Dutch GP : Max wins 9 in a row
Max Verstappen wins a record-equaling 9 races in a row, this time in his home Dutch GP race. Alonso finishes P2, Gasly P3
Max Magic at the Dutch GP
Verstappen won – his third consecutive triumph at home to match the record of nine victories in a row – from Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) and Pierre Gasly (Alpine) after rain heavy caused a red flag following Zhou Guanyu’s hefty crash at Turn 1 required a five-lap sprint to the finish.
Red Bull’s Sergio Perez lost third on the road to Gasly due to a penalty for speeding in the pits.
On a dry track, and on soft slick tyres, Verstappen led Lando Norris (McLaren) and George Russell (Mercedes) into Turn 1. Alonso snatched third from Russell at Turn 3 as rain began to fall, and drivers found a soaking track surface in the final corners.
Perez, Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), Zhou (Alfa Romeo) and Gasly pitted at the end of lap one for intermediates, but Ferrari didn’t have Leclerc’s tyres ready and he lost a huge amount of time.
Alonso passed Norris for second at the exit of Turn 3 before Verstappen and Alonso pitted for inters at the end of the second lap. Norris stayed out but Russell passed him at Turn 1.
Perez, the first car on inters, quickly surged past Norris and Russell to lead by the middle of lap three, with Zhou also rising to second thanks to his early stop.
Norris pitted a lap later (dropping to 12th) but Russell stayed out on slicks for another slow tour, and he tumbled to 14th, one spot behind team-mate Lewis Hamilton.
Dutch mess in the rains
Perez led Zhou, Gasly and Verstappen, who was 14s behind the leader by lap five. Verstappen barged his way past Gasly at Turn 3, while Alonso moved back into the top five, running ahead of Leclerc. Verstappen zapped past Zhou at Turn 3 on lap seven and was now within 10s of leader Perez and carving into his lead.
Zhou and Alonso pitted for slicks on lap 11, with Verstappen doing likewise a lap later. As Perez went a lap longer, Verstappen was able to undercut him to take the lead by 3.5s.
Alonso made short work of Zhou, with Gasly and Sainz also moving ahead of him. Leclerc suffered another delay when Ferrari changed his front wing when he changed to slicks, dropping him to 13th, and he’d later retire due to the floor damage sustained after he’d clipped Oscar Piastri’s McLaren early on.
Logan Sargeant crashed his Williams at Turn 8, which brought out the safety car on lap 17.
The race restarted on lap 22 with Max leading Perez, Alonso, Gasly, Sainz and Zhou. Alex Albon, who didn’t pit his Williams for inters, surged back to seventh, passing Kevin Magnussen’s Haas and then took sixth from Zhou.
Verstappen led by 5s at half distance, with Alonso falling 4s behind Perez in third. Sainz pitted from fifth on lap 42 for more softs, safe in the knowledge that Gasly had a 5s penalty for speeding in the pitlane and he gained fourth when Gasly stopped on lap 47.
Perez pitted again but was 8s behind Verstappen when he did so. Alonso suffered a slow stop when his left-front tyre wouldn’t release, which briefly promoted Sainz to third.
Rains couldn’t keep Max from winning the Dutch GP
Verstappen pitted for the final time on lap 50, rejoining 6s ahead. Sainz was 11s further back but had Alonso chasing him. Alonso passed Sainz at Tarzan with 20 laps remaining to regain his podium spot.
Sainz and the delayed, but fresher-tyred, Gasly then fought over fourth, with Gasly moving past with a great around-the-outside pass at Turn 1. Russell got back into the top six thanks to a hard-tyre gamble but Albon, who made a bold one-stop strategy from soft to mediums, passed him with 18 laps to go, also at Tarzan. Hamilton passed Russell for seventh after the latter clipped the grass and almost crashed.
Perez, Gasly, Sainz and Hamilton pitted for inters on lap 61 as the rain returned with a vengeance. Verstappen pitted a lap later, also taking inters, as Alonso and Albon followed suit.
That reset the race order as Verstappen, leading by 19s over Perez, Alonso, Gasly, Sainz, Hamilton, Norris, Russell and Albon. But Perez went straight on at and then spun at Tarzan, losing second to Alonso. Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri) went off and rejoined before Zhou then crashed there heavily.
Max and Perez (who hit the wall at the pitlane entry) stopped for extreme wets as the virtual safety car and then a red flag was called, with Verstappen retaining the lead but Perez slumped to sixth, promoting Gasly, Sainz and Hamilton. But the order was reset from the sector before the red flag, which meant Perez was elevated back to third.
5 seconds penalty for Perez
After a couple of laps behind the safety car, with all cars on inters, the race restarted with Verstappen leading Alonso, Perez, Gasly, Sainz, Hamilton and Norris with five laps to go. Russell passed Norris at Turn 3 to grab seventh, but his Mercedes toured into the pitlane at the end of lap 68 with a puncture after clashing with Norris further around the lap.
Alonso kept Verstappen honest to the finish, but the home hero held on to win by over 3s. Perez got a 5s time penalty for speeding in the pitlane, and Gasly took advantage to take the final spot on the podium.
Sainz held off Hamilton for fifth after a fierce fight, ahead of Norris, Albon and Piastri.
Dutch GP Race Classification : 9 wins in a row for Max
