Max Verstappen wins F1 Dutch Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton fumes at Mercedes

Lewis Hamilton has been left angry at his Mercedes team who turned a potential win into a disappointing fourth at the Dutch Formula One Grand Prix.

World champion Max Verstappen won his home race for the second-straight year, taking advantage of a poor Mercedes strategy call during a chaotic finish to the race.

George Russell took second for Mercedes, while Charles Leclerc came third for Ferrari.

Mercedes looked on course to potentially finish first and second after what looked like the perfect one-stop-strategy, while Red Bull and Ferrari went for a two-stop-race.

A virtual safety car followed by a full safety car in the space of six laps threw strategy out the window.

During the safety car Verstappen pitted from the lead for the faster soft tyre, while Mercedes left both Hamilton and teammate George Russell out on the medium tyre but were first and second.

Hamilton looked a strong chance to collect his first win of the season, with Russell acting as a buffer between him and Verstappen.

But Mercedes then pitted Russell for the faster tyre, bringing Verstappen onto the rear wing of the Mercedes champion, in scenes eerily similar to last year in Abu Dhabi, where Verstappen claimed the title after a safety car restart.

This time when racing started again Verstappen took the lead at the first corner, leaving Hamilton apoplectic.

"That was the biggest **** up," Hamilton said over the radio.

"I can't believe you **** **** me like that.

"Can't tell you how **** I am."

Hamilton's former teammate and Mercedes world champion Nico Rosberg was critical of the call to bring in Russell during the safety car, saying Hamilton clearly needed a buffer to Verstappen to try and take a surprise victory.

"If you do decide to take a risk and go for the win as they wanted to do … then do it properly," he told Sky Sports F1.

"You have to leave that wingman there in George behind [him] because that's going to increase the chances so much for Lewis to really get that win.

Hamilton offered an apology to the team post race.

"I really was hopeful we were going to get a one-two together as a team," he said.

"It was finally there within our grasp and the safety car didn't really help, and I was on the edge of breaking point with my emotions.

"My apologies to the team. I don't remember what I said, I just lost it for a second, I think they know it is just so much passion."

Meanwhile, Verstappen extended his lead in the drivers' championship to 109 points over Leclerc with seven races left in the season. 

In front of a legion of orange-clad fans Verstappen said he felt confident throughout the whole race despite the safety cars.

"It was not a straightforward race, we had to push the whole race," he said.

"Once we got back to the soft tyres we had great pace."

Another Ferrari mistake leads to pit stop disaster

Ferrari's year of comical errors continued with a pit error costing Carlos Sainz a chance of a podium at Zandvoort.

The Spaniard was in third and battling the Mercedes of Hamilton early on, who was catching him on fresher tyres.

Ferrari called their man in for a stop at the end of lap 14 but the pit stop became another Ferrari disaster.

The team did not have the correct tyres ready to put on Sainz's car and kept him stationary for 12.7 seconds, about 10 seconds longer than it should take.

Red Bull's Sergio Perez, who pitted at the same time, was able to overtake Sainz but ran over a wheel gun which a Ferrari mechanic had left in the pit lane.

An investigation into the wheel gun being left in a dangerous position will be held after the race.

Speaking to the UK's Sky Sports F1 during the race, Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto said the call to bring Sainz in was too late.

"A mess, very [late] call. We will review at the end," he said during the broadcast.

Ferrari's pain was amplified when during the safety car period Ferrari brought Sainz in for another stop, but then released him into the path of another car.

The Spaniard received a five-second penalty forn the unsafe release, dropping him down to eighth.

Ricciardo lags near the back of the field

Daniel Ricciardo had another forgettable race as his time with McLaren draws to an end.

After a horrible qualifying session on Saturday where he was soundly beaten by his teammate Lando Norris, Ricciardo never threatened to rise up the grid.

Ricciardo started the race in 17th and remained in the bottom five positions throughout the grand prix.

Early pit stops on laps 11 and 28 did little to help the Australian, who will part ways with McLaren at the end of the year.

Ricciardo finished the race 17th while Norris had a solid race for McLaren finishing seventh.

The Briton started seventh after a solid qualifying session a day earlier and executed a similar strategy to the Mercedes team.