The Dutch Grand Prix 2021 was the 13th round of the 2021 F1 season, and took place at the Circuit Park Zandvoort in Zandvoort, Netherlands, during the weekend of the 3rd to the 5th of September.
Max Verstappen won the race from the pole, followed by Lewis Hamilton, and Valtteri Bottas completing the podium.
Final results
Race evolution
Pit Stops
There were a total of 29 pit stops during the race.
The most popular pit stop windows were:
- Laps 30-31: 6 stops
- Laps 33-34: 4 stops
The fastest pit stop was Sergio Pérez's, stopping the clock at 18.555 seconds during his pit stop on lap 47, while the slowest one was was Mick Schumacher's, who stopped the clock at 35.573 seconds, 17.018 seconds slower than Pérez, during his pit stop on lap 4.
These times include the time the driver spent going through the pit lane, as well as the actual time he stopped for the mechanics to work on his car.
Strategy
We saw a variety of options in terms of pit stop strategies during this race, however most drivers chose a 1 stop. Only 7 drivers tried a 2 stops, and 1 driver tried a 3 stops.
The race winner, Max Verstappen, was on a 2 stops strategy.
1 stop
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16Nicholas Latifi
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-Pierre Gasly
-
-Lance Stroll
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1Daniel Ricciardo
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1Carlos Sainz
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1Esteban Ocon
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5Yuki Tsunoda
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3Fernando Alonso
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2Nikita Mazepin
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-Charles Leclerc
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1Robert Kubica
-
3Lando Norris
2 stops
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1Mick Schumacher
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8Sergio Pérez
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2Sebastian Vettel
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-Max Verstappen
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7Antonio Giovinazzi
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6George Russell
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-Valtteri Bottas
3 stops
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-Lewis Hamilton
Excluding those drivers who could not finish the race, those on a 1 stop strategy lost an average of 1.2 positions, the ones on a 2 stops strategy lost an average of 2.33 positions, while those on a 3 stops strategy didn't gain or lose any positions on average.
This difference in possitions gained, together with a deeper nalaysis of each strategy, reinforces the conclusion that a 3 stops strategy was the best option, even if Max Verstappen managed to win the race making 2 stops.
It is important to note that this might not always be the case for other races held at the Circuit Park Zandvoort, as the conditions might change from year to year, in terms of wheel degradation, accidents, safety cars, etc.
Incidents
There race went on mostly with no incidents. Only 3 divers were involved in circumstances that were severe enough to prevented them from finishing the race.
These included, George Russell, who experienced issues with the gearbox on lap 69, Yuki Tsunoda, who had a power unit failure on lap 48, and Nikita Mazepin, who experienced an hydraulic malfunction on lap 41.
Gearbox
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George RussellLap 69
Power Unit
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Yuki TsunodaLap 48
Hydraulics
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Nikita MazepinLap 41
Qualifying
Max Verstappen managed to get the pole position by 0.038 seconds and a final lipe time of 1:08.885. Right next to him, completing the first line of the grid, was Lewis Hamilton.
Track evolution
As the qualifying session went on, with the track rubbering in, and the drivers testing the limits of the grip of their cars, the times per lap dropped, and 13 out of the 15 drivers that took place in Q2 were able to improve their times.
The Q3 is the time were all the remaining drivers put all their cards on the table, even those with a superior car who might have been managing their times in Q1 and Q2 push their cars to the limit in Q3. It therefore comes as no surprise that 7 out of the 10 drivers that took place in Q3 were able to improve their times.