Yahoo Autos F1 Dutch Grand Prix Notebook: Max Verstappen Ties Yet Another All-Time Record with Win
Yes, Max Verstappen triumphed once more from pole position, but this time it was far from straightforward at a Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix that featured changing weather conditions, and a couple of surprise faces on the podium, as the reigning World Champion equaled the record of nine wins in a row.
Verstappen Avoids Early Drama
The nature of the Dutch Grand Prix is such that it may as well be called the Verstappen Grand Prix, such is the devotion to the reigning world champion at an event that was effectively resurrected due to his popularity in his homeland. As was the case in 2021 and 2022, Verstappen scored victory from pole position—to the delight of the frenzied crowd—but this one was far less simple than the previous two years.
Rain began falling halfway around the opening lap, and the field was split, with Sergio Perez the first front-runner ducking into the pits immediately for Intermediates tires, while Verstappen stayed out. That proved the incorrect call, and a lap later he too came in for the green-banded rubber, emerging in fourth place, with Perez almost 15 seconds clear up front.
Verstappen swiftly dispensed with early-stoppers Zhou Guanyu and Pierre Gasly and duly demonstrated his pace, carving four seconds out of Perez’s advantage in a single lap. Verstappen seized the lead during the crossover period onto slicks, stopping a lap earlier than Perez, and controlled the race until a forecasted deluge hit after 60 of the 72 laps. As several drivers skated off the road—including Perez—Verstappen kept a cool head and preserved his advantage, both before and after a length red flag period caused when Zhou crashed amid the downpour.
Verstappen tied Sebastian Vettel’s all-time record set in 2013 of nine successive victories, making it 11 for the season, and he leads the championship by 138 points. Perez’s late off at Turn 1 dropped him to third, which became fourth once a time penalty for pit speeding was applied.
“To have achieved nine victories with Sebastian was very special, it was something I never thought we would end up repeating,” said Red Bull boss Christian Horner. “To be sitting here with Max having replicated what Sebastian did 10 years ago is very special for him and for the whole team.”
Alonso Returns to Podium, Gasly Stars
A race in difficult conditions? Step forward the evergreen Fernando Alonso.
The Aston Martin driver thrived in the early stages of the race, battling his way from fifth on the grid to second, including an audacious decision to take the low line through the banked Turn 3 on the opening lap.
Gasly then preserved third spot throughout the dry phase once Red Bull assumed its natural position in the order. That became second late on amid Perez’s off and it enabled Alonso to equal his and Aston Martin’s best result of the campaign, while returning to the podium for the first time since mid-June’s Canadian Grand Prix.
PODIUM FOR PIERRE 💪
P3 for Gasly, his fourth career podium and his first for @AlpineF1Team 🥳#DutchGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/xr9SqH6zkF— Formula 1 (@F1) August 27, 2023
There were similarly wide smiles at Alpine.
The team, after a tumultuous period, was down in the dumps after a middling Saturday but on race day an early call for Intermediate tires propelled Gasly from midfield mediocrity to fourth. He valiantly battled Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, repeling an attack from the Spaniard, and overcame his own time penalty earlier in the race to profit when Perez’s sanction was applied at the flag.
Fourth became third, giving Alpine its second podium of the year, while elevating Gasly to the podium for the first time since 2021, when he raced for AlphaTauri.
American Sargeant Suffers Two Big Accidents
There was a fleeting moment when the Dutch Grand Prix weekend was going well for Logan Sargeant. During an event in which several teams failed to find the sweet spot Williams unexpectedly thrived. Alex Albon, who dismissed Williams’ chances prior to the weekend, equaled his best qualifying result of fourth and raced to eighth, picking up more points, despite things not quite falling his way.
Sargeant joined Albon in Q3 on Saturday—marking his first appearance in the top 10 shootout—but dipped a wheel onto the wet part of a drying race track and speared off into the Turn 2 barriers. In the tricky opening stages of the race Sargeant stayed out on slicks but tumbled to last spot, and lost a swathe of time behind others who adopted the same strategy.
“It was a tricky first laps, just being too cautious, not wanting to crash after what happened yesterday,” said Sargeant. “I lost a bit too much tire temperature in those conditions and then ultimately losing too much temp cost me a lot of time.”
Sargeant’s race ended after 15 laps when he lost the hydraulics and power steering through Turn 8, giving him a one-way ticket to the tire barriers. A devastated Sargeant spent most of the rest of the race slouched on a trackside deckchair and conceded he was thinking about the mechanics who wound up with more broken machinery after a stellar overnight repair job.
“It’s more just disappointment for everyone who put in effort and for it to only last 15 laps… I appreciate all the work and the effort and for it to come up to nothing is super painful, so that’s the bit I hate the most,” he concluded.
Lawson Stays Out of Trouble in Debut
Liam Lawson was drafted in to make his Formula 1 debut at Zandvoort in the wake of Daniel Ricciardo suffering a hand fracture during practice. Lawson hardly had an easy task, given he’d never before driven the AlphaTauri AT04, had no Formula 1 experience around Zandvoort, and was faced with a final practice session, qualifying and race that was affected by changing weather conditions.
Lawson qualified last, but posted respectable pace, and in the race was unfortunate to pick up an early penalty due to the manner in which AlphaTauri stacked its cars during a tire change. Lawson nonetheless went on to avoid incidents and pick up 13th position.
“The aim was to do all 72 laps today,” said Lawson. “When I first got on the grid and it started raining, it wasn’t the best feeling. After that, we had no choice but to make the pitstop but unfortunately, we got a penalty and lost a huge amount of time during it. I think once we got clean air during the second half of the race and then driving on the intermediate tyres at the end, my pace wasn’t so bad. There’s some work to do, but I’m just happy to have gotten through the race, experiencing different conditions and scenarios, to be able to take them forward.”
Lawson is expected to remain in the AT04 until Ricciardo recovers from the hand injury. Ricciardo has already been ruled out of next weekend’s Italian Grand Prix after undergoing successful surgery in Barcelona on Sunday.
Results
Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix
Max Verstappen, Red Bull 72 laps
Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin +3.744 seconds
Pierre Gasly, Alpine +7.058
Sergio Perez, Red Bull +10.068
Carlos Sainz Jr., Ferrari +12.541
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes +13.209
Lando Norris, McLaren +13.232
Alex Albon, Williams +15.155
Oscar Piastri, McLaren +16.580
Esteban Ocon, Alpine +18.346
Lance Stroll, Aston Martin +20.087
Nico Hulkenberg, Haas +20.840
Liam Lawson, AlphaTauri +26.147
Kevin Magnussen, Haas +26.410
Valtteri Bottas, Alfa Romeo +27.388
Yuki Tsunoda, AlphaTauri +29.893
George Russell, Mercedes +55.754
Zhou Guanyu, Alfa Romeo +10 laps
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari +31 laps
Logan Sargeant, Williams +57 laps
Drivers' Championship Standings
Max Verstappen 339
Sergio Perez 201
Fernando Alonso 168
Lewis Hamilton 156
Carlos Sainz Jr. 102
Charles Leclerc 99
George Russell 99
Lando Norris 75
Lance Stroll 47
Pierre Gasly 37
Esteban Ocon 36
Oscar Piastri 36
Alex Albon 15
Nico Hulkenberg 9
Valtteri Bottas 5
Zhou Guanyu 4
Yuki Tsunoda 3
Kevin Magnussen 2
Logan Sargeant 0
Nyck de Vries 0
Daniel Ricciardo 0
Liam Lawson 0
Constructors' Championship Standings
Red Bull 540
Mercedes 255
Aston Martin 215
Ferrari 201
McLaren 111
Alpine 73
Williams 15
Haas 11
Alfa Romeo 9
AlphaTauri 3
