Marc Priestley
Former F1 mechanic on Sports Extra

Image source, Getty Images

It's a special place. The circuit's in a great location, as a fan it's a great race to go to. This has transformed a generation of fans with Max's success, these fans have come along with him and this is an opportunity for all of them gather in one place and they put on an absolute party, come rain or shine.

BBC Sounds

Remember, you can follow all the action of today's Dutch Grand Prix across the BBC.

To listen to commentary of today's race you can either click the 'listen live' tab at the top of the page, head over to the BBC Sounds app and search for Sports Extra if you're heading out or you can ask your smart speaker to "play Sports Extra".

All insight and analysis following today’s result will be available on the F1: Chequered Flag podcast this evening - just search 'F1' on BBC Sounds.

Andrew Benson
BBC F1 correspondent in Zandvoort

It's overcast overhead. Maybe this is the afternoon where it starts wet.

McLaren's Lando Norris, speaking to Sky Sports, on the conditions: "I don't know if it's going to be wet or dry, we'll see shortly."

Some news to bring you pre-race.

Cadillac's Sergio Perez will be starting from the pit lane today.

Formula 1 returns from its summer break and heads to Zandvoort for the Dutch Grand Prix so we thought we would mark the race with this Five in Five game.

The rules are simple. We want you to give us five correct answers inside five minutes.

Will you beat the clock?

Have a go at the quiz here

Today's question set by BBC Sport's Joe Rindl.

Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton, speaking during the drivers' parade, before the race: "We're in P5, there's some work that comes ahead of us. We'll work hard as a team to try and close the gap."

"Qualifying was a little bit better yesterday. I've got to give it to the guys, the car is fast, we'll keep trying to put the pressure on."

Andrew Benson
BBC F1 correspondent in Zandvoort

Image source, Getty Images

Lando Norris starts from pole position on a track where overtaking is difficult, and every Dutch Grand Prix since Zandvoort returned to the calendar in 2021 has been won from pole, so the world champion is strong favourite for victory, right? Well, not so fast.

In the sprint race, McLaren’s pace was not strong compared to Mercedes and Ferrari, and although team boss Andrea Stella says they’ve made tweaks to the set-up to help that since Norris lost second place in the sprint to Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, the car’s fundamental weakness in low-speed corners remains a handicap. All the more so in the race, as the drivers spend longer in the slow corners during a race than in qualifying.

So, with Mercedes’ George Russell and Kimi Antonelli behind him, this could be a tough afternoon for Norris. A two-stop looks like the fastest strategy, and McLaren are probably heading into the race thinking of a start on mediums and then two sets of hards. But if Mercedes are faster, they have multiple ways to pass him - stop first and under-cut him. Wait, run longer and build a tyre offset, or even go for a one-stop. A one-stop medium-hard is claimed by Pirelli to be the best strategy but strategists feel that’s possible but slow, and a driver choosing it is likely to be overtaken.

Unlike the other front-runners, the Ferrari drivers and Max Verstappen have a set of new softs available so will almost certainly start on them. And as one engineer said: “Lewis (Hamilton) loves a two-stop.” A pit stop takes about 19 seconds under green-flag conditions, nine under safety car.

Image source, Getty Images

Mercedes' George Russell speaking to Sky Sports ahead of starting P2:"It feels like more of a normal weekend, the cars feeling more intuitive, I've got more confidence in the car. Let's see what today brings, it's going to be an interesting race. I think the Ferraris are going to be quick, Lando's going to be fast, it'll be a good fight

"I think having the two of us starting behind Lando, it gives us the chance to do something different and put McLaren under pressure. Lap one is going to be really important its going to make a big difference where we come out of turn one. I think there will be opportunities.

"I'm pretty sure we'll see some people on softs especially after yesterday, Leclerc had a strong [sprint] race."

Image source, Getty Images

McLaren's Lando Norris, speaking to Sky Sports, on the race: "I'm on pole so I enjoyed it a lot. I enjoyed the result, it's the best place to start here today. I'm excited to see what we can do."

"I'm expecting quite a bit of a challenge from Mercedes and Ferrari. I just want to have a good race and try and take the final win here in Zandvoort."

When you're as experienced as Lewis Hamilton and have won in as many places as he has, it has an extra bit of impact to tick another track off the list.

One place he hasn't won at in Formula 1 is Zandvoort. And today, of course, is the final time Formula 1 is racing there before it drops off the calendar.

In a press conference earlier this week, when asked about prospect of winning here, Hamilton said: "I don't think I've won here, as far as I'm aware. I've won it pretty much all the other tracks. But I don't remember if I've won here before, so I definitely want to change that.

"It's just such an incredible circuit. Great crowd, obviously. Very special, particularly for Max as he comes here and has the incredible support through the weekend. They really create the atmosphere. And it's a track I've yet to really truly conquer, say, in Formula 1. So it's definitely something I want to try and do this weekend.”

Antonelli: "The first half is pretty dry, for intermediate tyres, but the second half is wet, quite wet."

The rain's having an impact and the race hasn't even started yet.

Liam Lawson has just sent his Red Bull into the gravel at turn 13. Not the first time that corner's played havoc this weekend.

Might not be the last..

Bearman: "It's too wet for slicks"

Image source, Getty Images

Max Verstappen speaking before his final home race: "A lot of great memories made here, amazing to always see this support and I'm definitely going to try to race as much as I can.

"Unfortunately this year we're not as competitive as we'd like to be, we'll try to fight the guys ahead and see how competitive we can be against them.

"Overall it's nice to try and remember all the great times we've had here and well definitely try and add another memory here today."

Andrew Benson
BBC F1 correspondent in Zandvoort

It's raining.