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The 2023 Dutch Grand Prix was a wet and wild slip slide for the first 7 laps and a regular Red Bull masterclass after. In a surprising change of pace though, Alonso made it back to the podium as Gasly grabbed his first with Alpine.
Lights Out
In the sea of orange at the Zandvoort circuit, a gap in the sky brought in the rain. And the rain fell as quickly as Tsuonda did down the starting grid - before the race even began! He was awarded a 3-place grid penalty for impeding Hamilton in qualifying. When the race began with splashes of rain, Verstappen retained his lead as Alonso pulled up to third. After the drizzle switched out for a full-blown shower, Perez, Leclerc. Gasly, Zhou, Tsunoda, Lawson and Magnussen pitted immediately to swap their slicks for intermediates. Or shall we say Leclerc tried to pit, but the Ferrari crew had to get their tyres ready.
By Lap 3, the order had changed massively. Perez was leading Zhou and Gasly by 12 seconds, and Verstappen was on the charge.
Track Tactics
Expectedly though, as Verstappen made his way up the order, we had a Red Bull 1-2 on our hands, with Perez leading the field by 10 seconds. In the midfield, Leclerc was struggling with front-wing damage he picked up on Lap 1, and Tsunoda was holding onto eighth despite a slow pitstop. Lap 11 called for second stops for a select few, but another round was prompted soon after as the rest of the field traded their overheating intermediates for slicks.
Verstappen pitted before his teammate — which ended up being crucial to his lead. Checo questioned it but continued in second place when he rejoined. Soon after, Sergeant lost control of his car at the exit of Turn 8 and prompted a safety car.
Chequered Flag
While Alonso was trying to catch up to the leader, it soon became clear that Verstappen was too quick, and Gasly didn’t look like he was going to catch up with the Spaniard either. Perez followed the podium finishes all through to chequered flag in fourth place. The action shifted to the trio of Sainz-Hamilton-Norris. George Russel was part of the fight until a collision with Norris left him with a puncture and out of the race. Hamilton continued to load up the pressure on Sainz to the finish line, but the order eventually remained.
Albon, Piastri and Ocon made up the top in what was a dramatic and almost dangerous Dutch Grand Prix. The teams will head to Italy for the Monza Grand Prix - the last of the European races, on September 3.