In a thrilling finish, Red Bull driver and reigning champion Max Verstappen defeated Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Mercedes’ George Russell to win the 2022 Dutch Grand Prix on Sunday.

Verstappen made a second pit stop on lap 48 with the virtual Safety Car in place, Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes in second, and Russell in third. Hamilton’s ambitions were shattered, though, as the Safety Car was brought out on lap 55.

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The seven-time winner continued to race on medium tyres to take the lead while Verstappen, Russell, and Leclerc changed to soft tyres for the restart on lap 61. Verstappen quickly overtook the Mercedes on that restart, and Russell and Leclerc quickly followed to yank Hamilton from the podium.

As Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez, who received a five-second penalty for an unsafe release during a pit stop, fought for P5 in the closing laps, Hamilton finished fourth. Alonso and Norris were able to close in as a result, and Sainz was dropped to eighth place when the penalty was awarded, moving Perez up to fifth, Alonso to sixth, and Norris to seventh.

Verstappen increased his point total to 310 with this victory, passing Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Red Bull’s Sergio Perez, who are both on 201 points. Lance Stroll, an Aston Martin driver who began and ended 10th overall, finished slightly ahead of Esteban Ocon in ninth place. While Alex Albon finished 12th from grid position 15, Pierre Gasly lost out on points in P11 for AlphaTauri.

Mick Schumacher prevailed over Sebastian Vettel, who started 19th and ended 14th, as a result of two sluggish pit stops.

Despite hitting the barriers on lap two, Kevin Magnussen kept going and came in 15th, just behind his Haas teammate. Behind Zhou Guanyu, who served for McLaren, Daniel Ricciardo started first out of the pack but struggled to gain position, finishing 17th for McLaren.

Alfa Romeo driver Valtteri Bottas was ranked 19th when his car stopped mid-race to release the late Safety Car.

On lap 48, Yuki Tsunoda experienced a driveshaft issue and had to halt on the track. Earlier, the AlphaTauri driver had complained that his tyres had been improperly installed prior to a lengthy pit stop.

(Inputs from IANS)