In his final home race, Max Verstappen is OUT after a horror opening-lap crash.

A red flag has been called after a massive shunt on the pit straight.

The four-time world champion is out of his car and OK, but lost control of his car in the wettest part of the track and slid straight into a concrete wall. Wow.

“Yeah, that’s it. Ah shit – sorry,” is all Verstappen could say over his team radio.

Brazilian Gabriel Bortoleto is also out of the race after being caught up in the mayhem.

11.05pm

We’re away!

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McLaren’s world champion Lando Norris got a perfect start off the line, maintaining his lead from pole.

But George Russell struggled off the line, by contrast.

Australian star Oscar Piastri? After a cautious opening, he’s sitting in fifth.

10.58pm

Lights out in just minutes...

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We’ve had five race winners over the past five races, and tonight could deliver us yet another one, given the changeable weather.

Look for Oscar Piastri off the start. He knows he has to get away smoothly, but safely, given the Ferraris behind him in fifth and sixth.

It won’t be a usual start, though, given the conditions. The final corner heading into the pit straight seems particularly wet, still, despite the 30 degree temperature at the track. So, the formation lap of the race will be behind the safety car.

The top four (including Oscar Piastri) are starting on medium tyres, and there an awful lot starting on softs, incredibly. The two Cadillacs, at the rear of the grid, will start on hard tyres.

Bring. It. On.

10.49pm

Surely not...

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Lando Norris just admitted on his walk to the starting grid that he doesn’t know if the circuit will be wet or dry, following a downpour in the hour leading up to the race.

But there is talk that the surface appears to be drying so rapidly that the drivers could yet start on slick tyres.

Amazing.

10.47pm

The starting grid at Zandvoort

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Lando Norris (McLaren) 1:11.163

George Russell (Mercedes) 1:11.265

Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) 1:11.296

Oscar Piastri (McLaren) 1:11.305

Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) 1:11.494

Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) 1:11.558

Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 1:11.618

Liam Lawson (*Red Bull) 1:11.733

Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi) 1:12.079

Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls) 1:12.185

Pierre Gasly (Alpine)

Yuki Tsunoda (*Racing Bulls)

Nico Hulkenberg (Audi)

Franco Colapinto (Alpine)

Esteban Ocon (Haas)

Alex Albon (Williams)

Carlos Sainz jnr (Williams)

Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)

Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)

Oliver Bearman (Haas)

Valterri Bottas (Cadillac)

Sergio Perez (Cadillac) [from pit lane]

*After sustaining a wrist injury in a gym workout, Isack Hadjar isn’t fit to take his place for Red Bull this weekend, so Liam Lawson has stepped up from Racing Bulls to replace him. Taking Lawson’s seat for this weekend is Racing Bulls reserve driver, and former full-time F1 racer, Yuki Tsunoda.

10.41pm

Australian cricket star is at the track – but not for Oscar

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Star Australian white-ball all-rounder Glenn Maxwell is over in Europe as a co-owner and the captain of the Belfast Wolves franchise in the inaugural European T20 Premier League (ETPL).

But for this race weekend, the F1 diehard has made the trek to Circuit Zandvoort to watch the final grand prix at the circuit.

Here’s the thing, though – he’s there as a guest of Alpine, so will be cheering on Pierre Gasly.

Surely he’ll be among the loudest to cheer for Oscar Piastri if he records a famous 10th career victory, though.

10.28pm

About half an hour until race start, and it’s pouring!

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Trust the weather gods to have arguably the biggest say on the final F1 grand prix at Zandvoort.

Just over half an hour until lights out, it’s pouring rain, with the drivers heading out to the grid and sliding straight off the track in some cases.

The issue now, clearly, is just which tyres the teams will select to start the race on – intermediates, wets, or (less likely by the minute) slicks.

“It’s too wet for slicks at the moment,” British star Oliver Bearman said on his warm-up lap over his team radio, which was broadcast on the Sky coverage.

Championship leader Kimi Antonelli was even more expansive.

“The first half [of the lap] is pretty dry for inters [intermediates], but the second half is wet – quite wet.”

10.22pm

He’s been linked to Mercedes and McLaren, but Max is going nowhere

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Speculation is always rife in the F1 paddock about just where the biggest-name drivers in the sport will be racing in the seasons to come.

There’s no name bigger than that of four-time F1 world champion Max Verstappen, and he’s been linked to everything from moves to either Mercedes or McLaren, or even walking away from the sport altogether (due in no small part due to his disdain for F1’s current regulations). But he’s going nowhere – re-signing at Red Bull for at least another four seasons.

Of course, a move to McLaren would have not only stunned the F1 world, but unseated Australian star Oscar Piastri. He was subsequently linked with a kind of driver swap with Red Bull, but Verstappen’s re-signing during the week but an end to all of that.

Speaking at Zandvoort as the rain started to fall ahead of the final F1 grand prix at the track, Red Bull boss Laurent Mekies was emphatic.

“From day one, Max said I want to stay with you guys,” he said, adding the team has a “huge responsibility” to provide Verstappen with a car capable of winning titles in the seasons to come.

10.12pm

Circuit Zandvoort: What you need to know

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To start with, sadly, this will be the last Dutch Grand Prix, with Circuit Zandvoort leaving the F1 calendar after this race weekend.

Formula 1 president and CEO Stefano Domenicali, in speaking to the official F1 website, paid tribute to the Dutch fans and the circuit, itself.

“It’s amazing,” he said. “I just want to start to say thank you – thank you, Zandvoort, thank you to the Dutch fans for the energy they brought to the ecosystem of Formula 1.

“They came in [during] a [time] that was not easy, with COVID, and they were able to deliver an incredible event. From the crowd, the energy has been always a reference, so it’s great.

10.11pm

Goodbye Zandvoort, hello Argentina?

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Argentine President Javier Milei says he would push to bring Formula 1 back to Argentina, a race the nation has not hosted since 1998, and that he would personally drum up support in the coming weeks.

Milei said in a radio interview that he would attend the International Automobile Federation’s (FIA) Americas Congress, which is scheduled to take place between August 31 and September 2 in the capital.

The gathering, hosted by the Automovil Club Argentino, marks Argentina’s return to the international motorsport stage — the country has not hosted the event in nearly three decades.

“We are going to work to have Formula 1 back in Argentina again,” Milei said. “I’m also going to have a meeting with the people from the FIA.”