Verstappen prevails for record-tying ninth win on the trot in chaotic, rain-affected Dutch Grand Prix; Alonso returns to podium with masterful P2; superb Gasly promoted to P3 due to Perez penalty

Even the unpredictable elements at the Dutch seaside Zandvoort circuit could not prevent the great Max Verstappen from adding to his record-setting victory pace at his hometown race. With rain chucking it down at the very start of Sunday’s 72-lap Dutch Grand Prix and then again during the closing stanza, forcing split second strategy decisions up and down the pit wall, Verstappen and his Red Bull brain trust made all the right calls en route to another dominant victory. It was the points leader’s record trying ninth win in a row, drawing him level with the great Sebastian Vettel, who first lifted this team named after a sports drink to the pinnacle of motorsport. Proving himself a worthy successor to the German four time champ, the Dutch wunderkind wowed the virtual sea of his sodden and ecstatic orange-clad fans by surviving the opening two laps on slicks as the rain began and then two Safety Car periods that erased his cushion. The latter deluge began on Lap 61, leading to first a VSC three laps later and then a Red Flag due to cars aquaplaning off the track en masse. Nevertheless, the Dutch master held off the late charge of wily old Fernando Alonso and pulled out his winning margin over the final five green flag laps to 3.744-seconds over the Spaniard. That also made it eleven wins from thirteen races run in 2023 and increased his points lead over teammate Sergio Perez to a whopping 128. While Verstappen’s dominance may make for sometimes less than thrilling and lopsided victories, this race had excitement galore due to the changeable weather and abundance of incident. In any event, one has to give the devil his due in saying that Verstappen is head and shoulders above all the other contenders in what is shaping up to be one of the legendary individual seasons in the sport’s history.

An extraordinary race and a remarkable record-equalling win by @Max33Verstappen 😮#DutchGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/Ei2j9LxkfF

— Formula 1 (@F1) August 27, 2023

Nearly as good was Aston Martin’s Alonso, who started from P5 but used his mastery of touch and feel in the wet to consistently push to the front whatever the track conditions. By Lap 13 and after a switch to Intermediate wets and then back to Soft Pirellis, Alonso had worked his way to P3, a position he looked destined to be locked into for the duration. But he got a huge break when the heavy showers hit and the field were once again forced to come in for wet weather tires. The P2 Red Bull of Perez dove to the pits for Inters on Lap 61, which looked like the shrewd move at the time. The pursuing Alonso came in a lap latter for the same compound but the rain only intensified from there and the Red Bull team pulled first Verstappen in for the full Wet tires on Lap 63 and then, after Perez had slid off the track in T1, they called him in for the same on Lap 64. But with a big shunt by Alfa Romeo’s Zho Guanyu directly after Perez had his own off, the race director first deployed a Virtual Safety Car but then determined that the only safe course of action was a Red Flag. That trapped Perez in the pits as the rest of the field trundled round to get back into them for safe retrieval of Zho’s Alfa and barrier repair. While Perez was allowed to keep P3 and not relegated any further, as that was his last timed position, he had lost out to Alonso on P2. Making matters worse for the Mexican, he somehow accrued a pit speed violation on that fateful pit entry and was slapped with a 5-second time penalty. Alonso easily held off Perez, as he made a hard if eventually futile charge at catching Verstappen at the point. Meanwhile, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, who drove a superb race, kept himself close enough to the second Red Bull to inherit the last step on the podium when Perez was docked those five-seconds after the checkers flew. It was brace of brilliant drives and results by Alonso and Gasly and another difficult day at the office for Perez when all was said and done.

We think Fernando enjoyed his podium at Zandvoort 😁😍#DutchGP @AstonMartinF1 pic.twitter.com/CndLaP4DnU

— Formula 1 (@F1) August 27, 2023

Carlos Sainz was the lone Ferrari to make it home after teammate Charles Leclerc DNF’d due to floor damage on Lap 42. While Sainz held on for P5, it was another confused and disappointing day for the Scuderia, with Leclerc’s pointless retirement preceded by a botched stop for Inters on Lap 2. The Monegasque driver made his own call to box but the team weren’t ready for him with the tires, making for an agonizingly long time spent stationary. Heading into Monza next week, Ferrari will be under immense pressure to do better in front of their rabid tifosi. Mercedes Lewis Hamilton was likewise his team’s lone representative in the Top 10, recovering from a poor qualifying and a P13 start to take a hard earned P6. Teammate George Russell’s day came to grief late in the race when he suffered a puncture dicing with McLaren’s Lando Norris on lap 67 and was forced into an emergency pit stop that pushed him back to P17 and last among the remaining runners. Norris survived that incident to come home P7, with teammate Oscar Piastri not quite as quick in P9. Williams’ Alexander Albon did an excellent job after running his opening stint on Soft tires all the way to Lap 44 despite the drenched circuit, a crazy feat that set him up for his eventual P8 finish. The second Alpine of Esteban Ocon took the last point in P10 after the team’s gamble to be the first to go on full Wet tires on Lap 62 didn’t quite pay off due to the Red Flag.

Top 10 finishers of the Dutch GP:

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is in but a week’s time as we head into September — the Italian Grand Prix from Monza, the Temple of Speed. Verstappen will be gunning for the record for consecutive race wins and the rest of the contenders will be hoping that somehow the ultra-fast circuit suits their hot rods a little better. And, at their home circuit, Ferrari will simply be praying for both of their cars to perform well and with no embarrassing mistakes for the Italian media to harp on. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!