Max Verstappen and Red Bull continued their unrivalled domination of the 2023 Formula One season on Sunday with victory at a sodden Zandvoort, even if it wasn’t quite as comfortable as the champions-elect have become accustomed to.
The win marked a ninth straight success for Verstappen, equalling Sebastian Vettel’s 2013 record for consecutive victories. Red Bull meanwhile won their 14th straight Grand Prix, extending their own record set earlier this season in Budapest.
Fernando Alonso’s second place finish marked a return to form for the Aston Martin team who had very much struggled since teams started bringing in their mid-season upgrades while Pierre Gasly’s podium will be a huge boost to Alpine after their difficult end to the first half of the season, both on track and off.
Let’s have a look at what else we learnt from the fascinating 2023 Dutch Grand Prix.
Not a great weekend for strategists
Historically in F1, changeable conditions have without fail made for entertaining races and nightmare situations for race strategists. Sunday’s race at Zandvoort was no different.
The chaos began when the heavens opened halfway round the first lap of the race, drastically changing the track conditions in an instant. Bizarrely though, only a handful of drivers pitted for intermediate tyres straight away.
It became clear very quickly that this was the optimum strategy. Sergio Perez, who started the race in seventh and made a pit stop, was over ten seconds clear in the lead by the end of the second lap.
Yet some teams, McLaren and Mercedes in particular, decided to leave their drivers out on track, where they lost over 15 seconds per lap at times. Logan Sargeant in the Williams, still on slick tyres, was lapped by the end of lap six.
Lewis Hamilton and George Russell were quick to voice their frustrations over the team radio over the team’s strategy. It is hard to disagree with them. Keeping the cars out on dry tyres on a wet, albeit drying circuit was never realistically going to work.
In the high-octane environment of Formula One, sometimes the pressure can get to drivers and team personnel. Perhaps this was the case for many of the strategists on Sunday.
Perez’s short straw gets shorter
It is perhaps the most unenviable job in Formula One being the teammate of the imperious Max Verstappen. The vast majority in the sport would say that the Dutchman is the best driver in the best car and therefore challenging him at any event at the moment is nigh on impossible.
Nobody really expected Perez to challenge for the driver’s championship, but the total lack of competitiveness from the Mexican driver has become startling to say the least.
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff said himself that he “cannot comprehend” the gap in qualifying in particular between the Red Bull teammates. Verstappen qualified 1.3s quicker than Perez in Saturday’s qualifying session, a stark difference in the same machinery.
It seems as though Perez’s seat is safe as long as Red Bull are the top dogs in Formula One. Beyond that is anybody’s guess and with a great flock of young talent flourishing in the sport in 2023 so far, Perez might soon find himself vulnerable.
Safety improvements show their worth
On face value, it seems strange to comment on Formula One’s improved safety after a weekend which saw a driver break his hand, a rarity in modern day F1.
However, on what was a busy three days for the TECPRO barriers and Race Control, the sport handled itself magnificently and somewhat made amends for the problems at Spa four weeks ago.
We saw three high-speed accidents at Zandvoort over the course of the weekend - two for Sargeant and one for Zhou Guanyu. Both drivers were able to walk away without injury from their incidents.
The race was also red flagged at exactly the right time. Intermediate tyres had clearly become inadequate for the track conditions and a situation akin to the chaos at the Nurburgring in 2007 (the Markus Winkelhock race) was surely on the cards had the race continued any longer.
The FIA and Race Control deserve full credit for their strong decision making, perfectly balancing the entertainment of the race with the safety of the drivers.
Fantastic Fernando shines one more
Even at 42 years of age, where other drivers and teams seemingly falter, Fernando Alonso always seems to be there to take advantage and reap the rewards.
While his second place finish was perhaps not truly indicative of the pace of the car, the extra nouse that Alonso brings to race day on difficult days such as at Zandvoort is priceless and his and Aston Martin’s first podium finish since the Canadian Grand Prix was fully deserved.
Aston Martin have a lot of work to do to cling on to third place in the constructor’s standings but with a few upgrades in the late stages of the season and with Alonso at the helm, they will certainly fancy their chances.
Can Max Verstappen set the record for most consecutive race wins? Find out this weekend at the Italian Grand Prix from Monza.
