The Dutch Grand Prix 2022 was the 15th round of the 2022 F1 season, and took place at the Circuit Park Zandvoort in Zandvoort, Netherlands, during the weekend of the 2nd to the 4th of September.
Max Verstappen won the race from the pole, followed by George Russell, and Charles Leclerc completing the podium.
Final results
Race evolution
Pit Stops
There were a total of 72 pit stops during the race.
The most popular pit stop windows were:
- Laps 11-14: 10 stops
- Laps 16-18: 6 stops
- Laps 31-35: 6 stops
- Laps 42-43: 4 stops
- Laps 47-48: 9 stops
- Laps 54-57: 28 stops
The fastest pit stop was Pierre Gasly's, stopping the clock at 13.973 seconds during his pit stop on lap 57, while the slowest one was was Yuki Tsunoda's, who stopped the clock at 52.684 seconds, 38.711 seconds slower than Gasly, during his pit stop on lap 43.
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
The race was not obvious in terms of pit stop strategy, with different teams and different drivers choosing to make anywhere from 2 to 5 stops.
The race winner, Max Verstappen, was on a 4 stops strategy.
2 stops
-
3Valtteri Bottas
3 stops
-
7Fernando Alonso
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11Yuki Tsunoda
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5Carlos Sainz
-
-Lando Norris
-
3Esteban Ocon
-
-Lewis Hamilton
-
4George Russell
4 stops
-
5Sebastian Vettel
-
-Pierre Gasly
-
2Guanyu Zhou
-
2Nicholas Latifi
-
5Mick Schumacher
-
-Sergio Pérez
-
3Kevin Magnussen
-
-Lance Stroll
-
1Charles Leclerc
-
-Max Verstappen
-
3Alexander Albon
5 stops
-
-Daniel Ricciardo
Excluding those drivers who could not finish the race, those on a 3 stops strategy gained 1.5 positions on average, the ones on a 4 stops strategy lost an average of 0.45 positions, while those on a 5 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 4 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 2 divers were involved in circumstances that were severe enough to prevented them from finishing the race.
These included, Valtteri Bottas, who suffered an engine malfunction on lap 53, and Yuki Tsunoda, who had a problem with the differential on lap 43.
Engine
-
Valtteri BottasLap 53
Differential
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Yuki TsunodaLap 43
Qualifying
Max Verstappen managed to get the pole position by 0.021 seconds and a final lipe time of 1:10.342. Right next to him, completing the first line of the grid, was Charles Leclerc.
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 5 out of the 9 drivers that took place in Q3 were able to improve their times.