Verstappen led from pole, ahead of the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz. They all started on soft tyres, whereas Mercedes duo Lewis Hamilton and George Russell opted for mediums from the start – which allowed them to target a one-stop strategy after switching to hards.
That strategy was ruined by an odd-looking scenario with AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda stopping on track twice, which gave Verstappen the advantage after a virtual safety car, but the pendulum swung back when Valtteri Bottas’s Alfa Romeo stopped too, bringing out a full safety car.
Hamilton retook the lead, but was at a tyre disadvantage to those behind, so Verstappen passed him right away at the restart. Hamilton dropped to fourth and raged over the radio about his tyre strategy.
2022 Dutch Grand Prix race results
| Cla | Driver | Laps | Gap | Interval | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Max Verstappen |
 |
72 | 26 | ||
| 2 |  George Russell |
 |
72 | 4.071 | 4.071 | 18 |
| 3 |  Charles Leclerc |
 |
72 | 10.929 | 6.858 | 15 |
| 4 | Lewis Hamilton |
 |
72 | 13.016 | 2.087 | 12 |
| 5 |  Sergio Perez |
 |
72 | 18.168 | 5.152 | 10 |
| 6 |  Fernando Alonso |
 |
72 | 18.754 | 0.586 | 8 |
| 7 | Lando Norris |
 |
72 | 19.306 | 0.552 | 6 |
| 8 | Carlos Sainz |
 |
72 | 20.916 | 1.610 | 4 |
| 9 |  Esteban Ocon |
 |
72 | 21.117 | 0.201 | 2 |
| 10 |  Lance Stroll |
 |
72 | 22.459 | 1.342 | 1 |
| 11 | Pierre Gasly |
 |
72 | 27.009 | 4.550 | |
| 12 |  Alex Albon |
 |
72 | 30.390 | 3.381 | |
| 13 |  Mick Schumacher |
 |
72 | 32.995 | 2.605 | |
| 14 | Sebastian Vettel |
 |
72 | 36.007 | 3.012 | |
| 15 |  Kevin Magnussen |
 |
72 | 36.869 | 0.862 | |
| 16 |  Zhou Guanyu |
 |
72 | 37.320 | 0.451 | |
| 17 |  Daniel Ricciardo |
 |
72 | 37.764 | 0.444 | |
| 18 | Nicholas Latifi |
 |
71 | |||
 Valtteri Bottas |
 |
53 | ||||
 Yuki Tsunoda |
 |
43 | ||||
| View full results | ||||||
How the Dutch Grand Prix unfolded
Verstappen held his pole advantage on the run to Turn 1, leading Leclerc and Sainz, the latter just escaping a touch from Hamilton at Turn 1.
Under pressure from Alex Albon’s Williams, Kevin Magnussen suffered an off on Lap 2 that sent his Haas to the back after he brushed the wall. Russell’s Mercedes DRS-ed past the fast-starting McLaren of Lando Norris for sixth on Lap 3.
Sainz was the first of the frontrunners to pit on Lap 15 but suffered a disastrous 12.7s stop as the left-rear wheel wasn’t ready, allowing Perez ahead – although he had to run over Sainz’s spare wheelgun to exit his pit. Sainz fell to sixth as a result.
Leclerc, who lost 5s to Verstappen, pitted on Lap 18. Verstappen pitted a lap later, and this released the Mercedes, who both started on mediums as opposed to the soft-tyred starters in front of them.
On fresher tyres, Verstappen passed Russell for second at Tarzan on Lap 28, and chased after Hamilton, who was 2.6s up the road. Hamilton pitted for hard tyres a lap later, rejoining in fifth, with Russell following suit a couple of laps later.
Hamilton attacked Perez for third on Lap 36 and, after a couple of near misses around the lap, passed him a lap later at Tarzan but was further three-second delay by a rejoining Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin) – and was now over a pitstop behind Verstappen as a result. Russell passed Perez with ease two laps later.
Verstappen wasn’t happy on the medium tyre, however, and Hamilton began to catch him as well as second placed Leclerc. Perez was called in for hard tyres at this point, to help aid Verstappen’s next tyre choice – and immediately set fastest lap. Leclerc pitted on Lap 46 for hards.
Yuki Tsunoda pulled off at Turn 5, claiming his tyres weren’t fitted properly, but rejoined without causing a safety car. After another pitstop, he parked up again causing a virtual safety car – which killed Mercedes’ planned one-stop strategy, and stranded the recently-stopped Ferraris on hard tyres while Norris and Fernando Alonso (Alpine) switched to softs behind them.
Verstappen pitted for fresh hard tyres, as did Hamilton and Russell for new mediums. The race restarted with Verstappen leading by 13s over Hamilton, Russell and Leclerc.
Valtteri Bottas’s Alfa Romeo stopped before Turn 1, just as Sainz passed Ocon for sixth under yellows. Verstappen pitted for softs, allowing Hamilton to take the lead ahead of Russell.
Under the safety car, Russell stopped again for softs, as did Sainz who almost hit Alonso as he rejoined the fast lane.
The race restarted with Hamilton, on used mediums, leading the soft-shod Verstappen, Russell and Leclerc. Perez was fifth on mediums, ahead of Sainz, Alonso, Norris and Ocon.
Verstappen passed Hamilton for the lead going into Tarzan with 11 laps to go, with Sainz passing Perez in similar fashion for fifth.
Russell passed an angry Hamilton for second on Lap 64, the two almost colliding at high speed on the start/finish straight. Leclerc also swooped past Hamilton to push him off the podium.
Sainz came under pressure from Perez for fifth but was also given a 5s time penalty for an unsafe release, Perez running wide across the gravel at Tarzan with a couple of laps to go.
Verstappen stroked home to win, ahead of Russell and Leclerc. Hamilton hung on to finish fourth, with Sainz losing fifth due to his penalty, which dropped him to eighth behind Perez, Alonso and Norris.
