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Verstappen passes Hamilton to win Dutch Grand Prix

Max Verstappen took another significant step towards his second world championship after winning the Dutch Grand Prix ahead of George Russell and Charles Leclerc.

Verstappen took the triumph following a late Safety Car restart in which he had to overtake Lewis Hamilton for the lead. In a scenario not dissimilar to last year’s title decider in Abu Dhabi, Mercedes left Hamilton out on old tires while the majority of the field behind him pitted.

The advantage of fresher tires allowed Verstappen to cruise past his 2021 title rival when the race restarted as Hamilton plummeted to fourth by the finish.

“I can’t believe you guys f—– me, man!” Hamilton said over team radio when it became apparent his strategy would lose him a podium finish.

Earlier in the race, Verstappen and Hamilton had been locked in a strategic battle for victory for the first time since the 2021 title decider in Abu Dhabi.

The race was clearly trending towards a Verstappen victory and initially looked sealed on lap 50 when the championship leader got a free pit stop under a Virtual Safety Car caused by Yuki Tsunoda’s AlphaTauri stopping on track.

However, Valtteri Bottas pulling up at the side of the pit straight a handful of laps later caused a full Safety Car that offered up a strategic dilemma for the top teams.Verstappen opted to pit from the lead under the Safety Car to take on soft tires, but Mercedes kept Hamilton out on track to take the lead of the race, albeit on older tires.

Initially Hamilton had teammate Russell behind him, who was also on old tires, but as the Safety Car came through the pits to allow marshals to clear Bottas’ car, Russell ducked into the Mercedes pit box and also switched to softs.

The decision lost him a position to Verstappen but meant he emerged ahead of Leclerc, who had also stopped for softs.

When the race restarted, Hamilton was the only driver at the front of the field who hadn’t fitted new tires and lost positions to Verstappen, Russell and Leclerc in rapid succession to drop to fourth.

The triumph for Verstappen, which sent a passionate home crowd into raptures, leaves him 109 points ahead of teammate Sergio Perez and Leclerc. He now looks as though he will have a shot of winning the title in two races’ time at Singapore, where he will need to leave with a 138-point lead to be crowned champion.

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