All info you need to see before the 2024 Dutch Grand Prix starts

The 2024 Formula 1 World Championship season resumes this Sunday with the 2024 Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort. The trend to close out the first half of the season was magnificent, with constant competition at the top and unpredictability right before the races.

Can Verstappen Still Win 4 in a Row?

At least a handful of drivers have looked like contenders for F1 victories in recent events and the second half of the season should continue in that fashion.

Red Bull's Dutchman Max Verstappen leads the World Drivers' Championship with 277 points and seven wins in 14 races. However, Verstappen hasn't won any of the last four events. It will be interesting to see if he is able to return to the top step of the podium in his home event and score his 4th consecutive win at Zandvoort.

McLaren's Lando Norris, although he's had some woes lately, is second in the championship with 199 points and a victory. Charles Leclerc sits third for Ferrari and had an auspicious end to the first 'half' of the season, with a podium at Spa-Francorchamps. McLaren's Oscar Piastri is one of the drivers in the best form right now and sits fourth in the WDC but is trending upwards (he's only 10 points behind Leclerc).

Carlos Sainz is fifth for Ferrari with 162 points, followed by Mercedes' Sir Lewis Hamilton (150 points), who's won two of the last three races. Sergio Pérez's torrid season continues as he's fallen to seventh in the WDC and hasn't scored a podium in the last nine races.

On his side, Mercedes' George Russell is eighth in the WDC with 116 points.

Red Bull's form seems to have taken a hit since the Miami Grand Prix and many are now attributing it to a suspected asymmetrical braking system in the team's RB20 car.

2024 Dutch GP Facts & Figures

The Dutch Grand Prix will be on the Formula 1 calendar for the fourth time since 1985, after a successful return in the 2021 F1 World Championship season.

Sunday’s race will be the 36th edition of the GP, and the 34th as a part of the Formula 1 World Championship (only the first two races in the Netherlands were non-championship races).

The event has seen historical moments, such as James Hunt's first Grand Prix win for Hesketh in 1975 and Niki Lauda's 25th and final Grand Prix win for McLaren in 1985.

Tragic situations also showed up in the Dutch Grand Prix, with two-time podium finisher Piers Courage losing his life in the 1970 race after a sad crash. Roger Williamson, a British driver for March, crashed and could not escape his burning car, ultimately dying from asphyxiation in the 1973 event. Driving another March, David Purley pulled up and got out of his car to try and move Williamson’s car, which was upside-down, but all attempts were not enough.

The marshals did not do a good job, but they really could not try much, as they did not have fire-retardant overalls, proving the organization of the race was far from ideal.

The most successful driver in the Dutch Grand Prix is Jim Clark. The legendary two-time F1 champion won the Dutch Grand Prix four times between 1963 and 1967 with Lotus. Sir Jackie Stewart, Niki Lauda, and Max Verstappen follow Clark in the list, with three wins apiece, while every other driver who has won more than once at the Netherlands was a World Champion.

Dutch driver Max Verstappen has won the last three editions of the event from Pole Position. The Dutchman's three straight wins at Zandvoort equaled Clark's record (three consecutive wins from 1963 to 1965).

In terms of team wins Ferrari leads Lotus with eight victories to six. McLaren and Red Bull are third with three wins apiece, while Mercedes and Williams have one win each at Zandvoort. Mercedes won with Juan Manuel Fangio in 1955, while Williams did so with Alan Jones in 1979.

Circuit Zandvoort Track Info

Zandvoort has held every Dutch Grand Prix to date, and the revamped circuit is a challenging one. Although the circuit has a twisty layout, we've seen some thrilling battles in the last three events, coupled with unpredictable weather in 2023.

The original Zandvoort was designed by Jarno Zaffelli and the track was opened in 1948.

It hosted the Dutch Grand Prix from 1950 to 1985, except for four events that were not celebrated due to financial issues or safety concerns.

This year’s race will be the 36th Dutch Grand Prix celebrated at Circuit Zandvoort and the 34th that has been a part of the Formula 1 World Championship.

High downforce is essential at the circuit due to its 14 turns, but the balance will again be key to have enough speed throughout the 678-meter main straight.

The final section of the circuit is amazing, as seeing Formula 1 cars taking the banked final corner at high speeds is truly unique. The banking on the final corner is at 18 degrees and it was initially thought of as a part of the second DRS zone (main straight), but the FIA and the organizers decided against it.

The track was scheduled to return to F1 in 2020, with the event expected to be held in May. However, the Covid-19 pandemic changed the situation and Zandvoort returned in 2021 with a successful event. The event has been run flawlessly in the following years.

The current layout is 4.259-km long and the 2024 Dutch Grand Prix will have 72 laps. The race distance will be 306.587 km if the Grand Prix is completed.

The current lap record was set in 2021, with Sir Lewis Hamilton putting up a 1:11.097 min lap in the race.

2024 Dutch Grand Prix - Tyres

The dry tyres for the 2024 Dutch Grand Prix will be the C1 as P Zero White hard, C2 as P Zero Yellow Medium, and C3 as P Zero Red soft.

Pirelli explained their choice with a press release: "Formula 1 is back in action at a track that presents one of the most complicated challenges of the season. The Dutch Grand Prix takes place at the classic Zandvoort circuit, nestled in the dunes on the North Sea coast, having been updated just a few years ago to host Formula 1, starting in 2021 after an absence of 36 years.

It has retained its original characteristics including its twisty layout featuring 14 corners, four to the left and ten to the right, over the course of its 4.259 kilometres. But what makes this track really unique on the championship trail are the banked turns 3 and 14, with a gradient of 19 and 18 degrees respectively, which for a point of reference is steeper than that found at Indianapolis.

Banked corners are not that common in Formula 1 and therefore present an unusual challenge for both car and driver. It also has an effect on the tyres, because the higher speeds of the banked turns compared to the normal ones subjects them to even greater forces.

That explains why the dry weather compounds chosen for Zandvoort are the three hardest in the 2024 range, used since the introduction of the 18” tyres: C1 as P Zero White hard, the C2 as P Zero Yellow medium and the C3 as P Zero Red soft.

On paper, thermal degradation is a very significant factor, but much will depend on the weather in late August. The Netherlands borders Belgium and we saw before the break how climatic conditions at these latitudes can change from one day to the next and even within the space of a day, so that summer doesn’t necessarily mean warm temperatures and sunshine.

The average temperature in Zandvoort in late August varies between 14 °C and 20 °C, which could help drivers manage even the softest compounds, as was seen in last year’s race when Tsunoda ran 50 laps on the Soft. A further variable results from the track’s proximity to the sea shore, just one row of dunes and a street away, so that wind often coats the track with sand, thus lowering the grip available to the tyres.

Conditions changed so much during last year’s race that all five types of available tyre were used. The most popular slick was the Soft, chosen for the start by 19 of the 20 drivers, Hamilton being the only one to opt for the Medium.

The rain arrived immediately after the start, bringing the Cinturato Intermediate into play, and it was then required again for the final stages, after a long spell where slicks were used. Three drivers, the Red Bull pair and Esteban Ocon, even tried out the Cinturato Wet. There were a lot of overtaking moves and a record 82 pit stops.

In stable dry conditions, pre-event simulations point to a one-stop as the quickest strategy, especially as in theory, overtaking is a rare event, because the track is very narrow and there are few straights, therefore very limited passing opportunities.

If it is hot, then the harder compounds should be favourite, but cooler weather would see the Soft become a viable race tyre."

The minimum starting pressures for the tyres will be 25.0 PSI (front) and 22.5 PSI (rear).

2024 Dutch Grand Prix Weather Forecast

Friday, Aug 23rd - FP1 & FP2
Conditions: Mostly cloudy and very windy
Max. temperature: 22°C
Chance of rain: 25%

Saturday, Aug 24th - FP3 & Qualifying
Conditions: Cloudy and breezy with a couple of showers
Max. temperature: 21°C
Chance of rain: 64%

Sunday, Aug 25th - Race
Conditions: Sunny
Max. temperature: 20°C
Chance of rain: 1%

Who will be on the 2024 Dutch Grand Prix Podium?

Podium 2023 Dutch GP: 1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull), 2. Pierre Gasly (Alpine) & 3. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)

Despite rumors about why Red Bull's performance has dropped relative to what we saw in the first five races, the RB20 looked like the class of the field at Spa, until traffic put an end to Verstappen's quest for a strong result in the Grand Prix.

Although Verstappen has dominated at the circuit, he's not the prohibitive favorite to take a fourth consecutive victory at his home Grand Prix. Things should be quite close at the front in Zandvoort and we could see McLaren leading the push for victory.

With close competition at the front, Mercedes could be in the mix with both drivers. Hamilton has shown that his race pace remains unique on the grid, while Russell's Saturday brilliance could prove fantastic for him and his Sunday chances.

The prediction for the top three of the 2024 Dutch Grand Prix is 1. Max Verstappen, 2. Lando Norris, 3. George Russell.

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