Verstappen led from pole, ahead of the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz. All started on soft tyres, while the Mercedes duo of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell opted for medium from the start, allowing them to aim for a unique strategy after switching to hard.
That strategy was ruined by a bizarre-looking scenario with AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda stopping on track twice, giving Verstappen the lead after a virtual safety car, but the pendulum swung back as Valtteri’s Alfa Romeo Bottas also stopped, taking out a full safety car.
Hamilton retook the lead, but was at a tire disadvantage to those behind, so Verstappen immediately passed him on the restart. Hamilton dropped to fourth and was furious over the radio about his tire strategy.
2022 Dutch Grand Prix Race Results
How the Dutch Grand Prix unfolded
Verstappen maintained his pole lead in the race to Turn 1, leading Leclerc and Sainz, the latter escaping a touch from Hamilton at Turn 1.
Under pressure from Alex Albon’s Williams, Kevin Magnussen suffered a lap 2 crash that sent his Haas to the back after brushing the wall. Russell’s Mercedes DRS passed the fast McLaren of Lando Norris for sixth place on lap 3.
Sainz was the first of the favorites to pit on lap 15, but suffered a disastrous 12.7s stop because the left rear wheel was not ready, allowing Pérez to get ahead, although he had to run over the spare gun. de Sainz to leave the pits. Sainz dropped to sixth as a result.
Leclerc, who lost 5 seconds to Verstappen, pitted on lap 18. Verstappen pitted a lap later, and this freed up the Mercedes, who started on medium rather than soft tires in front of them.
On newer tyres, Verstappen passed Russell for second in Tarzan on lap 28 and chased down Hamilton who was 2.6sec ahead. Hamilton faced for hard tires a lap later, rejoining in fifth place, with Russell doing the same a couple of laps later.
Hamilton attacked Perez for third on lap 36 and, after a couple of near misses around the lap, passed him a lap later in Tarzan, but was dropped a further three seconds by Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin) who rejoined, and was now at a pit stop. behind Verstappen as a result. Russell easily passed Perez two laps later.
However, Verstappen was unhappy with the medium tire and Hamilton began to catch up with him, as well as second-placed Leclerc. Pérez was called up for hard tires at this point, to help with Verstappen’s next tire choice, and immediately set the fastest lap. Leclerc faced difficulties on lap 46.
Yuki Tsunoda started at Turn 5, claiming his tires were not set correctly, but rejoined without prompting a safety car. After another pit stop, he parked again prompting a virtual safety car, which eliminated Mercedes’ planned stop strategy and stranded the recently stopped Ferraris on hard tires while Norris and Fernando Alonso (Alpine) switched to soft. behind them.
Verstappen battled for new hard tyres, as did Hamilton and Russell for new mediums. The race restarted with Verstappen leading by 13 seconds over Hamilton, Russell and Leclerc.
Valtteri Bottas’ Alfa Romeo came to a stop before Turn 1, just as Sainz passed Ocon for sixth under caution. Verstappen ran into the softs, allowing Hamilton to take the lead ahead of Russell.
Under the safety car, Russell was stopped again on softs, as was Sainz, who nearly hit Alonso as he rejoined the fast lane.
The race restarted with Hamilton, on used media, leading Verstappen, Russell and Leclerc. Pérez was fifth in media, ahead of Sainz, Alonso, Norris and Ocon.
Verstappen passed Hamilton for the lead entering Tarzan with 11 laps to go, with Sainz similarly passing Perez for fifth.
Russell passed an angry Hamilton for second on lap 64, and the two almost collided at high speed on the start-finish straight. Leclerc also overtook Hamilton and pushed him off the podium.
Sainz was under pressure from Pérez for fifth place, but also receiving a 5 second penalty for an unsafe launch, Pérez ran through the gravel at Tarzan with a couple of laps to go.
Verstappen caressed the goal to win, ahead of Russell and Leclerc. Hamilton held on to finish fourth, with Sainz losing fifth due to his penalty, which left him eighth behind Perez, Alonso and Norris.