Report: 10 Places Gained in Dramatic Dutch GP

Alex secured his fourth P5 finish of the season after a strong drive at Zandvoort

Published

31 AUG 2025

Est. reading time

2 min

Starting from P15 on the grid, Alex Albon might have hoped to battle for points on Sunday morning – but few would have predicted a 10-place climb by the chequered flag.

That’s exactly what he delivered, thanks in part to a stunning opening lap around Zandvoort. By the middle sector of Lap 1, Alex had already gained five places and was running just behind his teammate, laying the foundation for the remaining 71 laps.

With a rain shower looming on the radar, Alex settled into his opening stint. The drizzle did arrive around Lap 15, but it was lighter than forecast and had little impact on strategy.

Lap 23 saw the first major twist when the Safety Car was deployed to recover Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari from the Turn 3 barrier. Williams double-stacked both of their cars, switching from Mediums to Hards.

On the restart, Alex immediately gained three more positions – overtaking Esteban Ocon on the main straight, before slipping past Carlos Sainz and Liam Lawson after their coming together.

The Virtual Safety Car was then called to clear debris, and when racing resumed, Kimi Antonelli soon came through with superior pace.

Alex sends it around the outside at Turn 1 on a stunning first lap.

The order remained stable until Lap 53, when Antonelli and Charles Leclerc collided at Turn 3. The Safety Car was deployed once again, promoting Alex to P6.

With 15 laps to go, he began to apply pressure on George Russell, who was nursing damage from earlier contact with Leclerc. But there was one final dramatic moment to come.

On Lap 65, Lando Norris pulled off with a smoking McLaren, bringing out the Safety Car for a third time.

That set up a four-lap dash to the finish, and Alex held firm in P5 – his fourth fifth-place result of the season and another 10 points added to his tally.

"I think today was a perfect race," Alex explained after the chequered flag. "We had a really strong start and then there was a lot of crashes that helped us.

"I don't know why there was so much chaos, but we kept it clean and had a good race. We were hoping for rain, and in terms of race strategy it didn't look like it was going to be a fun race at all, but I think we made it for ourselves with that strong start.

"By being P10 by lap 1, it put us in contention for the rest of the race. We kept it on track and picked up the pieces of what went on around us and got that P5.

I'm happy to get some good points especially because with Isack finishing P3, it is important for the championship."