Contrary to what was initially expected based on Ferrari’s tests with a full fuel load at the 4.259-kilometre Circuit Zandvoort, many drivers opted to start the Dutch Grand Prix on the yellow tires instead of the red ones. On this track, the two compounds exhibit different behaviors and lifespans. The choice of the Hard compound is more conservative compared to the Soft. Teams preferred this option to ensure a one-stop strategy and reach the finish line on Pirelli’s hardest tires. Almost everyone, therefore, prepared for a Medium – Hard strategy, leaving open the possibility of a second stop to switch to a used red-banded compound.
At the start, Max Verstappen overtook Lando Norris. The Dutchman did exactly what he needed to do to aim for victory. Once in the lead, the world champion was never able to impose a dominant pace, and McLaren patiently regained the position. In the early laps, the Dutchman tried to pull ahead but encountered a tough opponent: understeer. His RB20, as he explained himself, wasn’t turning properly. In the first sector, he did an excellent job, often managing to keep pace with Lando Norris, who was particularly strong in turns 1 and 3.
The home champion had to be cautious with his left rear tire, which was slipping a bit too much. Later in the stint, when Lando Norris was about to attack him, Max Verstappen began to experience further understeer. The lack of rotation was widespread, but he particularly complained about the difficulty in turn 10, where he couldn’t find grip with the Medium tire. Charles Leclerc in the surprisingly positive Ferrari SF-24 maintained his pace during the first stint on mediums. He had to manage the tires a bit more in turn 7 and adjusted some settings during the stint to improve mid-corner rotation.
Everything went according to plan by sticking to plan A. The Monegasque driver was among the first to pit, attempting an undercut on Oscar Piastri, who was just under a second ahead. The tire chosen for the second stint was, of course, the Hard compound, aiming to reach the finish. The slightly early stop allowed him to gain a position, that of George Russell. The following lap, the Mercedes driver also pitted to switch to the Hard tire. Oscar Piastri, on the other hand, delayed his pit stop considerably, knowing he wouldn’t be able to exit ahead of Charles’ Ferrari.
He pitted on lap 34 to switch to the hard tire, but by then he had already lost positions to both Charles Leclerc and George Russell. The Australian was then forced to make overtakes on track, which benefited Charles Leclerc’s race, as he was in third position at that time. On lap 28, Max Verstappen also pitted to switch to the hard tire. However, an undercut on Lando Norris was impossible, as there were more than six seconds between them. The following lap, Norris made his pit stop to switch, quite comfortably, to the harder tire.
Charles Leclerc was dealing with some oversteer issues in turn 10, which they tried to address by adjusting various steering wheel settings. In general, his race engineer Bryan Bozzi reminded him to keep his driving as clean as possible with his Ferrari. Red Bull informed Max that Lando was saving his tires more in turn 1 and, especially, in turn 7, one of the corners where the tire is most stressed. Around lap 50, Verstappen again complained about a lack of grip on the tires mounted on the left side of the car.
On lap 55, Russell surprised everyone by pitting to switch to the soft tire. Although many were considering this strategy, no one wanted to risk losing one or more positions without being certain of recovering them, considering that the Zandvoort circuit doesn’t offer many overtaking opportunities. During his stint on soft tires, the Englishman experienced quite a bit of understeer, identifying the lack of rotation as the main limitation. Lewis Hamilton also switched to soft tires in the final part of the race, even though he had started on mediums following a different strategy.
Both were surprised by Ferrari’s strength, as the German team expected to finish ahead of the red car by a significant margin, but the SF-24 delivered a performance far superior to expectations. Although it’s always difficult to comment on such a performance in the heat of the moment, as Carlos Sainz explained after the race, it has to do with tire management. If you can get them to operate in their ‘sweet spot,’ you gain a lot of grip.
It’s important to note that the track layout doesn’t facilitate overtaking. Ferrari’s strategists did an excellent job with Charles Leclerc, anticipating the stop and thus gaining positions over Geroge Russell and Oscar Piastri. Without a significant performance difference, overtaking at the Zandvoort circuit was difficult, which allowed the Monegasque to maintain his position more easily. Additionally, in terms of top speed, Carlos Sainz was the fastest, reaching a peak of 335 kilometers per hour.
Telemetry also showed that the Spaniard was consistently a few kilometers per hour faster at the braking point for the first corner. That said, Ferrari’s performance in the Dutch Grand Prix cannot be underestimated, as they demonstrated excellent pace. Looking at the gap stats, we see that during the entire second stint on hard tires, Charles Leclerc managed to hold off Max Verstappen, maintaining second place and even clawing back some time in the second half of the race against the reigning Red Bull world champion.
On the eve of the race, it was unthinkable that the Ferrari could deliver such a performance in the Dutch Grand Prix. The setup chosen by Ferrari didn’t work in the qualifying session, but in the race, it made a huge difference. Beyond that, credit must be given to the Ferrari team for their tire management and to the SF-24, which at least last Sunday, in the race, showed that the SF-24 is not a car to be dismissed entirely. The Dutch Grand Prix ends with Charles Leclerc crossing the finish line in third place, 3 seconds behind Max Verstappen. A well-deserved podium, beating McLaren. Carlos Sainz finishes in 5th place, recovering 5 positions and redeeming Saturday’s poor performance. Good job, Ferrari!
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