Race Highlights | 2021 Dutch Grand Prix

It's lights out and away we go. Pretty even start from the front, too. Verstappen does move over to cut off Lewis Hamilton. That gets a roar of approval. It is 1-2-3, Hamilton in second, Verstappen leads, Bottas third, and round the first corner we go. The two Ferraris might be swapping places as Carlos Sainz comes under a bit of pressure as well from his teammate Charles Leclerc. Round the banking now, and that's the Alpine passer Antonio Giovinazzi and Fernando Alonso. Esteban Ocon has lost places, but it's a dream start for Max Verstappen as Giovinazzi gets on the grass and has to get his elbows out. Oh, that was a very simple off the line for the front two, but there's so much action now from Turn 3, Turn 4, Turn 5 and through the sweeping right-hander into Turn 3. Really exciting with the Ferraris down low trying a different line. I tell you what, Fernando almost got collected by George Russell before he took that high line as well. We're on board with Antonio Giovinazzi now who lost places on that opening lap as he sees the Alpine coming right into his field. And we had to take a step back from our monitor there. Did he touch there? A little bit. And every lap in practice, they've done the high line and then suddenly in the race they've decided that the low line is the better line. In comes Lewis Hamilton for his first stop of the race. And I say first stop of the race because I don't expect those medium tyres to go between now and the end of 72 laps. Max is going to react. That's all he has to do today, just cover Lewis. I was going to ask the question, do they cover Lewis Hamilton and respond? And that's exactly what Red Bull are doing. And if you think Mercedes' pit box is tight, well, it's even tighter for Max Verstappen. But in he comes. 3.6 seconds, Lewis Hamilton was stationary. 2.7 seconds, Max Verstappen was stationary. So this is the race win for Verstappen or for Hamilton. Or is it for Bottas? If he's going longer on a one-stop, do Mercedes think that could be the best way to run this race now? I'll tell you what, Max Verstappen has caught Valtteri Bottas at a good time here. He ran wide through the entry to the chicane there, which would have put him on the back foot. And look how close Max is now. This is his opportunity. But look how close Lewis is as well. Valtteri has done a sterling job here to try and hold up Max Verstappen. He's not going to hold him up any longer because with DRS, there he goes. And you can hear the roar from the Dutch Lions in the grandstands. But you can also see the marbles that are being flicked up into the air when he went offline. Now, going offline is Valtteri Bottas to let Lewis Hamilton through. And the upshot of the last five or so laps is a three-and-a-half-second advantage for Max Verstappen over Lewis Hamilton is now down to just 7 tenths. Look at the marbles that are being flicked up in Lewis' face from Max in front on the inside line. Lewis Hamilton let by and passed his teammate a lot easier than Max Verstappen had found it. I rather get the feeling we had a Vettel spinner. Oh, he's gone for the inside, lost the rear, but was able to collect it up. Oh, is that Bottas? That was Bottas. He's just missed him. Well, that's going to take a bit of time off Valtteri Bottas' charge towards Verstappen and Hamilton. He lost about 1.5 seconds, one-and-a-half seconds, in that first sector because he was the car having to take evasive action. To Perez, one second. Let's try and hold him up. Yeah, let's go, Daniel. Let's go. You're going to hold Perez up here. And this is Daniel Ricciardo being told to hold up Sergio Perez, but hold on. It's not easy. He's got his mojo back today, hasn't he? Fantastic. Gap at 3.8, 3.8. Is he complaining about something or what? I think his tyres are done. Perez on the outside of Turn 1, braving it around the outside. Normally the quicker line to get a good exit, but he's behind. Oh, a couple of bits of contact there. I tell you what, I wanted to see that replay run on a bit more because I think there was a harder hit, wasn't there? As we cut the way to this particular shot, we might just see it. Again, there's Lando Neues trying to push him wide, and that was wheel-to-wheel. They're robust if you hit them in the right places, these cars. You could hear the wheel spin. Yeah, that was a big lift of the tyre and suspension. Valtteri, it's James. Please abort the fastest lap attempt before the end of the lap. Right, so he's gone purple, purple. Fastest first sector, fastest middle sector for Valtteri Bottas. And he might just be slowing down a bit as he crosses the line. He did slow down. He did abort the fastest lap attempt. He's still got the fastest lap, though. Oh, no. Copy. We're on it. The pressure's on because there is that extra point up for grabs. Imagine what happens if Max Verstappen makes a small error now and Mercedes think, oh, no, we've thrown away the race win. But they've also caused a little bit of friction within the team itself. Last weekend, he won at Spa in the country of his birth. This weekend in Holland, he is going to win as a Dutch driver, a Dutch national, and it is double Dutch delight for Max Verstappen, who crosses the line to win the Dutch Grand Prix. Tiesto waves the flag. Turn up to the max. Listen to that roar. Fantastic, isn't it? What an atmosphere. And, you know, if you're here and you're watching and you don't support Max, it doesn't matter. This is such an amazing atmosphere. This is Formula One. The crucial thing for Hamilton is can he get the fastest lap of the race on the last lap of the race? And he does. So he wins that extra point for the fastest lap on a day where he and Mercedes were second best to Max Verstappen and Red Bull. That is a really, really mature drive by the presence of your fans. Very good. Well done, mate. That was epic. You've won your home race. You were brilliant today. Enjoy this lap and enjoy the podium. Thank you very much, guys. Amazing strategy. You were really, really sharp today. And nice pushing 72 laps here. I love it. Great job, guys. They've come here for a festival and a celebration. So he drapes himself in the flag of the Netherlands. Have a listen to that. What a triple header this is. The washout at Spa and the race that never was. The sunshine and the celebrations for Max Verstappen here at Zandvoort. And who knows what Monza will bring us. The one thing we can say, it'll be another fast and frenetic race.