Max Verstappen wins the Dutch Grand Prix

Max Verstappen wins the Dutch Grand Prix. For the leader of the World Cup, this is the ninth consecutive victory this season, which was a repeat of the record set a decade ago by Sebastian Vettel. Like Verstappen now, then the German was chasing Red Bull. Given the unconditional dominance of the Dutchman this season, it is extremely likely that as early as next Sunday at the Italian Grand Prix, the two-time world champion will become the sole owner of the victorious stability record.

Max Verstappen, even before the August break in the championship, solved all the tasks that he faced in the season. His lead over his closest rival, Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez, reached an indecent 125 points after the Belgian Grand Prix. This made it almost inevitable for him to win a third consecutive championship title. It is not surprising that back in early August, Red Bull management announced that it was stopping work on improving the 2023 model car. Simply because it makes no sense and it is more correct to direct the available resources to prepare for the 2024 championship. By the way, Red Bull did the same thing last season. It also took place with the undisputed dominance of Verstappen, who won 15 stages in a year (the previous record of 13 victories was set by Michael Schumacher in 2004, and Sebastian Vettel repeated it in 2013). But in 2022, the announcement of the transfer of resources to work on the next car followed at least in October, and not almost six months before the end of the championship.

However, something Verstappen still has to do this year, namely to beat the record of the already mentioned Vettel. The four-time world champion in 2013, as already mentioned, won 13 races, but at the same time he won nine of them in a row. At the Dutch Grand Prix, Verstappen’s home stage, the championship leader had a chance to repeat the German’s achievement. He used it. But, as Verstappen himself noted after the race, “it was unexpectedly difficult.”

The leader of Red Bull really had to work hard, but not because he was wrong, he was let down by technology or opponents, the teams of many of which, unlike Red Bull, did not stop working on improving the machines, suddenly gained competitive speed. Everything was more prosaic. It was raining over the track. The first time he watered already in the debut of the race, forcing riders to go to the pits for more suitable tires for the wet track. In fact, they expected rain, but the weather forecast showed that it would be short and light. In fact, it was pouring so that there was no chance to wait out the bad weather on the track on slicks without risk. And then it seems that all the trump cards were in the hands of the second issue of Red Bull Sergio Perez. He changed wheels before other tops and was in the lead. But what happened next was only clear evidence that Verstappen as a racer now has no equal. He returned to the track after his pit stop in fourth, 12 seconds behind Perez. But only a few laps passed – and Verstappen became the second, and almost nothing was left of Perez’s breakaway. Well, the rain ended as quickly as it started, the racers went for slicks, and only this did not allow Verstappen to simply trample Perez on the track. He passed him by a pit stop. Yes, there was a little assistance from the team, but even without it, there is no doubt that the Dutchman would certainly have overtaken the Mexican.

Verstappen, having regained the lead, stopped tearing his veins, switched to economy mode, and in a different situation he would have reached the finish line in it. But closer to the end of the stage over the circuit again poured, even stronger than the first time. In such a situation, one mistake could be very costly. But Verstappen did everything brilliantly. Yes, the fans of other teams had a hope that something else could change after the race directorate posted red flags. But even after the restart (and he had to wait 40 minutes), Verstappen did not miss his. There was a moment when Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin), who had a good race, seemed to hint that he would still fight. However, the Spaniard quickly realized that he could not compete with the leader, and was content with second place. Perez crossed the finish line third, but in the final classification he is listed only fourth behind Pierre Gasly (Alpine). The Mexican managed to exceed the speed in the pit lane at the restart, for which he received a five-second penalty.

The victory at Zandvoort was for Verstappen, who is now 138 points ahead of Perez, 11th of the season. In a week, in Monza, he can become the sole owner of the record for a series of victories, but before the end of the championship, which is nine more stages, he can improve his own achievement in terms of the number of races won during the season.

Alexander Petrov