Formula One Dutch Grand Prix: Lewis Hamilton unleashes furious tirade on his own team

Lewis Hamilton unleashed a verbal tirade for the ages after his team’s strategy blew up in their faces and destroyed his chances of derailing Max Verstappen.

Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain

Lewis Hamilton unleashed a verbal tirade over the Mercedes team radio after missing out on a podium at the Dutch Grand Prix having looked a challenger to Max Verstappen for the race win at Zandvoort.

Hamilton, who is yet to record a race win this season, waged a strategic battle with Red Bull and drivers’ championship leader Max Verstappen through the middle stages of the race before being overtaken by teammate George Russell and Charles Leclerc to ultimately finish fourth.

“That was the biggest **** up,” fumed Hamilton in the race’s dying stages.

“I can’t believe you guys f****** me like that. I can’t tell you how p****d I am.”

Mercedes went with a one-stop strategy to combat Red Bull and Ferrari and until the safety car emerged on lap 55, both Hamilton and Russell sat primed to take the fight to Verstappen.

The race script was flipped on its head with 17 laps to run but Hamilton was still in with a chance of a season-first race win, until Mercedes gambled and lost.

The team called to pit Russell, rather than leaving him out to slow Verstappen and give Hamilton clear air to build a lead on older tyres.

It left Hamilton to be mercilessly hunted down by hometown hero Verstappen upon resumption, who cruised to his 10th race win of the season in front of more than 100,000 parochial Dutch fans.

“I felt very strongly about pitting for that soft. I was adamant that was the correct call,” Russell said.

“It makes sense to split the cars in a situation like that.

“It’s easy in hindsight but I think what would have happened if we both stayed out, (is) Max would have won the race and we probably would have finished behind Charles also.”

To add insult to injury, Hamilton was also passed by his teammate and Leclerc who were running the faster soft tyres in the final few laps.

Russell played a straight bat when asked about his close-call in overtaking Hamilton, with the pair almost coming together down the straight.

“Yeah we like to keep it close always. I think as a team we showed incredible pace … this gives us a lot of confidence moving forward,” he said.

Hamilton felt none of that confidence in the pit wall after the race, pointedly choosing to only thank the mechanics over the team radio as team principal Toto Wolff apologised.

“Sorry Lewis it didn’t work out. We did what we discussed in the morning and it didn’t work out,” Wolff said.

The crowd at the race was incredible

Hamilton later apologised to the team for his outburst.

“I was just on the edge of breaking point with emotions and my apologies to the team. I don’t even remember what I said, I just lost it for a second but I think they know it’s just (from) so much passion,” he said.

“Without the safety car I think we would have been challenging them (the Red Bull) at the end with the one-stop. If this can be the same in future races we will continue to breathe down their necks and get that win.”

For his part, the runaway championship leader Verstappen suggested there was no stopping him taking the win no matter Mercedes’ late-race gamble.

“I think I would have gotten both of them anyway if they stayed out, so I think it was a smart call by them,” he said.

Red Bull Racing's Dutch driver Max Verstappen (R) salutes the crowd

‘A MESS’: FERRARI FOILED BY OWN FAILURE, AGAIN

Mercedes wasn’t the only team to have a controversial pit stop at Zandvoort.

Carlos Sainz’s race was ruined when he rolled into pit lane on lap 15 with only three replacement tyres there to greet him, in yet another horrific Ferrari error that team principal Mattia Binotto labelled “a mess”.

Sainz’s stop lasted 12.7 seconds as he tumbled down the order. To make matters worse, a wheel gun was left close to the exit and Red Bull’s Sergio Perez was unable to avoid driving over it as he returned to the pit lane.

Ferrari and Sainz could be hit with grid penalties as a result, which would be a devastating blow ahead of the team’s home Grand Prix at Monza this weekend.

Sainz battled back up the order before incurring a five-second penalty for an unsafe release, which knocked him down to an eighth-place finish and cost Ferrari crucial points in the constructors’ championship.

“Everything that could happen happened and we were just in the wrong spot at the wrong time, continuously,” Sainz said.

“It was a very bad day.”

TSUNODA WREAKS HAVOC

Questions were asked of AlphaTauri and their driver Yuki Tsunoda after he was told to return to the track by the team despite reporting an issue with his front-left tyre.

Tsunoda pitted for new tyres and after leaving pit lane was only then told by the team to stop the car, after a drive shaft issue was discovered to be the culprit.

That brought out the virtual safety car, which ruined Mercedes’ one-stop race strategy and was the spark for the ensuing chaos in the late stages of the race.

But it was Hamilton’s former teammate, Valterri Bottas, who signalled his demise when the Fin’s Alfa Romeo stopped on the track and brought out the safety car on lap 55.

Daniel Ricciardo struggled for another arce

RICCIARDO’S STRUGGLES CONTINUE

It was always going to be a tough ask for Daniel Ricciardo after starting 18th on the grid following a disastrous qualifying a day earlier.

The West Australian was little more than a passenger in the race, never even sniffing the top-10 and ultimately finishing just one place ahead of where he started, in P17.

With Bottas and Tsunoda failing to finish, Ricciardo found the chequered flag ahead of only Nicholas Latifi.

His McLaren teammate Lando Norris finished as he started, in seventh.

It punctuated a difficult week for Ricciardo, who was publicly humiliated by McLaren with the news that fellow Aussie Oscar Piastri would be the man stepping into his vacated seat at the end of the season.

It was revealed that McLaren had signed Piastri after the British Grand Prix, nine days before Ricciardo’s statement declaring his intent to stay and fight for his place in the papaya and almost a full two months prior to he and the team’s parting of ways one year early.

The shocking result in Zandvoort will not win Ricciardo any admirers on the grid as his Formula 1 future beyond 2022 remains unclear – his stock falling with every race he finishes behind his teammate, Norris.

NO CATCHING VERSTAPPEN AND RED BULL

Twelve months earlier Verstappen led from start to finish to win the Dutch Grand Prix. He again took pole at Zandvoort but did not have it all his own way this time around, with Mercedes the surprise challenger.

But as has been the case all season, crucial strategic errors by both Mercedes and Ferrari were compounded by Red Bull’s flawless execution and Verstappen, though not perfect, remaining the best driver on the grid.

It was the 24 year old’s 10th win of the season and fourth in a row, and pushed him 109 points clear of Leclerc and Perez in the driver standings.

It’s now become a matter of when and not if the Flying Dutchman confirms his coronation as back-to-back Formula 1 world champion.

It also looks a race for second in the constructors’ standings, with Red Bull extending its lead out to 135 points from Ferrari (376) and Mercedes (346).

That battle for second tightened in Zandvoort thanks to Mercedes’ two-four finish and will offer plenty of intrigue down the home stretch.

RESULTS

1. Max Verstappen (NED/Red Bull) 1hr 36min 42.773sec,

2. George Russell (GBR/Mercedes) at 4.071sec,

3. Charles Leclerc (MON/Ferrari) 10.929,

4. Lewis Hamilton (GBR/Mercedes) 13.016,

5. Sergio Pérez (MEX/Red Bull) 18.168,

6. Fernando Alonso (ESP/Alpine-Renault) 18.754,

7. Lando Norris (GBR/McLaren-Mercedes) 19.306,

8. Carlos Sainz Jr (ESP/Ferrari) 20.916,

9. Esteban Ocon (FRA/Alpine-Renault) 21.117,

10. Lance Stroll (CAN/Aston Martin-Mercedes) 22.459,

11. Pierre Gasly (FRA/AlphaTauri-Red Bull) 27.009,

12. Alex Albon (THA/Williams-Mercedes) 20.390,

13. Mick Schumacher (GER/Haas-Ferrari) 32.995,

14. Sebastian Vettel (GER/Aston Martin-Mercedes) 36.007,

5. Kevin Magnussen (DEN/Haas-Ferrari) 36.869,

16. Zhou Guanyu (CHN/Alfa Romeo) 37.320,

17. Daniel Ricciardo (AUS/McLaren-Mercedes) 37.764,

18. Nicholas Latifi (CAN/Williams-Mercedes) 1 lap

Fastest lap: Max Verstappen (NED/Red Bull) 1:13.652

Retirements Yuki Tsunoda (JPN/AlphaTauri-Red Bull), Valtteri Bottas (FIN/Alfa Romeo)

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

1. Max Verstappen (NED) 310 pts,

2. Charles Leclerc (MON) 201,

3. Sergio Pérez (MEX) 201,

4. George Russell (GBR) 188,

5. Carlos Sainz Jr (ESP) 175,

6. Lewis Hamilton (GBR) 158,

7. Lando Norris (GBR) 82,

8. Esteban Ocon (FRA) 66,

9. Fernando Alonso (ESP) 59,

10. Valtteri Bottas (FIN) 46,

11. Kevin Magnussen (DEN) 22,

12. Sebastian Vettel (GER) 20,

13. Daniel Ricciardo (AUS) 19,

14. Pierre Gasly (FRA) 18,

15. Mick Schumacher (GER) 12,

16. Yuki Tsunoda (JPN) 11,

17. Zhou Guanyu (CHN) 5,

18. Lance Stroll (CAN) 5,

19. Alexander Albon (THA) 4,

20. Nicholas Latifi (CAN) 0,

21. Nico Hülkenberg (GER) 0

CONSTRUCTORS

1. Red Bull 511 pts,

2. Ferrari 376,

3. Mercedes 346,

4. Alpine-Renault 125,

5. McLaren-Mercedes 101,

6. Alfa Romeo 51,

7. Haas-Ferrari 34,

8. AlphaTauri-Red Bull 29,

9. Aston Martin-Mercedes 25,

10. Williams-Mercedes 4