The future looks orange for Lewis
Hamilton dressed for success... but Max sends fans wild with pole
IT IS a 287-yard dart into the first corner called Tarzan — and that is where Lewis Hamilton may have to strike to prevent Max Verstappen winning the Dutch Grand Prix.
That is the he tantalising possibility we were left with after a captivating qualifying session saw the home driver take pole position, with Hamilton producing a wonderful lap of his own, just 0.038 of a second behind him.
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff will not issue any final words of caution. He will leave Hamilton to roar off in any fashion he chooses.
‘We will not be discussing the strategy for turns one or two,’ said the Austrian. ‘The drivers will discuss various plays with their engineers but we do not need to inform Lewis how to drive or refer him to what is at stake because he knows best.
‘The two protagonists will start side-by-side more often this season and we cannot assume that it will end up in an incident. They are both among the best racers. They know every win counts. They will do it fair and square but hard.’
It is the first time the pair, who have illuminated the first 12 rounds of 22, will start first and second on the grid since they collided at 180mph on the opening lap at Silverstone. The impact resulted in Verstappen being taken to hospital for checks. The championship momentum shifted and Hamilton now leads the standings by three points.
Today they will take to their cockpits in front of a big grandstand open to hot sunshine aware of the crowd’s partisanship. That febrile, mostly friendly, atmosphere was evident yesterday, among the 70,000 fans. They cheered Verstappen along all 14 corners as he swept around in superb style. No driver worth his salt could fail to enjoy the characteristics of these fast and challenging 2.65 miles, but the circuit is thought likely to offer few overtaking opportunities. Time will tell on that.
The theory loads emphasis on the dash to Tarzanbocht and the ensuing few corners. There is one other way to win the first race in Holland for 36 years and that is by dint of strategy. Here, Hamilton can take comfort from having the Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas right behind him, whereas Verstappen is estranged from his team-mate, Sergio Perez, who failed to cross the line for a final flying lap in Q1 and will start 16th.
As Wolff said: ‘Is Max going for a one-stop or a two-stop? We can play both strategies with two cars, as we have seen, going into totally different directions.
‘We will be pitting one car, undercutting and applying huge pressure and leaving the other car out and then finishing one and two…’ Qualifying was a fine showcase. Verstappen, scoring his 10th career pole, dominated all afternoon but Hamilton gradually gathered pace and outperformed his car in his final flourish. Both men were operating at their limits.
On an action-packed day, Hamilton’s incoming team-mate George Russell, lying 11th, crashed his Williams while gunning promisingly for a place in the top-10 shoot-out. The red flag was waved and the Englishman drove his car off the gravel and back to the garage. His mechanics worked quickly to patch up the damage and Russell, who put his hand up to pushing too hard, went out again.
But Q2 was abandoned moments later and he remained unchanged in 11th when Nicholas Latifi in the other Williams careered off at Turn 8. His was a bigger impact than Russell’s and he was taken to the medical centre as a precaution.
This second red flag was bad news for McLaren’s Lando Norris, who
was deprived of the chance to improve on 13th place.
Hamilton received some boos during the post-session interviews. Host Guido van der Guide asked the offenders to cut out the jeering and they relented.
Hamilton, playing the diplomat, said: ‘I love coming to this country. I really appreciate the welcome. Thank you to all the orange fans.’
One wonders if those sentiments would survive a brush with Tarzan.