The Dutch Grand Prix may be hosting its final meeting on the Formula One calendar this weekend but its farewell heralds the opening of a championship run-in that is far from over. Rested, reset and ready to rumble, there is an anticipatory air among the title contenders in Zandvoort as they enter the sharp end of a fight which, as last season demonstrated, could yet be taken to the finale. Resuming after F1’s summer break there is, as always, a sprightly atmosphere to the sport.
Team members have had time with their families and drivers have had a chance to decompress, assess, heck, even have a bit of fun, with Mercedes’ George Russell becoming engaged to his partner Carmen Montero Mundt and Lando Norris out and about in Ibiza with pals. Lewis Hamilton got his head down and trained hard, proclaiming himself fitter then ever, energised and refreshed, while Max Verstappen emerged at his home race to announce a new contract with his Red Bull team. They reconvene here in the dunes on the North Sea coast, with much work still to do and for all that Mercedes and the championship leader Kimi Antonelli are holding the whip hand, there are 12 meetings to come and all to play for with five different winners from the last five races.
Last year after the Dutch GP, McLaren’s Oscar Piastri led his teammate Norris by 34 points and Verstappen by 104. By the season finale in Abu Dhabi Norris took the title from Verstappen by just two points, with Piastri back in third. This time out Antonelli leads Ferrari’s Hamilton by 50, with Russell third, 59 in arrears.
Norris is a full 91 behind but he and McLaren are on something of a roll, with victory at the last round in Hungary. The numbers are ominous but in Zandvoort none of the chasing pack feel Antonelli is out of reach. The 19-year-old Italian has been a revelation this season, with six wins demonstrating confidence and control perhaps beyond his years but also a verve and ebullient enthusiasm.
Yet the teenager knows he cannot afford to lose any focus, while Mercedes’ reliability issues have been their achilles heel and the reason there is no chicken counting occurring in Brackley. Hamilton too cut a charged-up figure in the Netherlands. The seven-time champion is enjoying a season that could not stand in starker contrast to the annus horribilis of his debut year with Ferrari.
The team are sharp, the car is to his liking and there is a palpable sense that the Scuderia is on course. The gap to Antonelli is a gulf but not insurmountable, not least as Ferrari have another engine upgrade to come, expected to be introduced in Monza, and are deploying an upgraded floor in Zandvoort. Hamilton is hungry, a player once more in the title fight.
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