F1. The Netherlands 2025 Review

By Gavin Huet, Chelsea Wintle, Aiden McLaughlin, Kiwi Kali and Graeme Woolf

Driver of the Weekend

Kali : I’m sure I won’t be alone in this but Isack Hadjar. What a transformation from the distraught rookie who crashed out in the formation lap of his first race and was consoled in the paddock by Anthony Hamilton as the race went on. The scenes in the Racing Bulls aka Visa Cash App RB aka Alpha Tauri aka Toro Rosso garage were heartwarming, as were the congratulations from his fellow drivers for his first podium in third place. Bravo Isack!

Aiden: After a dip in form before the summer break, Isack Hadjar is back to his best. After a tough Friday, he managed to qualify at the dizzy heights of P4. In the race, the Racing Bulls rookie did a fantastic job to hold onto that position despite plenty of pressure from behind and yellow flags which brought the pack back together more than once. When Lando Norris had to retire, he was there to take his place on the podium, becoming the fifth youngest driver in F1 history to make the top three.

Graeme: Isack Hadjar. The rookie Frenchman had an outstanding Grand Prix and is my pick. He excelled to qualify in 4 th place and held that position right up until the final laps until Lando Norris ran out of juice & had to retire his car. That sent Hadjar up to his first ever podium finish in 3rd. Talk pre-race was that he’d hold up George Russell and the Ferraris behind him, but that wasn’t the case at all. A brilliant calm drive from him.

Gavin: Isack Hadjar deserves it for a podium visit for the first time. When you consider this is his rookie season which started so badly when he crashed out on the formation lap of the first race, this is quite the result. He qualified in fourth which was impressive in itself and everyone predicted the Racing Bulls car would not have the race pace and would just fall away, but he stayed there and held off the challenges of Charles Leclrec and George Russell, finally benefitting from the McLaren of Lando Norris dying in the closing stages of the race. Of course this is also the kiss of death for the young Frenchman as he will now be promoted to the main Red Bull team and will watch his career fall apart quicker than his new car could ever manage. Rookie of the year (so far), I think so.

Chelsea: The popular choice will be Isack Hadjar this week, and with good reason. This season’s breakout rookie ran a masterful qualifying lap to start the race in fourth, and ended his day on the podium. To say he lucked into third spot is to do him a disservice – he ran a consistent and focussed race, even in the face of intermittent showers and multiple safety car restarts. It’s always a joy to see a driver take their first podium, whether that be in the dawn of the career or the twilight (see: Silverstone).

 

Talking Point

Kali : One would have thought that the announcement of Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas as Cadillac’s inaugural drivers on the grid in 2026 would have rated some discussion, but I didn’t see that in the Sky Sports F1 coverage. I get that they have a predominantly UK-based loyal audience, but the bias towards British drivers and storylines is getting out of control, and some balance would be as welcome as it would at Scuderia Ferrari.

Aiden: He ruffles feathers but I am always there for (1997 World Champion) Jacques Villeneuve and his blunt observations. Last weekend, Kimi Antonelli was the subject of choice and his summary about the 19-year-old was “Maybe F1 is just too much for him.” For Villeneuve, there’s no sympathy for the Italian who is starting to really struggle in his rookie season. Naomi Schiff and Simon Lazenby tried to take the glass half full approach towards the Mercedes driver, saying that even Max Verstappen had his struggles when he entered F1, but Villeneuve wasn’t having it; “Hold on. I’ll add something to that. Max was driving over the limit, but he wasn’t four-tenths off. He was on pace.” I await the Kimi/Jacques interview later in the season with bated breath.

Graeme: Ferrari doing Ferrari things again. Over the past few years, it seems that most weekends the Ferrari drivers find a new way to retire from or lose races. Whether it be weird strategies, or mistiming pit stops, or just plain bad luck, it seems recently that Ferrari has had it all. And this week a small error by Lewis Hamilton saw him get too high on a corner and slide off the slippery lines into the wall. And then, through no fault of his own, Charles Leclerc was hit and had to retire as well. They need all the luck they can get heading into their home race this weekend.

Gavin: Penalties galore. Did Carlos Sainz deserve a ten second penalty for clashing with Liam Lawson as he tried to overtake the New Zealander? To me it looked like a racing incident but obviously the stewards saw things very differently, and after the race the stewards “open door” policy was suddenly missing in action as they refused to talk to Carlos about the incident. And the Charles Leclerc versus George Russell incident where Charles claimed George was moving under braking and George claimed Charles overtook by going off the track was deemed inconclusive after the race (I mean how? They have all the footage and for once they can’t find anything?), and anyway it was made null and void due to Charles being taken out by the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli which also resulted in a ten second penalty for the teenager to which he also added another five second penalty for speeding in the pit lane. And now Lewis Hamiton has a five place grid penalty for the next race because he did not slow down under a double waved yellow. Phew.

On the subject of penalties, I am a bit over every driver acting like a teacher’s pet and trying to get their opponents in trouble for everything during the race. I think the stewards should give a drive-through to anyone engaging in this unsportsmanlike conduct, just like football does when players wave an imaginary card around to the referee or take a dive to get an advantage.

Chelsea: I took a snack break at lap 19, and reported to the household that the race was “a little dull”. How the racing gods laughed! No sooner did I sit down than Hamilton careered into the wall after skidding on paint markings slickened by rain. From then on it was all happening – Norris almost running down his jack man, Lawson and Sainz coming together, Leclerc making what I noted as a “hella move” on Russell… but the moment of the weekend goes to the lonely Monegasque on the grassy knoll, eyes fixed on the middle distance as photographers snapped wildly from a respectful distance of 3.5 metres. Leclerc’s exit from the race was pure bad luck as Kimi Antonelli started a passing manoeuvre he couldn’t finish, colliding with the Ferrari. Tough weekend for prancing horses. Again.

 

Gossip Time

Kali : I think that the rumours about an unholy trinity of Christian Horner, Flavio Briatore and Bernie Ecclestone taking over Alpine have been quashed, but on the subject of the recently departed Horner, Toto Wolff opining on their love-hate bromance was amusing, especially this quote: “What I said is that every movie needs the good, the bad and the ugly. Now the bad is gone, it’s only Fred [Vasseur at Ferrari] and I left… It took Fred a while to think about that.”

Aiden: Hadjar’s podium finish seems to be another nail in Yuki Tsunoda’s Red Bull coffin with the Frenchman looking more and more likely to be Verstappen’s teammate in 2026. If we assume Liam Lawson will spend next year with Racing Bulls, who’ll join the Kiwi? Arvind Lindblad, the 18-year-old Brit who is currently racing in F2, joined the Red Bull Academy when he was 13 and already has enough Super License points to take the seat. That’s where my money is.

Graeme: After seeing both Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris sitting forlorn in the sand dunes after retiring their cars in the weekend, I reckon this could become a regular thing. When a driver retires anywhere other than pit lane, he should have to sit and watch the race off the track from where he stops. Imagine hitting a wall in Monaco and hopping onto a Superyacht. Or going up in the large ferris wheel thing that seems to be at most tracks after coming to a stop mid race. How good would that be!

Gavin: The expected driver market shake up during the summer break did not materialise. Cadillac finally announced their team, bringing back Sergio Perez and Valterri Bottas into F1, whilst also squashing any rumour of Christian Horner leading the team. Toto Wolff finally announced that Mercedes would be sticking with George Russell and Kimi Antonelli (now that Max Verstappen is not available). So now we are back to hearing Flavio Briatore moaning about Franco Colapinto in that second Alpine seat, maybe they would have been better off keeping Jack Doohan in the seat. Of course Franco went and finished 11th whereas teammate Pierre Gasly ended 17th – effectively last as behind him were the three DNFs. It still looks like some drivers still have a bit to be nervous about.

Chelsea: “He’s just so stupid. Oh my God. This guy. It’s always the same guy.” One of the things I miss most about Kimi Raikkonen is his deadpan radio quips, but this week Carlos Sainz channelled him nicely after Liam Lawson cheekily knocked into him. One day I’m sure Lawson will wear the quote proudly on a t-shirt, but for now he’d best avoid Sainz at driver dinners – especially since, somewhat bewilderingly, it was Sainz who took away a 10 second penalty for the incident. I’m still a bit confused about that.

 

Looking Ahead

Kali : I have proof in the form of a DM from 12 December 2024 that I predicted that Oscar Piastri would win a driver’s championship before Lando Norris, and it looks like my crystal ball is clear as… well, you know what. Piastri has shown immense maturity from the start of his F1 career, and even though he’s Australian he barracks for Richmond, my AFL team, so I feel an affinity towards him. He would have hated the way he’s pulled ahead in the driver’s championship due to Norris’ mechanical failure, but as the delightful Australian phrase goes (and bears repeating), we’re not here to f*ck spiders and the championship is Piastri’s to lose.

Aiden: Monza is always the big weekend for Ferrari fans, but the team are heading there on the back foot. That’s not only because they suffered a double retirement at Zandvoort, but Lewis Hamilton has also been hit with a five-place grid penalty. The Ferrari is usually developed with the Monza track firmly in mind to maximise their chance of success there, but Hamilton, who will be desperate to impress the Tifosi will need to pull something huge out of the bag there to be competitive.

Graeme: Monza! The theatre of speed. The home of Ferrari. A sea of red. What a spectacle it’s going to be this weekend. My only hope for all of the local fans is that Ferrari put on a good show and perform like we all know they can. Zandvoort needs to quickly become a distant memory for Leclerc and Hamilton now.

Gavin: Channeling my inner Sky Sport UK F1 commentator mode – What does a race at Monza mean for Lando Norris and how can Lando Norris maximise his championship potential and what can Lando Norris do to upset the evil Oscar Piastri and what does Lando Norris have for breakfast and how does Lando Norris sleep at night and what does Lando Norris do when the clock strikes midday and do we have any footage of Lando Norris doing that and we cross live now to Zak Brown to ask how he is going to make Lando Norris a champion and why is it someone else’s fault Lando Norris cannot just win the title without finishing races?
Take one statement as an example – the win for Oscar doesn’t mean as much because of what happened to Lando… Seriously? If it was the other way round there is no way that statement would be uttered live on air, and that is just one example. At this point nothing that happens can be mentioned without a Lando Norris reference and it is off putting to say the least. I understand the commentary team and production is British based and therefore has a certain bias but you would be forgiven for thinking there is only one driver out there at times. It is just so lazy. Do better Sky Sport UK F1.

Chelsea: McLaren took the victory this weekend, but it wasn’t all good news. Seven laps shy of the chequered flag, Lando Norris was parked on the side of the track, having suffered engine failure. Mechanical issues are so rare for the papayas that I’d forgotten they were a legitimate risk. On top of that, the team’s normally slick pit stop procedures fell well short of standard this weekend – something that was never at risk of costing them places, but is indicative of a wider slackening somewhere in the garage. Time for some drills this week.

Bonus Picture(s)

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