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Here are five key things that we learned over the course of the Dutch Grand Prix weekend.
Anticipation was high after a quiet August for the pinnacle of open-wheel motorsport to kick into gear once again. With the drivers and teams well rested, would we see a shift in the pecking order or would relative performances remain unchanged?
Championship leader Max Verstappen had won the previous three races around Circuit Zandvoort. However, with the home crowd on his side he was unable to make it four consecutive victories at his home Grand Prix.
What else did we learn among the sand dunes of the Netherlands?
McLaren now dominant?
Lando Norris achieved his second win of the 2024 season, although he should definitely have more at this stage. McLaren have looked like the fastest overall package for quite a few rounds now, but they may have climbed up another notch at the Dutch Grand Prix.
Norris’ finished over 22 seconds ahead of second-placed Verstappen at the chequered flag, a gap not seen all season-long. And that includes the start of the campaign when Verstappen looked set to continue his domination from the previous two years.
Is this the start of an era of domination for McLaren, one not witnessed since the late 80’s and early 90’s with Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna? Perhaps it’s too early to say, but there’s no denying that Norris put on a dominant display at Zandvoort.
Issues abound at Red Bull
What we can definitively say is that Red Bull are being held back by something technical. Admittedly this has been the case ever since Adrian Newey announced that he would be leaving the team back in April, but let’s not delve too deeply into that.
Verstappen alluded to a lack of feeling behind the wheel of his RB20, which he referred to as “complicated” and may take some time to fix. All the while, the Milton Keynes-based outfit’s buffers at the top of both Championships are dwindling and nearest rivals McLaren don’t appear to be struggling with any problems whatsoever.
Red Bull are no longer the commanding leaders in F1, but they can still keep their competitors at bay as long as they can find a solution to their growing frequency of car-related niggles.
Sargeant defeated
Williams’ Logan Sargeant knows that he is on his way out of F1 at the end of the current season. What he may not have fully grasped is that he may lose his seat a lot earlier than that.
A big crash into the barriers during the final practice session completely destroyed his FW46, incurring hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of damage. One thing is to be slow, another is to cost your employers a lot of money while not yielding much in return. And Sargeant has crashed a few too many times already in 2024.
With this in mind, it is understood that Team Principal James Vowles has enquired about potential replacement options ahead of the Italian Grand Prix. He approached Toto Wolff about Mick Schumacher and Red Bull management about Liam Lawson according to Auto Motor und Sport and other sources.
As teammate Alexander Albon has demonstrated, the Williams car is capable of scoring points. With both the Championship and money tight, the team may need to make a decision now rather than regret it later down the line.
USA vs. Russia
Haas’ luck with sponsors has never been good, and their latest saga with Uralkali is further proof of this. The Russian fertilizer company sponsored the American outfit in 2021, and looked set to continue their association into 2022 before the Russian invasion of Ukraine forced the pair to cut ties.
However, Uralkali had already paid Haas millions of dollars to appear on the 2022 car and other marketing material. The F1 team had clearly hoped that they wouldn’t have to pay back this money in light of Uralkali’s link to Russia’s war effort, but eventually the bailiffs came knocking.
A Swiss court of arbitration ruled in June that Haas would have to pay Uralkali back around $9 million of the $13 million sponsorship balance. Dutch law enforcement entered the Haas garagesÂ?at the Dutch Grand PrixÂ?on Thursday,Â?taking inventory of the outfit’s assetsÂ?should they be needed to settle the outstanding balance.
Haas subsequently paid the full amount on Friday, but due to weekend delays Uralkali only received the funds the following week. The team, who were stuck in Zandvoort until the transaction was completed, were finally able to leave for Monza on Monday.
Red Bull resigned to fate, or Max relaxed?
Going back to the Red Bull camp, a marked difference in Verstappen’s demeanour was noted. He wasn’t shouting and berating his race engineer like he did at the Hungarian Grand Prix, instead reporting back his negative feeling behind the wheel of his car in a calm and controlled manner.
Of course, he was sure to blame his machinery after the race, but admitted that he was simply focussed on bringing the car home in one piece rather than fighting Norris for the win. Where’s the fiery Max Verstappen gone, the aggressive Dutch driver that would do everything in his power to snatch or retain a winning position?
Well, it could be one of two things. Perhaps he has resigned himself to the belief that the Championship will slip away from him, as other teams keep improving while Red Bull’s internal turmoil continues.
Or more likely, he is confident in the abilities of both himself and the talented engineers at Red Bull to continue their fight with their rivals and see through his advantage at the head of the Standings beyond Abu Dhabi. Maybe that is why Verstappen sees no reason to stress; with upgrades on the horizon and the conclusion of the season drawing ever nearer, are we expecting a Title challenge that may never come to fruition?
Feature Image Credit: @F1 on X