THE BIG PICTURE: Is there an inter-team championship battle on our hands? Last year, at this time, you would have been laughed at for suggesting this. So, we're suggesting it.

EVENT: Brazil. Monza. Even Suzuka. They pale in comparison to the energy and fun loving Dutch fans. Even when their hero went out before the first lap was complete, they still knew how to enjoy themselves.

TRACK: Not suited for a sprint at all. But wow, was it suited for a regular race when strategy and tire management come into play.

SPRINT SHOOTOUT: Russell tries to re-establish himself, Norris and McLaren pick up where they left off in Hungary, Antonelli is way down, and the Ferraris have mixed fortunes.

SPRINT: A snoozefest.

SPRINT START: Russell easily gets away, Leclerc's gamble on soft tires does not pan out, and everyone plays it safe slotting into their spots.

QUALIFYING: With rain starting to fall, Norris pulls off a riveting lap to grab back pole from Friday, Russell nips out Antonelli, Hamilton pulls off a last second lap to beat out Leclerc, and Lawson proves his worth from last year's disaster.

RACE: It may have started a little slow, but wow did that turn out to be a thriller with brilliant strategy from McLaren.

START: Norris gets off strongly, Russell suffers by being on the dirty side of the track, so Antonelli gets by him, Leclerc gains two spots, and the two Red Bulls nearly crash into each other. And then...

VERSTAPPEN: ...Max wallops the wall at the end of the first lap, caught out by the wet painted inside line.

BORTOLETO: And Gabriel also spins there reacting to Verstappen, but managed to stay off the wall.

HULKENBERG: As Nico came oh so close to smacking into his team mate amidst the haze of tire smoke. Afterwards, he ran a superb race for a points finish.

RESTART: This time the dirty side is the good side as Antonelli out drags Norris for the lead, Russell gets a poor start, so Piastri zips by for third.

NORRIS: Another impressive drive, pulling away on well worn hard tires when his pursuer was on new softs.

PIASTRI: While Oscar continues his funk from Baku of last year.

MCLAREN: Despite what the drivers and engineers are saying about corner specific advantages/disadvantages, they are indeed a force to be reckoned with the rest of the season.

ANTONELLI: When all was said and done, Kimi neither gained nor lost ground to his teammate over the weekend.

RUSSELL: He may be scratching his head again, but it sure was impressive keeping an obviously faster Lewis Hamilton at bay (with some help from a timely VSC) while on very old tires.

MERCEDES: They better bring those upgrades. Stat!

HAMILTON: Caught out by the (lack of) Ferrari strategy. And boy, was he mad.

LECLERC: Didn't get to take advantage of his race pace.

FERRARI: The usual drama. And with Monza coming up.

LAWSON: Back on the main team, Liam did well for himself, especially vis-à-vis Verstappen.

TSUNODA: As Yuki looks towards Indy cars, he got possibly one last stab at F1. And he was noticeably more relaxed, and happy, than that horrendous last season.

HADJAR: Isack, you are not supposed to spend your summer break by injuring your hand working out with a punching bag.

ALONSO: The points finish was more circumstantial (mainly due to taking advantage of the red flag and running a one-stop strategy) than performance.

ASTON MARTIN: Because their upgrades, and the new Honda engine, are not exactly earth shattering.

WILLIAMS: The drivers warned you their cars become very difficult when dicing.

SAINZ: The other choices of teams to move to weren't much better. But still, to commit some more years to Williams, makes us wonder if Carlos' career has become a dead end.

ALBON: For Alex, staying with Williams was the only choice.

CADILLAC: A planned succession plan is not one which is executed during the summer break, had the previous team manager told minutes before the announcement, and give the replacement no time to visit the factories beforehand. There is something us behind this sudden succession "plan."

SILLY SEASON: We didn't really think Verstappen was going to step away from F1 (or even go to a different team). We do truly believe that Max thoroughly enjoys his racing excursions. However, ego ultimately makes his decisions, and his ego is not done trying to prove he is the best in the world. So now, pretty much the rest of the teams' lineups fall into place, with the only big question remaining pertains to Fernando Alonso.

FIA: Another technical snafu as the pit exit red light inexplicably turned on while the cars were leaving to begin their formation lap for the restart. Worse, the FIA never explained why.

F1 ACADEMY: American Payton Prescott got the pole for the reverse grid race thanks to someone else's technical infraction. She then controlled the entire race including two restarts, only briefly challenged once, for her first win. The real pole winner, Brit Alisha Palmowski, easily won the feature race after an aggressive defensive start, her fourth of the season, extending her comfortable points lead.

WORD OF THE WEEKEND: Vaarwel.

STAT OF THE WEEKEND: 6 -- The number of Dutch GPs since the revival. Only one driver has scored points in all of them. Fernando Alonso. We kid you not.

HISTORICAL STAT OF THE WEEKEND: The first race in Zandvoort was a street race in 1939 (two months before the start of WWII). It was basically a sports car race won by Piet Nortier in a BMW 328. Plans to build a permament track were quickly dashed with the outbreak of hostilities. The track was eventually built after the war, and the Dutch GP took place in 1950-51 (non-championship), 1952-53, 1955, 1958-1971, 1973-1985, and 2021-2026. It's had many lives and will most likely be on the top of the list if a last minute replacement is ever needed. Never count out Zandvoort.

TWEET OF THE WEEKEND: From @Nachez98:

Lando Norris

"Our car is the fastest in fast corners, no doubt... or I have the biggest balls, I don't know"

#F1 #DutchGP

QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND: When asked to move over for Kimi, George Russell asked, with obvious innuendo, "Is he fighting for the win?"

QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND RUNNERUP: When Lewis Hamilton asked how the tires he might go to were working on Leclerc's car, and the answer was they didn't know, Hamilton said, "But you guys have got the data, so figure it out... please."

SCHEDULE: Despite coming off the summer break, we skip a week. Then, it's on to Monza where the tifosi will be torn rooting for Ferrari or Antonelli.

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