International press: 'Hamilton let down by his team'

Max Verstappen took his fourth win in a row in front of his home crowd at the Zandvoort circuit for the Dutch GP. The Dutchman did not get the victory so easily this time. There was an important role for Mercedes, but the team could not prevail. The international press divided its attention between the three top teams.

Gazetta dello Sport - Italy

With seven races to go in the 2022 championship, the Italian newspaper is already talking about an unbridgeable gap for Verstappen's rivals. Charles Leclerc and Sergio Perez will not make it anymore, according to Gazetta dello Sport: "Verstappen never stops. The Dutchman won the Dutch GP, he dominated with pole position, victory and fastest lap; much to the delight of his enthusiastic home fans." Although things were again not right at Ferrari this weekend and only a P3 was in it for Leclerc, the medium is more lenient on the team than in recent weeks.

Marca - Spain

Apart from Verstappen's impressive win, the Spanish are also impressed by Fernando Alonso's performance who drove from P13 to P6 at Circuit Zandvoort. Marca writes: "Max Verstappen has won the Dutch Grand Prix in front of his home crowd. It was a challenge with many possible winners, in which his biggest rival was Lewis Hamilton and not the Ferrari. Ferrari were not in rhythm and lost in the pit lane again. Carlos Sainz' s race (8th) was ruined."

Marca calls Alonso the third key player in the Dutch Grand Prix alongside Verstappen and Hamilton: "Fernando Alonso, in his best race of the year, came back from P13 to P6 and showed perseverance, skill, intelligence and class in every aspect."

The Guardian - Britain

In Britain, special attention was also paid to the weekend's challenger, Lewis Hamilton. The Guardian writes that the expectations of the elated Dutch crowd were not completely met, as the Briton surprisingly almost pulled off the upset. "Max Verstappen won in Zandvoort and this much at least had been expected — certainly by the 105,000 orange-clad fans who roared their approval at every lap. Yet it had not quite been the celebratory jaunt from pole to flag they had anticipated and for the first time this season it had been Mercedes and Hamilton who had been in with a genuine shot of their first win of the season."

The British paper continued on: "It was cold comfort to Hamilton for whom the dice had fallen decidedly the wrong way and leaves him only another mountain to climb at Monza next week."

L'Equipe - France

According to France's L'Equipe, Ferrari once again gave it away in the Netherlands. The team had a reasonable pace and with starting places two and three was in a good position to make things difficult for Verstappen with tactical play. The French write about Verstappen's race: "A glorious Sunday for Max Verstappen at Zandvoort with his tenth win of the season in front of his home crowd. The Red Bull driver overtook George Russell and Charles Leclerc and took another step closer to his second world title."

Ferrari failed again in the pit lane, according to the newspaper: "The consecutive Grands Prix are starting to look alike for Ferrari. The team has made many mistakes this season. This weekend the fault occurred in the pit lane. Carlos Sainz was coming, but... a tyre was missing! Ten seconds were needlessly lost for the Spanish driver."

Bild - Germany

Bild has to feel sorry for seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton of the partly German Mercedes AMG F1 team: "On lap 61, Lewis Hamilton lost the lead to local hero Max Verstappen after the restart of the Dutch race. Almost all the cars had just got new tyres during the safety car, but not the Briton."

The German medium continued: "Hamilton got hold of the lead, but had a disadvantage with his tyres and therefore no chance against Verstappen who was driving the stronger Red Bull anyway. It only became really bitter for Hamilton after that. Instead of securing P2 and equalling his best result of this season, he ended up just fourth."