F1 - Dutch GP

F1 finally returned after the summer break and treated us to a incident-packed race at Zandvoort, with massive implications for the championship battle. Let's dive in...

Performances

McLaren - devastating result for Lando Norris with an incredibly unfortunate reliability issue that put him out of the race. Piastri drove a great race and probably would have won regardless but still... a massive loss in points. The gap is now 34 points at the front of the championship for Oscar which is a nice safety net for him and he can probably afford a few second places now. Otherwise the car was still a complete rocketship (saw some data it was lapping around a second quicker than any other car in the race!) but this was a huge race for the driver's championship. A lot can happen in 9 races though, despite the massive blow and Lando is still a good driver! Very calm drive from Oscar despite the chaos going on - he nailed every safety car restart!

Ferrari - Just when I thought it couldn't get worse after Hungary Ferrari always delivers some more pain for us. Leclerc had a good race and had some fantastic racing with George but was taken out by Antonelli. He has to be one of the unluckiest drivers on the grid imo. Something always goes wrong at basically every weekend! Lewis was at least closer on pace this weekend but binned the car on the slippery painted line. A very uncharacteristic mistake which is the story of his season. As a Lewis fan this season has been a total disaster. And we have a 5 place grid penalty for Monza. I went from hoping for wins to hoping for podiums to now just hoping for points finishes... please 2026 arrive faster!!!!

Red Bull - nice drive from Max to claim second place. They tried something different with the strategy today but ultimately the pace compared to McLaren just wasn't there. Yuki had one of his better weekends and was closer on pace to the field and got some points in P9. But after another driver's performance this weekend it's fair to say he won't have a driver for next year.

Mercedes - Pace was lacking compared to their rivals and George capitalised on the chaos of the race to finish P4. Not too terrible with the damage he clearly had. Kimi actually looked like he had decent pace at one point but just made another pretty terrible mistake and took out Charles, ruining both of their races. I get that he's a rookie but he is in a top team and performances need to start improving again.

Racing Bulls - HADJAR!!!!!! A fantastic driver to score his first podium in F1!!! A very well-deserved podium for keeping the Ferrari and the Mercedes behind him all race long! A fantastic qualifying result converted into his maiden podium - tops off what has so far been an impressive rookie season. His qualifying consistency has easily been his biggest asset and if he can add race pace + management like we saw today then he could definitely be up at the front of the grid in the near future. And this race has pretty much sealed his place at Red Bull for 2026 imo. Hopefully he can break the second seat curse. Lawson had a good quali but got involved in an incident with Carlos and finished outside the points.

Williams - another great drive from Albon to finish P5 from 15th on the grid!!! He had a mega start, making up 5 places and delivered a fantastic result. He's actually level on points with Antonelli which is just showing what a fantastic season he is having this year! Carlos has probably been one of the unluckiest drivers this season. It finally looked like he was going to have a decent weekend after quali but got involved in that incident with Lawson that ruined his race and also somehow he got a 10 second penalty for it??? Very confusing decision.

Haas - they made a big strategy gamble hoping for a safety car by starting on the hard tyres and it paid off! Ocon did well to finish P10 but the real star was Bearman. Started in the pitlane and managed to make some good overtakes during the race to finish P6, his career best result! Great to get double points after a few difficult races.

Aston Martin - this was such an up and down weekend for them. They had really good pace in practice but were disappointing in quali, especially due to Stroll's crash. They gambled on the strategy with an early stop for Stroll and he managed to snatch a P7 (I swear all his points this season have been lucky like this lol). Fernando had better pace but ultimately the last safety car ruined the undercut he was trying to do and he finished behind Lance in P8. Double points is still crucial in that battle for 6th in the WCC!

Alpine/Sauber - Franco probably had his best weekend, just missing out on points in the end. Gasly was running in the points at one stage but his tyres just fell apart at the end. Sauber really lacked overall pace this weekend.

Race rating -  8/10 - It took some time for it to really get going but there was a lot of incidents and action in this one! And Zandvoort has grown on me a bit, it'll be a shame to see it go after next year.

Team radio of the race - broadcast didn't show it but Fernando literally screamed after the last safety car came out😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

Driver of the race - Bearman, Albon and Piastri deserve a mention. But there's only one real option. Isack Hadjar for a fantastic drive to finish P3 and claim his first ever podium in Formula One!!!! A wonderful result in what has so far been a pretty good rookie season!

Next weekend - the Italian GP at the Monza, the temple of speed and the home of the Tifosi. The track is famous for it's long straights and tricky chicanes, plus the fantastic last corner of the Parabolica. This track has the record for the fastest average speed in a single lap - 264.3 km/h (164.2 mph) set by Lewis Hamilton in 2020, and the fastest ever speed recorded in F1 history, set by Juan Pablo Montoya in 2005 - a staggering 372.6 km/h (231.5 mph)!!!!! It also holds the record for the shortest ever F1 race, with the 2003 race being finished in an hour and 14 minutes. Some of the best races from the past are: 1971 (the top 5 drivers were covered by less than half a second!!! with the winner just 0.010 seconds ahead), 1988 (A superb Ferrari 1-2 finally ending the McLaren dominance), 1999 (Hakkinen mistake as Frentzen and Jordan become championship contenders!),  2019 (That epic Hamilton vs Leclerc battle), 2020 (chaos as Gasly wins!)

News

We got some news this week as the new Cadillac team finally announced their driver lineup for their entry in 2026, with Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas becoming their new drivers. In my opinion this is a great move from the team - get two experienced drivers to help the team settle into F1. And it's not like those two are slouches - both race winners and drivers that have beaten their world champion teammates before! I get that some people wanted to see a rookie but we have basically 4 top quality ones this year I don't think it's a real problem. It's very exciting just to see a new team on the grid again!