Certainly, mother nature at least left nothing on the table in an attempt to bring a dramatic edge to the Dutch Grand Prix. Amid the sand dunes of Zandvoort over the course of two and a half hours the wind blew, the rain crashed in with two separate, sudden, pitch invasions and then disappeared. Yet amid it all the one certainty of Formula One in 2023 stood utterly imperturbable. Come rain or shine it is Max Verstappen who takes the chequered flag.
The Dutchman was roared home by an adoring home crowd of 105,000 who exuded an absolute determination to enjoy every second of the afternoon even as they battened down the hatches under flimsy ponchos and the wind threatened to tear precarious plastic pint pots from their hands. They were rewarded as their man secured a remarkable record.
The victory, his ninth in a row this season, equals Sebastian Vettel’s tally set for Red Bull in 2013. It is a run indicative of just how crushingly dominant he and Red Bull have been this season. His team remain unbeaten this year, from which Verstappen has taken 11 wins from 13 meetings. There was no guarantee the record would fall to Verstappen but if it was to be denied it was clear it would certainly not be through driver error or a lack of pace.
He admitted he was proud of the achievement on what had been a complicated day for drivers and teams. “Even if you have the best car and there have been more dominant cars in the past than we have at the moment and they haven’t been able to win nine in a row,” he said. “So yes it is hard, especially like today it is easy to make a wrong call, even drop it yourself in the gravel, it’s never straightforward.”
The double world champion Fernando Alonso also offered his praise. “It is underestimated sometimes Max’s achievement, to win in such a dominant manner in any professional sport it is complicated,” he said.
There is no reason Verstappen will not surpass the record next week at Monza and indeed extend it even further, while Red Bull remain on course for a potential clean sweep of victories this season. Theirs and the Verstappen juggernaut rumbles on and closing out the title inches inexorably closer.
His teammate Sergio Pérez was outclassed in fourth and was one of the drivers caught out, going off when rain hit the circuit for the second time in the final stages, spinning off. All of which was ultimately academic, he once more could not stay close to Verstappen on pace. The Dutchman now leads Pérez by 138 points in the world championship and will close out his third title in Japan with six races remaining if he extends it to 180.
Some might consider that at least doing so would be putting a one-sided fight out of its misery and there is some truth in that. Yet in fairness during a season which has had more than a fair share of processions, this race, which Verstappen won from Alonso in second for Aston Martin and Pierre Gasly in third for Alpine, was better than much of the fare served up this year.
Shortly after the start a frenetic series of pit stops had ensued as the rain blew in from the North Sea and lashed the circuit. The order was instantly upset as some opted to try and see it out and then changed their minds. It benefited Pérez, who inherited the lead but was to the chagrin of Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and George Russell, who stayed out and dropped down the field, though Hamilton ultimately came back to sixth. Verstappen, relegated to fourth during the stops, simply reset and applied the pressure.
As the midfield vied with one another to great effect on a now mixed up grid, the Dutchman’s form was punishingly familiar. From fourth he passed Gasly on lap six, Zhou Guanyu followed a lap later. The Dutchman was on fire, his gap to Pérez was 11.7sec at the start of lap seven and 7.4 by the start of lap eight.
As a rainbow appeared and another round of stops heralded the return of slick tyres to the fray the Dutchman effectively had the job done. He stopped before Pérez, caned an out-lap and had the lead through the stop.
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Yet there was tension and drama to come as the celebration was put on hold. The rain returned with 11 laps remaining, once more swift and vengeful in its intensity. Pérez was one of several drivers who went off before Zhou speared into the wall at Tarzan, causing a red flag.
The wait lasted 45 minutes, the circuit unsafe especially with Zhou’s car in a barrier, but once the rain departed with a rapidity that left no shadow Verstappen swept through to the line controlling the field and his car for the final six laps amidst plumes of spray. Zandvoort had seen four seasons in one day, the Dutch had their party and by the close Verstappen, of course, had the win.
Carlos Sainz finished in fifth for Ferrari. Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri were seventh and ninth for McLaren, Alex Albon was eighth for Williams and Esteban Ocon 10th for Alpine.
