Max Verstappen again took centre stage in Zandvoort
With a couple of downpours and tyre gambles aplenty, the Dutch Grand Prix was a topsy-turvy race but the winner was predictable; with nine victories on the bounce, Max Verstappen has now equalled the record set by Sebastian Vettel in 2013.
‘Well, I think after like five wins in a row, or something like that, Seb texted me,’ revealed the Dutchman. ‘[He said] well done, keep it up, you’re going to do it.’
Vettel retired from F1 at the end of last year. Despite he and Red Bull’s dominance this season, Max (below) didn’t think it was a given that he’d be smashing records like Vettel did back in his championship-winning pomp with the same team.
‘Nine wins in a row, it’s something very impressive. I never thought I would be able to be already on eight.’
Until now, Verstappen’s best previous streak was five wins in a row last year. ‘I’m not in this sport to try and break records,’ he claims, ‘I’m just here to win.’
But with five days to go to the Italian Grand Prix, his date with destiny is approaching fast.
Despite Red Bull being the class of the field once again at Zandvoort, heavy rain and a headwind allowed teams such as Aston Martin and Williams to close the gap.
Fernando Alonso enjoyed his weekend in the Netherlands (Picture: Getty Images)
Once the race was restarted after a 45-minute red flag, triggered by a crash from Zhou Guanyu, with six laps to go Fernando Alonso managed to briefly lock onto Verstappen and considered making a move, but without the benefit of DRS it would have been touch-and-go.
It certainly wouldn’t have been popular with the home crowd, he joked. ‘I did think about trying the move on the last re-start, but then I thought maybe I cannot exit the circuit, so I stayed calm in second.’ It was a return to form for the racing green team, with Alonso delivering his best result since Canada.
Thrilled with his car’s speed this weekend, the Spaniard radioed his team to say: ‘We will win a race soon, we are getting closer.’
He’s been promoted to third in the championship behind Sergio Perez, who was penalised for speeding in the pitlane and classified fourth.
The Mexican has had an assurance from Christian Horner that he’ll remain with Red Bull: ‘It’s easy to beat up on him when the barometer is so high on the other side [of the garage], but he will be our driver in 2024,’ he said.
This comes after team advisor Helmut Marko said of Perez’ seat: ‘Nothing is 100 per cent in Formula One, it just doesn’t exist.’
Third place was given to Alpine’s Pierre Gasly – his best result of the season so far. Having parted company recently with team principal Otmar Szafnauer and sporting director Alan Permane, and having moved CEO Laurent Rossi away from the F1 operation, there has been criticism of the Renault Group’s management of the Enstone team.
Pierre Gasly finished on the podium in Zandvoort (Picture: Shutterstock)
Former FIA staffer Bruno Famin, who was running the engine operation outside Paris, has temporarily assumed responsibility for the whole Alpine team.
Gasly says Sunday’s result indicates that they are, in fact, moving in the right direction.
‘I’m glad to see things are falling into place within the team, we’re learning to work better and better together and we proved it again today,’ he said.
Gasly has now leapfrogged his team-mate Esteban Ocon in the standings, while Alpine sit sixth in the constructors’ championship.
Ricciardo won’t let break wreck comeback
Zandvoort introduced us to a new talent: New Zealand’s Liam Lawson. The 21-year-old Red Bull reserve was handed driving duties at AlphaTauri after Daniel Ricciardo crashed in Friday practice and broke a metacarpal bone in his left hand.
The popular Aussie won’t be back in the car until at least Singapore, so Lawson – who struggled in qualifying, but impressed on Sunday with a dogged drive to 13th – will get another chance to shine in Monza.
Liam Lawson made an encouraging debut (Picture: Getty Images)
This is terribly unfortunate for Ricciardo, who was making his F1 comeback having replaced Nyck de Vries, but he remains in good spirits.
He flew from the Netherlands to Barcelona to have surgery from the same doctor who worked wonders on Lance Stroll at the start of the year, so hopefully he’ll be back before you can say ‘Honey Badger’.
Viewers of Drive to Survive will demand it. ‘This ain’t a setback,’ he messaged from hospital. ‘Just all part of the comeback.’
Singapore is the goal he’s working towards. ‘Any normal human being would probably be about ten-12 weeks [to recover],’ says Red Bull boss Christian Horner. ‘But we know that these guys aren’t normal.’
MORE : Liam Lawson to race for AlphaTauri until Daniel Ricciardo is ‘fully fit’ following hand surgery
MORE : Lewis Hamilton and George Russell slam Mercedes after ‘catastrophic’ Dutch Grand Prix
Max Verstappen has another record in his sights.