Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton will have left the orange beach party at Zandvoort with a slight hangover following a chastising weekend defeat to home favourite Max Verstappen.
“We have to do something to keep up with them,” the Mercedes driver said. “We need more pace to able to win races in the future.”
Hamilton heads to next Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix in Monza, the Temple of Speed, where pure pace is a must. And he will arrive at the iconic venue having seen his eight-point championship lead at the summer break turned into a three-point deficit.
Red Bull’s Verstappen, who followed his Belgian success by becoming the first-ever home winner of the Dutch Grand Prix, was understandably thrilled at victory in front of a delirious crowd.
“It’s incredible to win here today on another home track and it feels great to take the lead in the driver’s championship again,” he said.
“Of course the expectations were very high coming into the weekend and it’s never easy to fulfil that but the whole crowd has been incredible and I am so happy to win here.”
Verstappen delivered a near perfect weekend at the North Sea dunes and insisted “we are professional enough to concentrate on our job when we sit in the car,” amid the astonishing backing from fans as Zandvoort returned to the circuit after more than three decades away.
With six pole positions from the last seven races and seven season wins to Hamilton’s four, Verstappen is the dominant driver in 2021 even if the British champion is clinging on to his coat-tails.
Hamilton’s cause was not aided by Mercedes making a questionable call in pursuit of an undercut on Verstappen though it is debatable if any strategy would have hauled in the flying Dutchman.
Mercedes are also dealing with some internal strife as Valtteri Bottas seemed to ignore orders not to chase a fastest lap point, subsequently won by Hamilton.
“I was pushing on the first lap, Sector 1 and 2 like flat-out and then they started asking me to slow down at the end of the lap,” said the Finn, whose departure from the team from 2022 was confirmed on Monday.
“I was just playing around really. I knew Lewis was going to stop as well … and I knew that with a decent amount of lifting in the last sector [from me], he will get it, so no drama.”
