every opportunity to stay in the championship fight. We’ll go away over the next couple of weeks and see what else we can do to make sure we come back from Monza strong and ready.”
Charles Leclerc #16 “Our pace was strong, and I believed in it until the very end because we weren’t that far off George (Russell). We didn’t really have luck on our side today, as the timing of the Virtual Safety Car was not ideal for our race. On the other hand, we did a good job with tire management, and I enjoyed the overtake on Oscar (Piastri). Our main limitation was probably our starting position, so we have to review and understand where we can improve our qualifying pace. I’m excited for Monza next. I have really great memories which I will never forget from there, and it’s just a really special place for us, where we meet so many of our tifosi year after year. I hope we can make good memories there again this year.”
Fred Vasseur, Team Principal “Our race pace was decent today, but our execution was not perfect. We lost the position to Oscar Piastri with Charles at the second start and also had a slow pit stop, so there are areas in which we need to improve if we want to maximize the result in such a tight field. Today the difference between the tire compounds was very small, which made the strategy difficult to read, and at one stage we considered going to the end with Lewis before the Virtual Safety Car came out. Overall, I think what we lacked more this weekend was qualifying pace rather than race pace. We will analyze what we could have done better and make sure we execute a cleaner weekend in Monza.”