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The Highs and Lows of ZandvoortA look back at the Team’s impressive record at the Dutch Grand Prix and the home of the Orange Army

WhenitwasannouncedthattheDutchGrandPrixwasreturningtoFormulaOne,therewasonedriverinparticularwhowasveryexcitedaboutfinallyhavingahomerace.

The Team knew it was going to be a massive event. There was an excited buzz around the circuit from the Orange Army who had long awaited a home circuit for Max Verstappen. There were even rumours of a nationwide shortage of orange flares!

Since its return in 2021, the Dutch Grand Prix has provided some fantastic racing and some great results for the Team, so here are the highs and lows the Team has experienced in just three short years at Zandvoort…

Another Year To Wait

After 33 years it was announced in 2019 that the Dutch Grand Prix would return – at Zandvoort – for the 2020 season. However, we all remember what happened in 2020, unfortunately leaving the Dutch fans waiting another year.

Party Time

When the Dutch Grand Prix finally returned in 2021, there was a party atmosphere all weekend. The fans were having the times of their lives, as were the teams – but it was Max Verstappen who celebrated the loudest.

Max qualified on pole and drove a flawless race to win ahead of Lewis Hamilton by more than 20 seconds. But it was after the race that the celebrations really started with the 195,000 strong crowd partying and letting off flares. It even caused Fernando Alonso to comment to his Alpine team: “I guess Verstappen won. There is a lot of orange fog!”

Hero on Home Turf

On the Team’s return to Zandvoort for the 2022 season, the weekend started great for Max. He was able to oust Charles Leclerc in the final runs of Q3. Leclerc went out ahead of Max and the Ferrari driver set the standard with a time of 1:10.363. However, the Flying Dutchman set three perfect sectors seeing Max cross the line 0.021s ahead.

The race on Sunday saw Max work hard to claim his second home win. Max was leading on lap 55 when Valtteri Bottas’ Alfa Romeo ground to a halt at the end of the pit straight and the yellow flags were flown. A lap later the Safety Car was deployed.

Max immediately pitted swapping to three-lap old soft tyres. Mercedes pitted George Russell who took on softs, but Lewis Hamilton stayed out, hoping to take his medium tyres to the end. Ahead of the Safety Car ending, Hamilton, now leading the race, radioed through to his pit wall saying that it would be difficult to keep Max at bay - and he wasn’t wrong.

The Mercedes driver tried to pull away through the final corner, but even without the benefit of DRS, Max, with better pace from his soft tyres, powered past the Mercedes down the main straight to take the lead once more. Hamilton, on ageing tyres, was then passed by both Russell and Leclerc. Once Max got to the front, he took the fastest lap on lap 62. He was then able to claim the 30th win of his career.

Three In A Row

In 2023 Max took a third straight home win in Zandvoort, whilst also claiming a record-equalling ninth consecutive F1 victory. Heavy rain just after the start and close to the end of the race, brought immense amounts of drama, almost stealing Max’s chance of a home hat-trick. However, after briefly losing the lead to Checo in the first shower of rain, the Dutchman recovered to retake P1 on lap 13 and led the rest of the race, through Safety Cars, red flags and a rolling restart to take his 46th career win, equalling Sebastian Vettel’s decade-old record for nine consecutive race wins.

Denied Silverware

Checo has had strong races in Zandvoort. In 2021, after starting P16, he moved up eight places into a point scoring position. 2022 saw him finishing with a strong P5, and last year he finished fourth - but it was a bitter pill to swallow. Checo had actually crossed the finish line in third but was given a five-second penalty for speeding in the pitlane, which knocked him down a position and unfortunately wasn’t able to make it a double podium for the Team.

The Bulls will be hitting the asphalt for first time on Friday at 12:30 track time (10:30 UTC) for Free Practice One. Make sure you visit our Race Hub for all the latest news, images, and videos from Oracle Red Bull Racing.