[akash_v12]

Ahead of its Formula 1 return Circuit Zandvoort underwent a major transformation. The biggest of those changes being the introduction of two banked corners.

The now 4.252 km-track has introduced banking to the iconic Hugenholtzbocht corner, while Arie Luyendijkbocht, the last corner of the lap, now features banking at 19 degrees, making it twice as steep as the banking seen at Indianapolis.

The circuit features 13 turns, and the firm in charge of redesigning the track, Dromo Circuit Design, said they wanted to emulate Eau Rouge and Raidillon at Spa, and Silverstone's fast-paced sweep of Maggots and Becketts as the fastest F1 cars to date are sent thundering around a new and improved Zandvoort.

Schedule



Track

(sourced from planetf1.com)

After negotiating the first right-hander drivers will sweep through Turn 2 and be forced to negotiate some elevation changes through Turn 3 before arriving at the now banked Hugenholtzbocht corner.

A quick sweeping section follows for the drivers to blast through, before a double right-hander which could offer an overtaking spot for the brave.

Drivers must then bare left through a wide curved section, before braking hard into a right-to-left chicane.

It's then another right before arriving at the impressively reprofiled Arie Luyendijkbocht to launch competitors on to the main straight and begin the next lap of this historic circuit.

Turn 1 (Tarzan corner) - A tight right bend which presents a harsh breaking zone for drivers after that blast down the straight.
Turn 2 (Gerlach corner) - The track rises up into this slight right-hand bend, only a slight throttle lift in a modern F1 car.
Turn 3 (Hugenholtz corner) - Already an iconic turn, this sweeping but deceptively tight left now features banking to allow for different racing lines.
Turn 4 (Hunzerug) - A little left kink, no need to lift.
Turn 5 (Rob Slotemaker corner) - This time a right kink, again full throttle is the way to go.
Turn 6 (Scheivlak) - Hang on through this sweeping right, for those who don't, the gravel awaits.
Turn 7 (Masters corner, formerly Marlboro corner) - The kerb is tight for this right-hander but the widening track that follows encourages drivers to get the power down.
Turn 8 - But be careful, because a sharper right follows swiftly.
Turn 9 - After accelerating it's a dab of brakes again for this sweeping left that demands a lot from the front tyres.
Turn 10/11 - (Hans Ernst corner formerly Audi S corner) - A right-to-left chicane that presents an overtaking opportunity, but also the chance of disaster.
Turn 12 - (Kumho corner) - Take some pace into this right, but don't be too greedy, that gravel trap is unforgiving.
Turn 13 (Arie Luyendyk corner) - This flat out right has been transformed with 18-degrees banking, encouraging drivers to take different routes as they build up for the DRS-assisted straight.



Tyres





Weather



Drivers Championship



Constructors Championship

[SILVER-ARROW]

With the current form of max and home crowd behind him, Lewis will have his work cutout and will need to show his true character to silence the orange army in qualifying and race tomorrow.

Eager to see how the qualifying pans out. With the pace shown by Max in FP3, Mercedes have their work cut out in planting their car ahead of Redbull in qualifying.

[iamahunter]

Perez out in Q1, out due to crossing the line after the chequerd flag.

Mercs sandbagging in the practice again..

EDIT
Red flag in the Q2, George Russel crashed.

Russel, Stroll, Norris, Latifi, Tsunodo at risk.

With around 4 mins to go, Norris on 13th.

Mercedes man on the commentary (Nico).

EDIT 2

Red flag again, Litifi crashed, big impact.

Norris out in Q2, I think for the first time in 2021 season.

[SILVER-ARROW]

Max grabs pole in his Home grand Prix!

Stonker of a lap from Lewis to be just three hundreds slower than Max that too after having missed bulk of the FP2 practice.

Race strategy is going to play a crucial part in tomorrow’s race with limited number of overtaking options available on the circuit.

[Turbohead]

Will Zandvoort offer good chances for overtaking? Or will there be more DRS trains again? If the latter is true, I wouldn't be too keen to watch the race tomorrow.

On second thoughts, I wonder what happened to Checo - the dude is completely out of place since the second Austrian GP.

[Cyborg]

Originally Posted by Turbohead

Will Zandvoort offer good chances for overtaking? Or will there be more DRS trains again? If the latter is true, I wouldn't be too keen to watch the race tomorrow.

On second thoughts, I wonder what happened to Checo - the dude is completely out of place since the second Austrian GP.

The drivers are saying it’s not really very conducive to overtaking but reality will be an entirely different scenario with Verstappen and Hamilton on the front row. Who knows, maybe Bottas wins his last race in Mercedes colours if Max and Lewis both take each other out

Perez simply could not start his last timed lap before the chequered flag came out. Short lap, traffic and perhaps miscalculation by the team.

Cheers

[shibujp]

As much as the drivers are hailing the track for it's thrills and turn of speed, I think this is too short a track for F1 today.

The extended red flag periods and the out lap incidents were all symptomatic of this basic aspect. Great spectacle over one lap where there are no other cars on a track but it all ends there. What is does have is aspects that should be included in the design of new tracks but it has rightly been restricted to lower formulae.

It has been novel from the fact that it is one track where teams and drivers have little or no data or so everyone will be learning together. Which will be good from a race point of view.

Drive on,
Shibu.

[mayankk]

I'm hoping for great things from Hamilton today. It's a fresh track to make a mark, effectively being the first winner in the modern era.
Go Lewis!

[Chetan_Rao]

Turn 3 looks epic from onboard! The track overall seems one of the kind that drivers love to drive but racing opportunities are minimal.

[Emvi]

F1 returns to Netherlands and Max says 'Hello F1' the best way he could have. The Dutch couldn't be any happier! Fantastic fireworks at the finish line!! Max nosing ahead in the championship battle.

[VRJ]

MAX MAX MAX SUPER MAX MAX MAX . What a brilliant drive from Max Verstappen. Not a single foot wrong. Drove around every lap with perfection. Merc tried their best to slow down Max by pitting Bottas late, so that he can block Max for Hamilton to catch up. Good drive by the Mercs as well. Imagine if Bottas ended up with the fastest lap . I hate Mercedes team orders. Poor Bottas. I still don’t get why they had to pit him in lap 70.

Perez drove well today and P8 is a respectful finish considering where he started. However, I’m annoyed by his inconsistency. Only if he didn’t flat spot his hards in the beginning, he would’ve finished better. He’s going to cost RB the championship if he continues to screw up in qualification. Ocon complained he’s quicker than Alonso and probably wanted team orders, but he ended up three places below Alonso, lol.

However, the standout for me is Piere Gasly. Such a consistent driver. Every race he drives soo well, but doesn’t get the recognition he deserves. P4 in a Alpha is brilliant.

Cheers!

[iamahunter]

SUPER MAX!!!
What a consistent performance with great team work and strategy.

Hard tyres was the best decision for Max.

Perez gained more than half the field, the clash with Norris was interesting.

Who could have got more attention in today's race.
Gasley, he was too good with such a consistent performance.
Both Ferraris were amazing and so was Alonso.

Overall, What a Race!
Bottas - Max - Lewis, before Bottas decided to box was one of my favorite part of the race.

Monza next.

[Cyborg]

Originally Posted by VRJ

Poor Bottas. I still don’t get why they had to pit him in lap 70.

Bottas complained of vibrations from his tyres, they said it was a precautionary/safety stop.

I would be most interested in the conversation between Toto, James and Bottas (which we will never know ) after the latter was ordered twice to abort his fastest lap effort when he showed the first two sectors in purple.

Guess this was among Bottas’s last shows of defiance before the announcement sometime next week (during the Monza weekend) regarding Russell for Mercedes and his boot to Alfa Romeo.

Cheers

[speedmiester]

Had a lot of expectations for a good exciting race, but turned out to another snooze fest.
Just the top three in the lead lap in the race, except for a few overtaking moves by Perez, there wasn't much excitement in the race.

[akash_v12]

I don't think I was actually excited for the race. I had expectations for it to be a tad better than Monaco and so it was.
What I surely was excited about was the crowd. Orange flares and so many fans supporting just one speedy dutch boy. Mega drive by Max. He's definitely achieving crazy stuff at his age.