Verstappen finishes off the World Cup Abu Dhabi style and Alonso completes a great comeback

• Dutch GP Qualifying and times

• Crisis in Alpine The traumatic goodbye to Alonso and Piastri

• World Cup 2022 Verstappen, outstanding leader

It was a miniature reissue of Abu Dhabi 2021, that race in which

was crowned for the first time.

Without the importance of that, because this World Cup was almost sentenced, but with an almost identical plot, to the delirium of the Dutch fans.

The great local idol won in Zandvoort, ahead of

and

, combining authority and a certain fortune, strategic aim and sheer speed, with a fast lap and a moral slap for

, who lost the podium in the final stretch of a relentless race, marked by the late mishaps of

and

.

The disparate luck of the Spaniards materialized in sixth place for

and eighth for

.

The Japanese and the Finn, as a stone guest, weighed as much in the resolution as

during that unforgettable Sunday last December.

The first

, decreed on lap 48 after the problems of the crazy AlphaTauri driver, seemed to give Verstappen the win.

The second, due to the failure of the Alfa Romeo at the end of the straight, brought the peloton back together just 12 laps before the checkered flag.

"We're going to have trouble holding him down," said Hamilton, then the leader.

The omen fell short.

Mercedes put everything on its part, because at this point in the World Cup, it only plays for the first time in the victories locker.

This was on record from his initial choice with the medium tires, to catch Red Bull and Ferrari off balance, until the last final strategy with Hamilton, whom he left on the track after the

while betting on the change for Russell.

"It was our biggest shit," lamented the seven-time champion, exposed to the onslaught of a bloodthirsty Verstappen.

So quickly he wanted to resume his head after the relaunch that he almost did not wait to cross the finish line.

Sir Lewis must have suffered even greater ridicule, losing the podium to Leclerc.

A maneuver cheered by the passionate local fans.

Sainz gave his best into the first corner, containing Hamilton's onslaught on the inside, though he couldn't keep up with Leclerc's pace.

His desire for the podium lasted just over a quarter of an hour.

On lap 15, during his first pit-stop, Ferrari hadn't even prepared the rear left wheel and the Madrid native delivered 12.7sec in that melee.

Relegated to sixth position, the rest of the race was a bitter pill for the man from Madrid, who was penalized for another error by his mechanics.

On lap 58 he was released at the wrong time and only Alonso's braking prevented the accident in the middle of the

.

Two laps to the checkered flag, Carlos found the courage to maintain his fifth place against Sergio Pérez, whom he sent to the gravel.

Despite crossing the finish line in fifth position, the five-second penalty delayed him to eighth place.

Waiting for what they dropped at the front was Alonso, who could leave Zandvoort more than satisfied, where he started thirteenth and finished sixth, three places ahead of Esteban Ocon.

An impeccable Sunday for the Asturian, who had to arm himself with patience for almost 10 laps in the wake of Pierre Gasly before finding his secret weapon: a game of hard ones with which he gave a recital.

His A522 nailed the clock at 1:16.9 with astonishing regularity, hounding Lance Stroll, his next fellow adventurer at Aston Martin.

The safety car triggered by Tsunoda further favored his options, despite the slowness of the Alpine operators (4.3 seconds).

He felt the car very well Fernando, who headed towards Lando Norris, whose questionable defense, sent him a few meters to the gravel.

What had started as a containment plan against Guanyu Zhou ended as an offensive against Pérez's Red Bull, who had just changed the engine, even without penalizing, and offered signs of his courage against Hamilton.

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• Fernando Alonso

• Carlos Sainz Jr.

• Max Verstappen

• Red Bull Racing

• Sergio Perez

• Lewis Hamilton

• Mercedes GP