Dutch Grand Prix – The 7 highlights

1. The last victory of Niki Lauda (1985)

The most recent race was the scene of the last victory of one of the greatest Formula 1 drivers in history: Niki Lauda. Teammate of Alain Prost, who would go on to claim his first world crown after multiple failures, Lauda experienced his final season at the highest level with McLaren.

But the triple Austrian world champion will show his successors that he still has plenty of talent on the Zandvoort circuit. Taking advantage of leader Keke Rosberg’s engine failure, the former Ferrari driver will engage in a tight battle with his teammate Prost, eventually winning with a two-tenths lead over the Frenchman by regaining the lead thanks to a perfect strategy.

This is Lauda’s 25th and final victory, as he will leave Formula 1 two races later at the end of the 1985 season.

2.26th victory and record: Jackie Stewart at the top (1973)

Jackie Stewart is on cloud nine during this 1973 season. The Scotsman is heading towards a third world championship title and has a comfortable lead over his rivals in the world championship as he arrives in Zandvoort.

However, that weekend, the driver Tyrell is not the most prominent pilot. In fact, the Swedish Ronnie Peterson, a rising star in F1, takes the pole position by sticking half a second to his closest rival, Stewart.

The Lotus driver clearly dominates the debates and believes he is flying towards a new victory. That was without counting on an engine failure of his Ford at the 63rd of the 72 race laps. It was all it took for Stewart to seize the opportunity and claim the 26th victory of his career.

The Tyrell driver then becomes the most victorious driver in the history of F1, surpassing Jim Clark’s 25 wins record, which had been in place since 1968.

A few weeks later, Stewart will become a triple world champion but will retire in a very sad way by not participating in what should have been his 100th Grand Prix start. The day before, his teammate and protégé, François Cevert, had died during the qualifying session of the USA Grand Prix at the Watkins Glen circuit.

3. The splendid demonstration of Matra (1968)

In 1968, while BRM wanted to enlist him and make him their star driver, Jackie Stewart made the bold bet to join the ambitious new project of the French Matra team. At the time, many people in the paddock wondered what had led one of the most talented drivers on the grid to sign with a nascent team.

But after only 5 Grand Prix, the Scotsman will show that his choice was the right one. With a Ford-Cosworth engine at the peak of its performance, Stewart knocks out the competition by taking the lead on the third lap and never giving it up throughout the 90 laps of this Grand Prix.

He signs a sensational first victory for Matra. The team even signs a one-two finish thanks to Jean-Pierre Beltoise… the only driver to have stayed in the same lap as Stewart! The beginning of a very beautiful story.

4. The debut of the famous Lotus 49 (1967)

If the 1967 season is largely dominated by Brabham, it will also lay the foundations of a new era: that of cars with a carrying engine.

And as often, the man behind this concept is none other than Colin Chapman. At the 1967 Dutch Grand Prix, he introduced the now famous Lotus 49. And it’s safe to say that it was a resounding success!

The pole position is secured by Graham Hill who dominates the first laps of the race before his engine goes up in smoke (a big weakness of Lotus this season). But behind, Jim Clark impresses with ease and will clinch the victory and set the fastest lap in the race, leaving the Brabhams more than 20 seconds behind!

A historic page of Formula 1 had just opened.

5. The last of Didier Pironi (1982)

The sadly famous 1982 season is in full swing as it reaches the Netherlands. There have been 7 different winners in 8 Grand Prix races and Didier Pironi is leading the championship.

The French driver is piloting a Ferrari above the rest, but the events with Villeneuve, who had died at Zolder a few weeks earlier, are still fresh in everyone’s minds. The Renaults of Arnoux and Prost qualify ahead but Pironi takes the lead on the 5th lap ahead of Prost.

The French driver dominated the race from start to finish and won convincingly ahead of Piquet and Rosberg. This is his 3rd victory in a Grand Prix, which raises the possibility of winning the world title at the end of the season.

Alas, the Ferrari driver will break his legs two races later in Germany, breaking his young career.

6. The first appearance of the TAG Porsche engine (1983)

Another major technological advancement took place during the Dutch Grand Prix! Equipped with the aging Ford-Cosworth engine, McLaren turned to Porsche in the middle of the season for a multi-season agreement. The engines are only badged as TAG during its first season.

The first appearance of this engine, equipped only on Lauda’s single-seater, was not very prominent: the Austrian retired after 25 laps due to brake failure. But the following seasons will reveal that this TAG Porsche engine will prove to be one of the most formidable on the grid, rivaled only by its Japanese counterpart, Honda.

It was the beginning of the McLaren era in Formula 1.

Zandvoort, first ground for Bonnier, Von Trips, and Hill (1959, 1961, 1962)

You will have understood, the Grand Prix of the Netherlands has many times been the scene of firsts in Formula 1, whatever the field.

And this was even more the case at the beginning of the 60s when practically one after the other, three drivers achieved their first career success on the Zandvoort track. The first of them was the Swede Jo Bonnier in 1959. The BRM driver secured his only pole position and his sole F1 victory by outpacing Jack Brabham’s Cooper, the favorite of the Grand Prix.

Two years later, after a tough mano a mano with his teammate and future world champion Phil Hill, Wolfgang Von Trips won his first Formula 1 race on his Ferrari. It is worth noting that it was also the first F1 race with no pit stops!

At last, taking advantage of the retirements of Surtees and Gurney who were in front of him, the British driver Graham Hill stands on the highest step of the podium for the first time in the Netherlands.

Zandvoort, land of firsts, could still offer us a beautiful moment of history this weekend. The first victory of a Dutchman on home soil? Hamilton, the first driver to surpass 100 victories? The first victory for a driver or a team?

Answer this Sunday!