25/08/2024
NEWS STORY
While they cannot be entirely discounted it doesn't look as if the Weather Gods will play a part in proceedings this afternoon, then again they've been pretty busy this weekend and probably need the day off.
That said, while we are not expecting any rain the wind appears to be playing up again, which could lead to some headaches.
The main factor is whether Lando Norris can convert his much-deserved pole into a win, and having failed on the five previous occasions he's started from the coveted spot the odds are against him, especially with Max Verstappen starting alongside.
The Briton will also have to worry about the threat from behind in the form of Piastri and Russell, while Perez also has a point to prove.
Even if he does lose out at the start, we know the McLaren is fast and therefore Norris will be able to apply the pressure, while strategy will also be key.
On a track where overtaking is difficult but not impossible it will be interesting to note the progress of Sainz and Hamilton who both start well out of position and will be keen to join the battle at the front as quickly as possible.
Then again, Ferrari has struggled this weekend, and even Charles Leclerc is set to have his hands full what which trying to take on the likes of Perez and Russell, whilst holding off the Aston Martins.
Thus fat it's been a torrid weekend for Williams what with Sargeant crashing and Albon being disqualified as a result of his car being 'illegal'. Still, the attitude under James Vowles is clearly positive so we can expect the team to fight back.
Due to the ever-changing conditions the teams have very little data available to them but on paper, the one-stop is quickest, with the soft/hard combination preferable to a medium/soft. In the first case the pit stop window can be between laps 24 and 30, while for the second it should open four laps later and close on lap 34.
The pitlane opens and one by one the drivers head out into the bright sunshine.
Other than being gusty, the wind appears to be changing directions which will only add to the teams' concerns.
"It's a beautiful day at least," says Hamilton, "I do wish it was raining again from my position. There's always something to lose as every decision I take affects everyone I work with, but not being at the front it is different so just send it."
Meanwhile, Mercedes sends (18th) birthday wishes to Kimi Antonelli, which will not be lost on Williams or Sargeant.
"We'll give it a good go," vows Christian Horner, "the first corner will be crucial and so will the wind and the conditions today."
The Williams pair start from the back of the grid, while Magnussen starts from the pitlane after taking on a new energy store and control electronics and exceeding the permitted allowance.
All are on mediums bar Tsunoda, Hamilton and Bottas who are on softs, while Magnussen is on hards. As you would expect, what will all the wet running, it's fresh rubber all round.
Air temperature is 18 degrees C, while the track temperature is 29 degrees.
They head off on the formation lap.
The grid forms.
They're away!
Norris and Verstappen are evens-Stevens at first but the Red Bull begins to pull away as the McLaren suffers excessive wheelspin. Indeed, behind Piastri has a similar issue and as they head into Turn 1 the Mercedes goes through on the inside of the McLaren as Verstappen leads Norris.
Elsewhere, Perez has lost out to Leclerc, who already putting Piastri under intense pressure.
At the end of Lap 1, it's: Verstappen, Norris, Russell, Piastri, Leclerc, Perez, Gasly, Alonso, Sainz and Stroll. Hamilton is 13th.
Like Leclerc on Piastri a lap earlier, on Lap 2, Alonso tries to go down the inside of Gasly as they enter the banking.
Verstappen builds a lead of 1.08s putting himself out of DRS range, as Hamilton passes Tsunoda for 12th. Bottas also makes a move on the RB driver, but the Japanese has it covered.
Russell is under pressure from Piastri, as Verstappen builds a 1.5s lead.
"A lot of understeer, help me on D-rate," asks Sargeant.
The soft runners are running in 12th, 13th and 14th, not taking full advantage of the red-banded rubber.
Russell is now heading a DRS train, with Piastri now joined by Leclerc and Perez behind.
In seventh, Gasly heads another DRS train, with Alonso, Sainz, Stroll, Hulkenberg and Hamilton forming the carriages.
Replay shows Magnussen running wide in Turn 1 as he made a move on Zhou, the Haas pair suffering brake issues all weekend.
"Good Max, keep it up, just watch that rear-left sliding."
Magnussen finally passes Zhou to claim 19th.
Sainz is all over Gasly who has passed Alonso with a class move.
"Who are we racing," Norris is asked. "I think the car ahead," he replies, clearly as baffled as the rest of us.
Hamilton makes a bold move on Hulkenberg to claim 11th.
On Lap 11, Sainz and Gasly are wheel-to-wheel, the Spaniard eventually getting the better of the Alpine driver.
Verstappen maintains a 1.3s gap to Norris who is now 3.2s clear of Russell who is 1.3s ahead of Piastri.
Hamilton closes on Stroll who is shadowing his Aston Martin teammate.
"Thoughts on Plan A versus Plan B," Piastri is asked. "I think Plan A," he replies.
Albon pits at the end of Lap 12, rejoining in 20th on hards. Might he try to go the distance?
"Probably Plan A, Plan B might be a way to beat Max," Norris is told. "The pace is strong," reports the Briton.
"The car doesn't turn in at all in Turn 10," complains Verstappen.
As Hulkenberg and Tsunoda pit, Hamilton passes Stroll for tenth, the seven-time world champion subsequently making short work of Alonso.
On those hards Albon posts a new fastest lap (15.520), which will be of interest to the rest of the field.
Suddenly, Norris is just 0.633s down on Verstappen.
"My tyres are numb, they just don't grip," complains Verstappen.
At the start of Lap 18, Norris, courtesy of DRS and the sheer pace of the McLaren, sweeps past Verstappen on the pit straight, the McLaren leaving the Red Bull for dead.
"What's the plan from here," asks Norris. "Plan A, though he might try the undercut," he is told.
Zhou pits at the end of Lap 18.
"It felt like my brakes are going long," reports Norris, "but I think there's a lot more wind all of a sudden."
"Brakes wise, everything is fine from our side," Norris is assured.
Seemingly the wind is catching out the drivers in Turn 10.
After 21 laps, Verstappen has dropped 2.2s behind Norris but remains 5.2s ahead of Russell.
Check out our Sunday gallery from Zandvoort here.
"I can't go faster, the car doesn't respond to my inputs," reports Verstappen as Hamilton pits.
Leclerc is all over Piastri as Hamilton rejoins in 16th on hards.
Leclerc pits at the end of Lap 24, the Ferrari driver rejoining in 9th behind Alonso.
4.5s down on Norris, Verstappen will surely need to pit soon.
Next time around Russell pits, the Mercedes driver rejoining in 9th behind Alonso, having lost out badly due to a poor stop.
The Briton soon passes the two-time world champion as he seeks to make up the 1.4s gap to Leclerc.
At the end of Lap 27 Verstappen finally pits, the Red Bull driver rejoining in 5th, as Russell posts a new fastest lap (14.532).
Next time around it is Norris who stops, the Briton rejoining in 4th, 5.6s ahead of Verstappen.
As Hamilton passes Hulkenberg (again) for 13th, Perez pits and Leclerc and Gasly pass Gasly.
Perez rejoins in 9th as Ricciardo rejoins in 18th.
After 29 laps, Piastri leads Sainz by 8s, the Spaniard opting to pit, as do Stroll and Ocon.
After 31 laps, Piastri, Gasly, Alonso and Magnussen are the only drivers yet to stop.
Alonso pits at the end of Lap 32, rejoining in 15th.
Gasly pits at the end of Lap 32, as Tsunoda makes his second stop of the afternoon.
Piastri finally pits at the end of Lap 33, the Australian rejoining in 5th, 3.4s down on Russell.
As he builds a 7.5s lead, Norris posts a new fastest lap (14.391).
Gasly has been noted for a potentially unsafe release, which, according to the replays, should be a slam dunk.
Ricciardo passes Bottas for 15th as Norris posts a new fastest lap (14.312).
Stroll has been noted for speeding in the pitlane as Piastri posts a new fastest lap (14.237).
Indeed, the Australian is now just 1.5s down on Russell.
Stroll is handed a 5s time penalty for his misdemeanour.
Piastri goes around the outside of Russell in Turn 1 as Albon is passed by Gasly in a 5-way scrap for 10th.
Lap 40 sees a new fastest lap from Sainz (14.117) as he hunts down Perez who is currently sixth.
Magnussen finally pits, the Dane rejoining in 19th.
"It's dangerous, really, really dangerous," complains Albon as the 4-way battle for tenth continues. Those involved being Gasly, Alonso, Albon and Stroll, while Magnussen who had previously been involved, has now pitted.
After 44 laps (of 72) Verstappen has slipped 11.3s behind Norris, and is only 6.2s ahead of Leclerc.
Perez slams the door firmly shut as Sainz makes a move on Lap 45.
Piastri is suddenly just 0.5s down on Leclerc, as the other Ferrari continues to harry Perez.
Finally the Spaniard is through, and sets about closing the 2.8s gap to Russell.
Hamilton makes his second stop of the afternoon on Lap 48, rejoining in 8th on fresh softs.
Unable to close enough on Leclerc, Piastri will hope to gain an advantage as the Ferrari closes on backmarkers Ocon, Sargeant and Tsunoda. The Japanese politely pulls aside for the battling Ferrari and McLaren.
Lap 50 sees a new fastest lap from Hamilton (13.883) as he remains 24s down on Perez.
"Fastest stints to the end," Hamilton is told.
After 55 laps, Norris has lapped everyone up to 11th-placed Alonso.
Russell pits at the end of Lap 55, rejoining in 7th on used softs. Albon also pits, the Williams driver rejoining in 18th.
Asked about his tyres, Piastri replies: "Not amazing, but will make it to the end."
He remains 4th, 1.3s down on Leclerc.
"Keep it clean," Perez is told as he is warned that the Mercedes pair behind are on softs.
Up front, his teammate lags 16s behind leader Norris.
23s down on Hamilton, ninth-placed Gasly is under pressure from Hulkenberg and Alonso. However, the German has completed 45 laps on his hards and is therefore vulnerable to both the Aston Martin drivers.
After 62 lap (of 72), it's: Norris, Verstappen (+ 16.8s), Leclerc (+ 6s), Piastri (+ 1.2s), Sainz (+ 6s), Perez (+ 7s), Russell (+ 8.8s), Hamilton (+ 2.8s), Gasly (+ 27s) and Hulkenberg (+ 2.4s).
Hamilton posts a new fastest lap (13.878), as Alonso passes Hulkenberg for tenth.
After 70 laps, the McLaren pair are both over 7s down on Perez, leaving the Mexican looking safe for 6th.
Piastri has clearly given up on taking on Leclerc.
Norris takes the flag, posting the fastest lap on the very last lap, and therefore another point.
"Good job Max, we got what we thought we would today, so head down, good job." "A difficult race," replies the Dutchman.
"We weren't quick enough," adds Christian Horner, "so well done... damage limitation."
"Very, very surprised," admits Leclerc. "I'm not very often happy with a P3 but today we can be extremely happy with the job we have done.
"In the race we found some more pace, executed a perfect strategy and undercut two competitors," he smiles.
"We had a good start," says Verstappen. "We tried everything we could today but it's quite clear we were not quick enough. I just tried to do my own race, and that was second today."
"I have a lot of Dutch supporters," grins Norris, "so I thank them very much.
"I think from quite early on from Lap 5, 6, 7, I expected Max to start pushing on and he never did. His pace was dropping off and mine was improving. It was a nice feeling!"
Hardly the most scintillating of races, but one which sets us up nicely for the second half of the season.
If there was any doubt about the changing of the order, today was clear proof that Red Bull is no longer the force it was.
The Austrian team must now ramp up its development programme as never before, because there's a 'new' kid in town.
A well-deserved win for Norris and his team, though it was disappointing that Piastri was unable to take on Leclerc.
Next weekend we head to Monza where pace is everything, and surely few would currently bet against McLaren taking another victory.
Check out our Sunday gallery from Zandvoort here.