Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix Prediction: Verstappen under huge pressure at home

The annual vacation of the Formula 1 stars is over. After a four-week break, it's time to get back to racing. The action continues with the 15th race of the season, the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort, and just a week later the cars will race at the legendary Monza in Italy. For Max Verstappen, this will be the 200th Grand Prix race in his career, and he will try to win in front of his audience for the fourth time in a row and equalize with Jim Clark for the number of victories at the Dutch Grand Prix. The annual vacation certainly came in handy for everyone in Formula 1, after they did as many as five racing weekends from June 21 to July 28. Before that intense period began, no one could predict that out of five races (Spain, Austria, Great Britain, Hungary, and Belgium) Max Verstappen would win only one and that three victories would be celebrated by Mercedes drivers (Lewis Hamilton two, George Russell one) and one McLaren's Oscar Piastri.

The Dutch Grand Prix first appeared on the Formula 1 calendar in 1952 and held its place until 1985. When it lost its F1 race, Zandvoort waited more than three decades to be rebuilt and re-enter the elite. The revitalization of Zandvoort was helped by the rise of Max Verstappen, who inspired the great enthusiasm of the Dutch fans so that the Netherlands got its Grand Prix again in 2021. To the delight of those same fans, their pet has won all three races in this modern era. In this regard, he tied with Niki Lauda and Jackie Stewart, who also celebrated three times at Zandvoort, while the record holder is four-time winner Jim Clark. In terms of constructors, Ferrari has eight victories, Lotus six, and Red Bull and McLaren three each.

An excellent drive was shown by Lando Norris in the McLaren during the qualifications for the Dutch Grand Prix at the Zandvoort circuit. In the final round of qualifying, he was even three and a half tenths faster than Max Verstappen in Red Bull and won his fourth pole position in his career. This ended Verstappen's streak of three consecutive pole positions on his home turf. So Lando Norris and Max Verstappen will be in the front row at the start of the race. Oscar Piastri in the second McLaren and George Russell in the Mercedes will be looking behind them. Sergio Perez qualified the second Red Bull in fifth position, and he will be joined by Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari car on the third starting row.

In the evening after the qualifying day at the Zandvoort track in the Netherlands, the judges made decisions that will change the starting grid for Sunday's race. Alexander Albon will start his race from the back of the order due to disqualification and deletion of all times in Saturday's qualifications due to the new floor on the car, which was too wide than the one allowed by the technical regulations. Lewis Hamilton, on the other hand, will start his race from 14th position after a three-place grid penalty for an incident in qualifying when he interfered with Perez on a fast lap, which forced the Mexican to use an extra set of soft tires in Q2, leaving him without a second chance to improving his time in Q3.

Four races without a win – that's something that hasn't happened to Verstappen since 2020. There is no doubt that he will want to end the bad streak with a fourth consecutive win on home soil. By the way, this will be his jubilee 200th Grand Prix weekend. Norris showed incredible performances in the training and qualifications, but Verstappen has enough speed and power to overcome him, Verstappen has bigger motivation at home in front of his fans, and I believe that he will win Sunday’s race.

OUR PREDICTION: Max Verstappen to win