- Revenge For Nord Stream? Russia Could Attack Infra In North Sea After Top Journo Blames US For Attacks — Dutch Intelligence EurAsian Times
- Netherlands Decides to Cut Number of Russian Diplomats Permitted to Stay in the Country – SchengenVisaInfo.com SchengenVisaInfo.com
- Russia targets Netherlands’ North Sea infrastructure, says Dutch intelligence agency Yahoo News
- Dutch Say Maritime Infrastructure Faces Russian Sabotage Threat Bloomberg
- Russia ‘mapping’ critical energy infrastructure, say Dutch intelligence agencies POLITICO Europe
- View Full Coverage on Google News
Tag Archives: Dutch
Biden to host Dutch prime minister, Golden State Warriors at White House
The Empowerment Alliance, a dark money group with ties to the gas industry, helped Ohio lawmakers push the narrative that the fuel is clean, the documents show. The American Legislative Exchange Council, another anonymously funded group, assisted in the effort.
ALEC — a network of state lawmakers, businesses and conservative donors — circulated proposed legislation for Ohio lawmakers and has urged other states to follow suit, according to the documents, which were obtained via a public records request by the Energy and Policy Institute, a group that advocates for renewable energy.
“What the emails reveal is just how closely Ohio lawmakers coordinated with a natural gas industry group on the new law that misleadingly defines methane gas as green energy, as the first step of a plan to introduce similar legislation in multiple states,” said Dave Anderson, policy and communications manager for the Energy and Policy Institute.
MH17 trial verdict: Dutch court finds two Russians, one Ukrainian separatist guilty
CNN
—
A Dutch court on Thursday found two Russians and a separatist Ukrainian guilty of mass murder for their involvement in the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over eastern Ukraine in 2014.
Igor Girkin, a former colonel of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), and Sergey Dubinskiy, who worked for Russia’s GRU military intelligence agency, were convicted along with Ukrainian separatist Leonid Kharchenko, who is believed to have led a combat unit in Donetsk in July 2014.
The three were sentenced to life in prison and ordered to pay the victims more than 16 million euros, but as the convictions were handed down in absentia, none of them are likely to serve their sentences. A fourth suspect, Russian national Oleg Pulatov, a former soldier of the Russian special forces Spetsnaz-GRU, was acquitted.
“Causing the crash of Flight MH17 and the murders of all persons on board is such a serious accusation, the consequences are so devastating, and the attitude of the accused is so reprehensible, that a limited period of imprisonment will not suffice,” the court said following the verdict.
Flight MH17 was on its way from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur on July 17, 2014, when it was shot out of the sky over territory held by pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine. All 298 people on board were killed, including 15 crew members and 283 passengers from 17 countries.
The downing of the jet happened in the early phase of the conflict between pro-Russia separatists and Ukrainian forces, a precursor to Moscow’s full invasion of Ukraine earlier this year.
Thursday’s verdict, which follows a two-year trial at the highly secured Schiphol Judicial Complex in Badhoevedorp, marks the first time that independent judgment has been passed on the incident, and may provide some small amount of justice for the families of the victims.
The case has become more significant in light of Russia’s all-out invasion of Ukraine, which is nearly in its ninth month. One legal expert told Reuters that the ruling could impact other cases involving Russia, including one at the United Nation’s top court, the International Court of Justice.
The verdict comes weeks after Moscow sought to illegally annex four Ukrainian regions, including the area where the court said the missile that brought down MH17 was fired from eight years earlier. It also comes two days after a missile landed in Poland, raising fears that Russia’s assault on Ukraine could spill over into neighboring countries.
The court found that Flight MH17 was hit by a Russian Buk missile launched from farmland outside a village in eastern Ukraine that was held at the time by pro-Russian rebels who were under the control of Moscow, and that the missile system had been moved back to Russia after the strike.
The three convicted men all played key roles in and transporting the Buk system and its crew into Ukraine, the court ruled, though it found there was insufficient evidence to determine who fired the missile.
Presiding judge Hendrik Steenhuis said the court found that the firing of the missile at MH17 was a premeditated act intended to bring down a plane – and while the crew likely believed they were firing at a military aircraft, it would have been “crystal clear” to them that no one on board any targeted aircraft would survive.
“A Buk weapon system is designed to shoot down aircraft and cannot simply be used at random. Such deployment requires preparation, including determination of and transport to a launch site. Firing the missile needs to be very deliberate and carefully considered in accordance with a technical procedure and requires a highly trained crew. The likelihood of persons on board an aircraft surviving an attack by a Buk missile is nil. Anybody who deploys a specialized, costly weapon such as a Buk TELAR will be aware of this,” the court said in a statement.
The court also ruled that since the defendants were not official parties to the conflict and thus did not have combat immunity, they were not allowed to shoot down any aircraft, military or civilian.
Moscow has repeatedly denied any responsibility for the attack, and Russian officials and state media have put out a range of often contradictory explanations for the tragedy.
But on Thursday, Steenhuis cited a range of evidence for the court’s verdict and ruled out any alternative explanations for the incident.
The evidence reviewed by the court included fragments of a Buk missile found embedded in the aircraft and the bodies of some victims, intercepted telephone calls and witness statements, and videos and images of the scene and of a Buk system being moved into eastern Ukraine from Russia and then back again.
The convicted men have a right to appeal. Moscow described the verdict as “politically motivated” and said it would not extradite the sentenced Russians to the Netherlands.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described the verdict as an important moment for accountability. “Holding to account masterminds is crucial too, as the feeling of impunity leads to new crimes. We must dispel this illusion. Punishment for all [Russia’s] atrocities then & now is inevitable,” he tweeted.
Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said the United States welcomed the court’s decision but that there was more work to do.
“While this is a solid step towards justice, more work lies ahead to meet the UN Security Council’s demand in resolution 2166 that “those responsible … be held to account,” Blinken said in a statement.
Dutch court sentences three to life in prison for 2014 downing of MH17 over Ukraine
AMSTERDAM, Nov 17 (Reuters) – Dutch judges convicted two Russian men and a Ukrainian man in absentia of murder for their role in the shooting down of Flight MH17 over Ukraine in 2014 with the loss of 298 passengers and crew, and handed them life sentences.
Ukraine welcomed the ruling, which will have implications for other court cases Kyiv has filed against Russia, while Moscow called the ruling “scandalous” and said it would not extradite its citizens.
Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 departed from Amsterdam and was bound for Kuala Lumpur when it was shot down over eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014, as fighting raged between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian forces, the precursor of this year’s conflict.
The ruling came as a relief to victims’ family members, more than 200 of whom attended the court in person, wiping away tears as the judgement was read.
“Only the most severe punishment is fitting to retaliate for what the suspects have done, which has caused so much suffering to so many victims and so many surviving relatives,” Presiding Judge Hendrik Steenhuis said.
The three men convicted were former Russian intelligence agents Igor Girkin and Sergey Dubinskiy, and Leonid Kharchenko, a Ukrainian separatist leader.
The three were all found to have helped to arrange the transport into Ukraine of the Russian military BUK missile system that was used to shoot down the plane, though they were not the ones that physically pulled the trigger.
They are fugitives and believed to be in Russia. A fourth former suspect, Russian Oleg Pulatov, was acquitted on all charges.
The incident in 2014 left the plane’s wreckage and victims’ remains scattered across fields of corn and sunflowers.
Russia invaded Ukraine in February and claims to have annexed the Donetsk province where the plane was shot down.
“The families of victims wanted the truth and they wanted justice to be done and those responsible to be punished and that is what happened. I am pretty satisfied,” Piet Ploeg, who heads a foundation representing victims, told Reuters. Ploeg’s brother, his brother’s wife and his nephew died on MH17.
Meryn O’Brien of Australia, who lost her 25-year old son Jack, said she felt relieved. “Everyone was relieved the process has come to an end, and it is very fair, and it has been meticulous.”
“There’s no celebration,” said Jordan Withers of Britain, whose uncle Glenn Thomas died. “Nothing is going to bring any of the victims back.” They came from 10 different countries.
The judgment included a 16 million euro damages award.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy hailed the first sentences handed down over MH17 as an “important decision” by the court in The Hague.
[1/6] Lawyers attend the judges’ inspection of the reconstruction of the MH17 wreckage, as part of the murder trial ahead of the beginning of a critical stage, in Reijen, Netherlands, May 26, 2021. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw/Pool
“But it is necessary that those who ordered it also end up in the dock because the feeling of impunity leads to new crimes,” he wrote on Twitter. “We have to dispel this illusion. Punishment for all Russian atrocities – both then and now – will be inevitable.”
The ruling found that Russia had “overall control” over the forces of the Donetsk People’s Republic in Eastern Ukraine from mid May 2014.
“This is groundbreaking,” said Marieke de Hoon, assistant professor of international law at Amsterdam University. The ruling was “authoritative” and would likely boost Ukraine’s other international cases against Russia relating to the 2014 conflict.
‘NO REASONABLE DOUBT’
Judge Steenhuis said there was ample evidence from eyewitness testimony and photographs which tracked the missile system’s movements into and back out of Ukraine to Russia.
“There is no reasonable doubt” that MH17 was shot down by a Russian missile system, Steenhuis said.
Moscow denies any involvement or responsibility for MH17’s downing and in 2014 it also denied any presence in Ukraine.
In a statement, the Russian foreign ministry said “throughout the trial the court was under unprecedented pressure from Dutch politicians, prosecutors and the media to impose a politically motivated outcome”.
“We deeply regret that the District Court in The Hague disregarded the principles of impartial justice in favour of the current political situation, thus causing a serious reputational blow to the entire judicial system in the Netherlands,” it added.
Prosecutors had charged the four men with shooting down an airplane and with murder in a trial held under Dutch law, as more than half of the victims were Dutch. Phone call intercepts that formed a key part of the evidence suggested the men believed they were targeting a Ukrainian fighter jet.
Steenhuis said that, while that counted for something in terms of lessening the severity of their criminal responsibility, they still had a murderous intent and the consequences of their actions were huge.
Of the suspects, only Pulatov had pleaded not guilty via lawyers he hired to represent him. The others were tried in absentia and none attended the trial.
The police investigation was led by the Netherlands, with participation from Ukraine, Malaysia, Australia and Belgium.
Thursday’s ruling is not the final word on holding people accountable for MH17, Dutch and Australian authorities said.
Andy Kraag, the head of the police investigation, said research was continuing into possible suspects higher in the chain of command. Investigators are also looking at the crew of the missile system which launched the fatal rocket.
The Dutch and Australian governments, which hold Russia responsible, have started a proceeding against the Russian Federation at the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
Reporting by Toby Sterling, Stephanie van den Berg and Bart Meijer; Editing by Jon Boyle, Alex Richardson, Toby Chopra, Alexandra Hudson
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Google faces $25.4 billion damages claims in UK, Dutch courts over adtech practices
The Google name is displayed outside the company’s office in London, Britain, November 1, 2018. REUTERS/Toby Melville/File Photo
Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com
BRUSSELS, Sept 13 (Reuters) – Alphabet unit Google (GOOGL.O) will face damages claims for up to 25 billion euros ($25.4 billion) over its digital advertising practices in two suits to be filed in British and Dutch courts in the coming weeks by a law firm on behalf of publishers.
Google’s adtech has recently drawn scrutiny from antitrust regulators following complaints from publishers. read more
The French competition watchdog imposed a 220-million-euro fine on the company last year while the European Commission and its UK peer are investigating whether Google’s adtech business gives it an unfair advantage over rivals and advertisers. [ read more
Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com
“It is time that Google owns up to its responsibilities and pays back the damages it has caused to this important industry. That is why today we are announcing these actions across two jurisdictions to obtain compensation for EU and UK publishers,” Damien Geradin at law firm Geradin Partners said in a statement on Tuesday.
Google criticised the imminent lawsuits, saying that it works constructively with publishers across Europe.
“This lawsuit is speculative and opportunistic. When we receive the complaint, we’ll fight it vigorously,” a spokesperson said.
The British claim at the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal will seek to recover compensation for all owners of websites carrying banner advertising, including traditional publishers. Britain has an opt-out regime.
The Dutch claim is open to publishers affected by Google’s actions. Litigation funder Harbour is funding both lawsuits.
($1 = 0.9860 euros)
Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com
Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; editing by Philip Blenkinsop and David Evans
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
2022 Dutch Grand Prix report and highlights: Verstappen wins dramatic Dutch GP as Russell and Leclerc complete podium after late Safety Car
Max Verstappen held onto victory in a captivating 2022 Dutch Grand Prix amid a strong showing from the Mercedes and late Safety Car drama at Zandvoort, as George Russell and Charles Leclerc completed the podium.
Verstappen seemed to be assured of victory having taken a second pit stop during a Virtual Safety Car on Lap 48, with Hamilton second and Russell third as both had extended their opening stint on medium tyres (their rivals having started on softs) to pit for hards, on which they were rapid. The events after a Lap 55 Safety Car dashed any hopes of victory that Hamilton harboured, however.
The seven-time champion stayed out on mediums to inherit the lead while Verstappen came in for softs, followed by Russell and Leclerc, for the restart on Lap 61. In that restart, Verstappen swept past the Mercedes for the lead, with Russell and Leclerc following suit to pry Hamilton away from the podium.
Hamilton ended up fourth at the flag as Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez – the former held back by a calamitous Ferrari pit stop earlier on, before a five-second penalty for an unsafe release in a later stop – battled late on for P5. That allowed Alonso and Norris to close in too, and when the penalty kicked in Sainz was dropped to eighth, promoting Perez to fifth, Alonso to sixth, and Norris to seventh.
|
1 Max Verstappen VER Red Bull Racing |
1:36:42.773 | 26 |
|
2 George Russell RUS Mercedes |
+4.071s | 18 |
|
3 Charles Leclerc LEC Ferrari |
+10.929s | 15 |
|
4 Lewis Hamilton HAM Mercedes |
+13.016s | 12 |
|
5 Sergio Perez PER Red Bull Racing |
+18.168s | 10 |
Esteban Ocon finished ninth, just ahead of Lance Stroll – who started and finished 10th for Aston Martin. Pierre Gasly missed out on the points in P11 for AlphaTauri while Alex Albon finished 12th from 15th on the grid.
Sebastian Vettel started 19th and finished 14th, losing out to Mick Schumacher – who lost out due to a pair of slow pit stops. The four-time champion was given a five-second penalty for ignoring blue flags earlier in the race.
Kevin Magnussen hit the barriers on Lap 2 but continued to finish 15th, behind his Haas team mate. Daniel Ricciardo pitted first out of the pack and couldn’t make up ground, finishing 17th for McLaren behind Zhou Guanyu, who served a five-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane.
Valtteri Bottas was classified 19th for Alfa Romeo, his car stopping on track to bring out the late Safety Car.
Yuki Tsunoda stopped on track on Lap 48 after reporting a driveshaft issue, the AlphaTauri driver having previously reported that his tyres were incorrectly fitted before a lengthy pit stop.
AS IT HAPPENED
A stunning sea of orange set an electric atmosphere for the 2022 Dutch Grand Prix as the home fans welcomed their hero Max Verstappen as the reigning Formula 1 world champion. Music blared across the beach all weekend to soundtrack the Red Bull driver’s recovery from a gearbox issue in FP1 to take pole position – which he snuck by just two-hundredths of a second over Charles Leclerc.
On the second row it would be Carlos Sainz and Lewis Hamilton ahead of Sergio Perez, who switched back to an engine from the existing pool after his qualifying spin, and George Russell. Crucially, Verstappen was the only driver to qualify in the top nine (Lance Stroll rounding out the top 10) with a brand-new set of softs reserved for the race.
The Mercedes, Lando Norris, Mick Schumacher, Alex Albon and Kevin Magnussen would all start the race on new medium compounds while a mix of used and new softs were donned by the rest of the field for the start of the 2022 Dutch Grand Prix.
A huge roar, and it was lights out for this 72-lap duel on the dunes. Verstappen enjoyed a good getaway and cut off Leclerc’s equally strong launch, while Hamilton and Sainz made very slight contact – the seven-time champion attempting a risky pass on the Ferrari into Turn 1 – while Norris passed Russell around the outside of the opening corner and Stroll made two positions on the first lap.
Scrapping with Alex Albon at Turn 2, Kevin Magnussen suffered a snap of oversteer as he veered off the racing line, and hit the wall with the left-hand-side of the car. Almost miraculously, he continued on in last place and reported that the car was okay – and there was no Safety Car either.
2022 Dutch Grand Prix: Verstappen leads away from pole as Hamilton battles with Sainz on the race start
As Russell retook P6 off Norris, the top six was unchanged by Lap 5 – but Hamilton was gaining on Sainz in the chase for P3. Meanwhile, Esteban Ocon had made it into the top 10, Mick Schumacher behind him and hanging on to the final points with the AlphaTauris giving chase as Pierre Gasly had fallen to 12th with a poor start.
Verstappen was leading, comfortably so, as the counter ticked over to Lap 10. He was 1.8 seconds ahead of Leclerc while Sainz was dropping back; he was over six seconds back in P3. The Scuderia would need to push to force Verstappen to use those soft compounds up if they were to take victory.
Fernando Alonso showed them how it was done with a pass on Gasly for P12 on Lap 10 and another on Tsunoda for P11 on Lap 12, while Sebastian Vettel attempted an early pit stop on Lap 10 from P18, the Aston Martin driver swapping his softs to mediums. Gasly and Daniel Ricciardo followed suit two laps later amid heavy soft-tyre degradation.
Alonso’s rampage up the field was cut short on Lap 13 as he pitted for hard tyres, and once the first sequence of stops had been completed, the two-time champion was up to P9 – and ahead of his team mate Ocon thanks to a solid undercut.
Back towards the front, Sainz was still losing time to the leaders and still under pressure from Hamilton. The Spaniard seemed to be suffering from a genuine lack of pace, rather than playing his part in an elaborate Ferrari ruse, and pitted on Lap 15 – his disastrous stop lasting a full 12.7 seconds. Perez entered the pits after Sainz but emerged well in front of him, despite running over a Ferrari wheel gun in the process.
“Oh my god,” exhaled Sainz after a baffling display in the Scuderia’s pit lane – the rear-left tyre absent when the #55 driver entered his box. He was told that “Plan A” was still intact, while Ferrari’s mechanics examined their ruined wheel gun.
Verstappen was still gaining over Leclerc, who was almost losing a second per lap before he pitted on Lap 18. The Monegasque’s used softs were swapped for mediums without any issue this time around, Norris following suit with a stop from mediums to hards.
Verstappen responded to Leclerc’s stop on Lap 19 – losing time as he was stationary for 3.4 seconds – and emerged around four seconds ahead of the Ferrari while Hamilton led Russell. The pole-sitter was catching up as the Silver Arrows continued, the only pair of drivers yet to pit (once Albon swapped his mediums for a new set on Lap 22). Was a one-stop strategy possible?
That realisation triggered messages of consternation over the Red Bull and Ferrari radios, their drivers picking up the pace, with Perez running fifth between Leclerc and Sainz. Verstappen needed no cue to close in as he was within DRS range of Russell and on Lap 28 he made the pass with ease around the outside of Turn 1.
Hamilton was then pulled in for a set of hards on Lap 30, releasing Verstappen back into the lead as the Mercedes driver emerged ahead of a now medium-shod Sainz. Russell followed his team mate on Lap 32 and swapped for hards, also emerging ahead of Sainz. And both drivers seemed to be enjoying those white-walled compounds as they began chipping away at the gap to Perez ahead.
At the start of Lap 36, Hamilton closed in on Perez and the Mexican locked up heavily in defence of P3 into Turn 1. Hamilton was forced to back off at the exit of that corner and had another go into Turn 11, again to no avail. The following lap saw Hamilton make the pass with ease at Turn 1 but the Briton nearly lost out as backmarker Vettel was right in front of them as he emerged from the pits – the Aston Martin driver crawling on the racing line as the battle for P3 raged behind him. He would later receive a five-second penalty for ignoring blue flags.
Russell made lighter work of the second Red Bull, prying P4 off him on Lap 39. With Mercedes putting on a show of pace on their hard tyres, both closing in on Leclerc, Verstappen was asked for his take on the strategy. Team mate Perez was sent into the pits for hard tyres on Lap 41, emerging P7 and right in front of Alonso, but the Mexican soon found his feet and began to turn up the pace, passing hard-shod Norris on Lap 44.
Sainz too was pulled into the pits on Lap 44 and this time it seemed Yuki Tsunoda was the victim of a poor pit stop as he stopped at the side of the track and complained that his tyres weren’t fitted. Perhaps a Virtual Safety Car would be called – a reprieve for Leclerc and Verstappen in the face of two swift Mercedes.
The pit lane panic briefly dissolved as Tsunoda, bafflingly, continued on his way – the team reassuring him that the tyres were fine. Shortly afterwards, Leclerc was pulled in to emerge with a new set of hard tyres, and then Tsunoda was forced to enter the pits on Lap 47 for a new set of softs, and a fix for his troubles that kept him stationary for 31 seconds. He emerged from the pits in last and crawled out – this time complaining that the differential had broken.
Tsunoda pulled over on Lap 48 and this time a VSC was deployed, triggering Verstappen to pit and Mercedes to double-stack their drivers for mediums – with almost seamless execution, but for a second-long delay for Russell.
Leclerc had been jumped by the Mercedes, both of whom re-emerged in the podium places. The race resumed on Lap 50, hard-shod Verstappen leading Hamilton by over 12 seconds while Russell was in third, five seconds ahead of hard-tyred Leclerc. “That VSC has stuffed us,” said Hamilton, despite his podium credentials looking all but assured.
The Mercedes drivers began to turn up the pace as they consolidated their podium places and chip into Verstappen’s lead. On Lap 55, though, the sight of Valtteri Bottas’s stationary Alfa Romeo on the start-finish straight brought out yellow flags, during which Sainz appeared to pass Ocon. One lap later, the Safety Car was deployed.
Verstappen took that chance to stop for used softs, emerging in P3 on Lap 57, while Russell followed suit to pit for his own used softs on Lap 58 – retaining his P3 place while Verstappen moved up to P2. The Ferraris also went in for softs, while Perez opted for mediums.
“It’s going to be hard to keep that car behind me now,” said Hamilton before a slight lock-up on his mediums, the Safety Car to end on Lap 60.
Verstappen used the might of his Red Bull on the start-finish straight and re-took the lead almost as soon as the green flag was waved, Hamilton unable to respond, while Sainz jumped medium-shod Perez for P5 with ease.
Hamilton was now leading a queue of cars, his team mate Russell passing him on Lap 64, after which an expletive-filled radio message from a furious Hamilton was played over the airwaves. Leclerc took P3 away from Hamilton soon after, while Sainz and Perez duelled for P5. Other battles that flared up after the Safety Car were between Alonso and Norris for P7, while Ocon was holding off Stroll and Gasly from P9 to P11.
Back to Perez vs Sainz, where the Mexican was right on the Spaniard’s rear wing with just four laps left, despite the former being on the mediums and the latter on softs. While they fought for P5, Sainz was slapped with a five-second penalty for an unsafe release during his previous pit stop. They continued to go wheel-to-wheel and Perez went through the Turn 1 gravel in an attempt to pass the Ferrari, which allowed Alonso and Norris to close up.
In the end, Sainz finished P5 but was dropped to eighth, promoting Perez to fifth, Alonso to sixth and Norris to seventh. The Ferrari driver’s battle with Perez allowed Hamilton to retain fourth – though this race may be characterised by some as a loss for Mercedes and their seven-time champion.
As for Verstappen, and to the delight of his home fans, he won by four seconds after passing Hamilton, with Russell taking P2 and continuing his run of top-five finishes. Completing the podium was Leclerc – who is now 109 points behind the Dutchman in the drivers’ championship.
In ninth was Esteban Ocon, who couldn’t keep up with the likes of Alonso and Norris ahead, despite the Frenchman enjoying a solid start that saw him climb swiftly into the top 10. Lance Stroll rounded out the top 10 having started there, the Aston Martin driver holding off Gasly in P11.
Alex Albon finished 12th ahead of Mick Schumacher, who was held back by two slow pit stops. The Haas driver finished ahead of Sebastian Vettel, on whom he pulled off a brilliant pass at Turn 13 early in the race. It was little consolation for the Haas racer, who seemed sure for points.
Kevin Magnussen settled for P15 after hitting the barriers early on, as the Danish driver couldn’t make up any more places. He finished ahead of Zhou Guanyu, who took a five-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane but finished ahead of Ricciardo in 17th. Nicholas Latifi finished 18th for Williams, while Bottas was classified 19th despite his on-track stoppage.
Tsunoda was therefore the only retirement from this dramatic contest at Zandvoort.
Key quote
“It was not a straightforward race. We had to push the whole race. Of course, with Safety Car, the Virtual Safety Car making the right calls, it was always a bit of question mark but it worked out really well once we got back to the soft tyres, we had great pace again.
“It’s always special to win your home Grand Prix, it was already last year. This year I have to say I had to work for it even more. So yeah, an incredible weekend and really happy we got the Dutch Grand Prix” – Max Verstappen, Red Bull
What’s next?
The triple header concludes with the 2022 Italian Grand Prix at Monza on September 9-11. Can Ferrari score a famous home win – or will Red Bull spoil the Scuderia’s homecoming party? Either way, Verstappen is cruising towards his second World Championship as he leads Leclerc by 109 points.
Stroll’s ‘very fortunate’ Dutch GP engine setback
Aston Martin has changed Lance Stroll’s engine ahead of the Dutch Grand Prix following a problem that “fortunately” occurred at the end of qualifying.
Stroll was frustrated that his most competitive Saturday of the season so far ended without him having a chance to take part in Q3 because of a hydraulic problem.
He felt it would have been possible to qualify seventh or eighth, and saw that as a missed opportunity given that overtaking is so difficult at Zandvoort.
Aston Martin believes it understands the issue, but it has required a precautionary engine change ahead of the race.
For the grand prix here, Stroll has an older engine, turbocharger, MGU-H and MGU-K in his power unit package, and Aston Martin hopes to bring the new power unit back next week in Italy.
The indication is that while the setback was irritating at the time, it has ended up well-timed for Aston Martin.
Performance director Tom McCullough said: “It’s one of those ones that’s not too bad, but it’s unfortunately stopped Lance running in Q2.
“We’re very fortunate actually that the problem happened on the inlap of Q2.
“That could have happened on the lap to the grid, so then we’d have a different set of sad faces.
“Hopefully we’ve caught it in time. Hopefully we can rectify and hopefully the car runs fine today.”
Aston Martin’s form has been better on Sundays this season but the team has often been hamstrung by poor qualifying performance.
Sebastian Vettel was eliminated in Q1 at Zandvoort after going off when encountering dirt on the track at the penultimate corner but Stroll’s grid position gives the team chance to score for only the fifth time this season.
“We’ve been pushing really hard back at the factory, try to bring bits to the car, and this is maybe a good track for us,” said Stroll.
“It was the first strong quali we had in, I don’t know, five or six events, even more maybe.
“Then we’ve always had the pace on Sunday. But it was nice to see that we were in the position on Saturday that we are normally always on Sundays.
“I’ll try and get a good start, get a few places.”
Perez back to older engine
Stroll is not the only driver who has been forced to take on an older power unit for the Dutch GP, with Red Bull having to change components on Perez’s RB18.
Among the changes declared for Perez are previously-used ICE, TC, MGU-H, MGU-K and exhaust system, as well as the LHS and RHS rear drop link and the rearward plank section.
Perez will line up fifth on the grid following his spin at the end of Q3.
Thank you for your feedback!
What did you think of this story?
2022 Dutch Grand Prix report and highlights: Verstappen beats Leclerc to Zandvoort pole by 0.021s
Max Verstappen took pole position for the 2022 Dutch Grand Prix, with Charles Leclerc missing out by 0.021s in a thrilling Zandvoort contest.
Verstappen logged a lap of 1m 10.342s in Q3 just before team mate Sergio Perez, fifth, spun at Turn 13 to bring out a yellow flag and prevent anyone else from beating the Dutchman’s time. Leclerc ended up 0.021s off the home favourite in P2, while Q2 leader Carlos Sainz qualified P3 – under a tenth off pole.
Lewis Hamilton qualified on the second row in P4, the Mercedes driver unable to improve late in Q3, while team mate George Russell settled for sixth behind Perez.
|
1 Max Verstappen VER Red Bull Racing |
1:10.342 |
|
2 Charles Leclerc LEC Ferrari |
1:10.363 |
|
3 Carlos Sainz SAI Ferrari |
1:10.434 |
|
4 Lewis Hamilton HAM Mercedes |
1:10.648 |
|
5 Sergio Perez PER Red Bull Racing |
1:11.077 |
Lando Norris qualified seventh, with Mick Schumacher a surprise eighth and Yuki Tsunoda an equally surprising ninth. Lance Stroll made it to Q3 but a technical issue saw him confined to the garage and settle for 10th on the grid for Aston Martin.
Pierre Gasly qualified 11th ahead of compatriot Esteban Ocon, while Fernando Alonso finished 13th in Q2 as neither Alpine made it to the top 10 shootout. Zhou Guanyu took P14, ahead of Williams’ Alex Albon.
Valtteri Bottas was knocked out in P16 as his Alfa Romeo team mate Zhou made it through to Q2. Haas’s Kevin Magnussen’s track limits infringement saw him finish 17th, ahead of McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo, Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel – who took P19 having run into the gravel on his final flying lap – and Williams’ Nicholas Latifi backing up the pack.
More to follow…
AS IT HAPPENED
Q1 – Verstappen top as track evolution makes for a mixed-up order
Huge roars welcomed Max Verstappen when he emerged after five minutes, the Dutchman muscling his car around the circuit to set the top time of 1m 11.317s (despite losing time in the final corner), with Leclerc going second by 0.126s after two flying laps, followed by the Mercedes drivers of Russell and Hamilton in a provisional P3 and P4, respectively.
But there was more to come amid extremely high track evolution, the likes of Vettel, Ricciardo, Albon and Schumacher at risk of elimination, while Bottas was on the cusp in P15 as the field re-emerged.
Verstappen and Leclerc stayed in the garage, content with their times, and while the former retained P1 in Q1, Hamilton finished second and just 0.024s off in his Mercedes, Tsunoda taking P3 with the fastest second sector. That dropped Leclerc to fourth, ahead of McLaren’s Norris and Mercedes driver Russell in P6.
Stroll managed to take P7 ahead of Perez but Aston Martin team mate Vettel could only manage P19 having picked up damage in the gravel outside Turn 13. Alonso made it to Q2 in P9, Albon rounding out the top 10 for Williams while his team mate Latifi rounded out the standings in 20th.
Gasly, Schumacher and Ocon made it through and Sainz might have felt a bit nervous, placing 14th in Q1. Alfa Romeo’s Zhou also made it through in P15, knocking out team mate Bottas by over a tenth of a second.
Magnussen was eliminated in P17 having transgressed track limits at Turn 3, while Ricciardo placed 18th, later saying that dirt thrown up by another car cost him time, the Australian finishing ahead of Vettel and Latifi.
Knocked out: Bottas, Magnussen, Ricciardo, Vettel, Latifi
Q2 – Sainz takes P1 as seven different teams make it to Q3
Q2 was red-flagged almost as soon as the green light appeared as a flare had been thrown onto the track – ruining Albon’s out-lap – with the offender removed from the circuit. After the circa-five-minute stoppage, Verstappen and Albon emerged to resume the action, the former on used softs and the latter on new softs. The Red Bull driver crossed the line with a time of 1m 10.927s to set the top time.
With a tow, Hamilton shot to P2 ahead of Perez, while Stroll starred early in Q2, 0.489s off Verstappen in P4 to leave Russell rounding out the top five with time ticking down. Both AlphaTauris, Ocon, Zhou, and Schumacher were under threat of elimination, Albon on the bubble in P10.
As the chequered flag approached, laps came in and Sainz took top spot with a time of 1m 10.814s, Russell just 0.010s off in P2, to drop Verstappen – who again attemped just one flying lap – to P3.
Leclerc was fourth ahead of Hamilton in P5, with Norris sixth and Perez – who aborted his final effort – in seventh. Stroll and a delighted Schumacher were next on the board as Tsunoda made it through in P10, eliminating Gasly by under a tenth of a second.
Ocon was eliminated in P12 ahead of Alonso, who blamed Perez for impeding him in Turns 8 and 9 and was eliminated in P13. Zhou took P14 and Albon, who did not emerge for a final flying lap, 15th in Q2 – where just six-tenths split P1 and P10…
Knocked out: Gasly, Ocon, Alonso, Zhou, Albon
Q3 – Verstappen takes pole ahead of Leclerc before Perez spins
Again it was Verstappen who emerged first on new softs having crucially saved three sets of new soft tyres, followed by Perez on used tyres – a number of other drivers running low on brand-new sets of Pirelli’s coveted softs. The Dutchman set a lap of 1m 10.515s and had plenty of time, and tyres, to improve on that…
Leclerc then beat that with a time of 1m 10.456s, Hamilton going third behind Verstappen and 0.192s off the pace. Sainz couldn’t match them, taking fourth by a margin of 0.291s with Perez 0.621s off top spot in P5. With three minutes left, Stroll sat in P10 without a time to his name – a strong qualifying session cut short by a technical issue.
The cars poured out of the pits, Leclerc with the time to beat. The Monegasque was first to cross the line, but he lost time in Sector 2, though he improved with a brilliant final sector to finish with a lap of 1m 10.363s. Then came Verstappen, a fastest Sector 2 putting him top with a 1m 10.342s.
Sainz could only go third, missing out by just under two tenths of a second. The Mercedes and Perez were yet to cross the line but at Turn 13, the Red Bull driver spun 180 degrees and brought out a yellow flag in Sector 3 that guaranteed him fifth on the grid but stopped fourth-place Hamilton and sixth-place Russell from improving.
Norris qualified eighth to share row four with Haas’s Schumacher, while Tsunoda ended up ninth ahead of Stroll, who was confined to the garage for Q3.
Crucially, Verstappen took his fourth pole of the season, and has a set of brand-new softs reserved for race day.
Key quote
“Unbelievable. Especially after yesterday we had a difficult day, but I think we worked really well overnight with the whole team to turn it around. And today we had a quick race car again, but it was very close. And a lap around here… a qualifying lap is insane” – Max Verstappen, Red Bull
What’s next?
Lights go out for the 2022 Dutch Grand Prix at 1500 local time as Max Verstappen aims for a second-straight home victory, and Charles Leclerc hopes to turn the tide in front of a sea of orange. Head to the RACE HUB for more on how and when you can watch the action.
2022 Dutch Grand Prix FP3 report and highlights: Leclerc leads Russell and Verstappen in close-cut final session at Zandvoort
Charles Leclerc set the fastest time in final practice for the 2022 Dutch Grand Prix, with George Russell just 0.066s off the Ferrari driver in P2 for Mercedes to leave Max Verstappen third for Red Bull.
Leclerc’s car was shielded by a barricade of Ferrari engineers as they undertook work on the car midway through the session. The team said there was “no issue”, despite the row of mechanics, and Leclerc ended up finishing first overall with a time of 1m 11.632s, set with 14 minutes left.
READ MORE: 5 things we learned from Friday practice at the Dutch Grand Prix
Russell went second for Mercedes by 0.066s while Verstappen, who held the early soft-tyred benchmark, finished third. The Dutchman did emerge much later than the others for his second soft-tyred run and wound up 0.161s off Leclerc’s pace.
Carlos Sainz finished fourth, just over a tenth behind Verstappen, while Lewis Hamilton ended up fifth – half a second off the pace to leave Sergio Perez sixth. The Mexican driver emerged earliest to test a new set-up that he remarked was “quite a lot worse” as Red Bull scrambled for a rebuttal after Mercedes took a one-two in FP1 and Ferrari finished one-two in FP2.
|
1 Charles Leclerc LEC Ferrari |
1:11.632 |
|
2 George Russell RUS Mercedes |
+0.066s |
|
3 Max Verstappen VER Red Bull Racing |
+0.161s |
|
4 Carlos Sainz SAI Ferrari |
+0.339s |
|
5 Lewis Hamilton HAM Mercedes |
+0.524s |
Alpine’s Fernando Alonso took seventh ahead of Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel, while Mick Schumacher turned on the pace in Sector 2 to go ninth for Haas, dropping Lando Norris to P10 for McLaren.
Kevin Magnussen finished five-hundreths off his team mate in P11 for Haas while Lance Stroll was just under three-tenths off Vettel in P12.
EXCLUSIVE: Piastri on joining McLaren, leaving Alpine and making his F1 debut
MUST-SEE: Check out the all-new nose cam with Carlos Sainz at Zandvoort
Alex Albon took P13 for Williams, ahead of Alpine’s Esteban Ocon plus the AlphaTauri pair – Pierre Gasly 15th and Yuki Tsunoda 16th.
Behind Ricciardo were the Alfa Romeos, both of whom struggled in FP3. Valtteri Bottas’s soft-tyred runs came very late on and he finished 18th ahead of team mate Zhou Guanyu. Nicholas Latifi rounded out the session in P20.
Qualifying follows at 1500 local time with Ferrari holding the cards. But can Verstappen muster up a second-straight pole position at home?
Who’s going to score in the 2022 Dutch Grand Prix? Pick your dream team before qualifying and take on the world to win huge prizes with the Official Formula 1 Fantasy game. Sign up, join leagues and manage your squad here.
EXPLAINER: Why Dutch soldiers were at Indiana military camp
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Before three Dutch soldiers were shot, one fatally, in downtown Indianapolis, they were training in a southern Indiana military camp where international soldiers enter highly specialized urban combat simulations they might not be able to get in their own country.
Simmie Poetsema, 26, was identified Monday as the soldier who died of his injuries from the shooting Saturday outside a Hampton Inn where the men were staying. The two other soldiers have injuries that are not expected to be life-threatening, according to officials.
Police arrested an Indianapolis man Tuesday in connection to the shooting but did not release additional information about the circumstances of the shooting.
Before the shooting, which the Indianapolis mayor said came after a scuffle at a local bar, the men’s business was about an hour to the southeast — at the Muscatatuck Urban Training Center.
WHY TRAIN IN INDIANA?
Foreign soldiers often go to United States military facilities that replicate the “unpredictable realism” of battlefield situations within an environment that a soldier would encounter.
At Muscatatuck — where the three Dutch Commando Corps members involved in the shooting were training — “everything in the city and surrounding property, including the people, is ‘in play,’” its website says.
It’s a 1,000-acre (405-hectare) complex that trumpets hyper-focused training across land, air, water, technology and space.
The number of international soldiers training at the camp varies each year, Indiana National Guard spokesperson Jeff Lowry said in a statement. Soldiers’ individual training depends on unit needs, and in this case, the Dutch Ministry of Defense provided that direction, Lowry said.
“The training they will do will revolve around urban operations which could include a variety of training events from search and rescue to evade and capture,” Lowry said.
Mark Cancian, a senior advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and a retired Marine colonel, said Muscatatuck is “essentially a small city” for combat training. U.S. allies with troops from countries without the capacity for such facilities can learn in an environment that replicates the one they could fight in, he said.
“Europeans have things like that,” he said, but U.S. facilities are “more elaborate, in part because we have more money, and probably because we have more space, and larger forces.”
WHAT EXACTLY IS AT MUSCATATUCK?
The Muscatatuck complex had been a state-operated center for people with developmental disabilities since the 1920s, with more than 2,000 residents at one point before it was closed by the state. The Indiana National Guard then took over the site in 2005.
Military officials saw the campus of more than 60 buildings, nine miles of roads and more than a mile of tunnels — in a rural setting isolated from nearby communities — as an ideal place to replicate an urban territory for military training, including chemical or biological attacks.
“Our primary intent is to simulate real-world, urban scenarios through real and virtual training for first responders involved in counterterrorism operations,” then-Indiana Guard Adjutant General Martin Umbarger said in announcing the creation of the Muscatatuck center in 2004.
The Indiana National Guard said in a statement that the center is used for training by the Department of Defense “as well as other allies.”
Those materials detail a training environment that mimics a city — with a five-story hospital, an oil refinery, a coal-fired steam plant, among many other features — as well as bits of infrastructure that might be found in a war zone, such as downed aircraft, searchable “rubble buildings,” a caved-in parking garage and a collapsed rail trestle.
WHY WERE THE SOLDIERS AWAY FROM THE BASE?
The Muscatatuck center is part of a larger installation called Atterbury-Muscatatuck that covers 36,000 acres, including some lodging options, where troops usually stay for seven to 14 days, Lowry said. It’s not clear whether the Dutch soldiers had been staying on the installation during any of their training. ___
Associated Press writer Tom Davies in Indianapolis contributed to this report. Arleigh Rodgers is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow her on Twitter at https://twitter.com/arleighrodgers