Dutch GP Takeaways: Max's greatness, Alonso bounces back, Mercedes miscues

We’re back from the summer break! Following each race weekend this year, theScore’s editors offer their takeaways. We continue the 2023 schedule with the Dutch GP.

More history for Max

The level of dominance that we’re seeing from Max Verstappen over the last two seasons in Formula 1 is almost hard to comprehend.

Verstappen battled the elements to claim his home Dutch GP on Sunday for a record-tying ninth consecutive victory and 11th win in 13 races on the season. He’s won 20 of the last 24 races dating back to last year.

Unbelievable stuff.

“It was probably one of the more difficult races to win,” Verstappen said. “Nine in a row is something I never even thought about.”

Most wins per season

You almost have to roll your eyes whenever Verstappen claims to have been challenged this season. It doesn’t matter where he starts from, the type of track, or how poor the weather is: He simply cannot be beaten. It’s a run of dominance we seldom see at the highest level of sport.

“To match Sebastian (Vettel)’s record of nine straight victories – the fact that we’ve achieved it twice now as a team – is something very, very special to us,” team principal Christian Horner said.

Rather than complain about the lack of excitement we’ve had this season – of course, some more parity would be nice – it might be time to just sit back and appreciate what Verstappen has been able to accomplish. We (hopefully) might not ever see this again.

With nine races to go, it’s hard to picture Verstappen not running the table. The only thing seemingly standing in his way of winning a race would be reliability issues, but even that would be a shock considering how strong Red Bull has been with having its cars finish the race. Verstappen has just one DNF over his last 43 races.

Of the remaining circuits, Verstappen’s claimed victory in Italy, Japan, Austin, Mexico, and Abu Dhabi as recent as last season. He won in Sao Paulo in 2019. He has not, however, won in Singapore, Qatar (there’s only ever been one race at the Lusail International Circuit), or Las Vegas, where F1 will hold an inaugural race this season. Those could all be added to his trophy case in a few months.

Verstappen’s results in remaining GP’s

With a 138-point lead in the drivers’ championship over teammate Sergio Perez, it appears most likely that Verstappen will wrap up his third title in Japan. He’ll be the fifth driver ever to win three drivers’ championships.

There’s going to be so much more winning for Verstappen to come. It’s time to enjoy the ride. – Brandon Wile

Alonso back on track

Fernando Alonso snapped a string of four straight races without a podium finish by securing his spot on the second step in the Netherlands.

After qualifying fifth, Alonso managed to avoid any trouble on the track and kept his head down despite a brutal pit stop on Lap 49 that added six seconds to his time as his crew had difficulty removing a tire.

“It was a very intense race, obviously at the beginning with the wet conditions,” said Alonso, who also picked up the fastest lap point.

The second-place finish was his third of the season and first since Montreal on June 18. It also helped him keep his third-place position in the drivers’ standings, where he sits six points ahead of Lewis Hamilton.

While Alonso has been enjoying a renaissance season at age 42, he still believes he can get back on top of the podium before the end of the year for the first time since 2013.

“We will win one race. We’re getting closer,” he said. – Wile

Gasly part of the solution at Alpine

Otmar Szafnauer is gone from the team for one race and Pierre Gasly puts it on the podium.

While those two things may be unrelated, their connection also can’t necessarily be discounted. Alpine was in shambles on Szafnauer’s watch, collecting double-digit points as a team once in the first 11 races. Heading into Spa before the break and as Szafnauer very publicly had one foot already out the door, Gasly crushed the sprint race by finishing third. And even though the good fortune didn’t carry over into the following Sunday, it was something to build off.

Now, including sprint race formats, Gasly has finished third in two of the last three races. That’s a massive step for a driver who only has a seat at Alpine because Alonso and Oscar Piastri both jilted the team last season.

Excluding sprint races, though, that’s his first podium since Azerbaijan in 2021. That’s a stretch that was very frankly getting much too long for someone who could easily find himself without a guaranteed seat as the team takes on new stewardship and looks for ways to improve. The French driver is certainly a fan favorite and is under contract through at least 2024, but you only get so many chances.

“Feeling so stoked. What a race,” Gasly, who started the rain-interrupted marathon at Zandvoort from 12th, said. “It’s the reward of very hard work.”

He benefitted a lot from his own risky early strategy, pitting on Lap 1 for intermediates as the rain began to threaten the track. And while he was rewarded with a podium despite crossing the line fourth thanks to a five-second penalty to Sergio Perez, nothing should be taken away from Gasly comfortably outpacing the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz.

Alpine is sixth in the constructors’ standings, and the back of the midfield is obviously not where it wanted to be. But building toward 2024 is now the focus, and Gasly seems to be part of the solution. – Michael Bradburn

Mercedes’ strategy decisions burn it

It’s not often that Mercedes get things so wrong, but that certainly was the case in Zandvoort.

A miserable Saturday session resulted in Hamilton qualifying 13th and led to Mercedes starting the seven-time champion as the only driver on medium tires. With the rain coming down early on, the team opted to not pit Hamilton right away for intermediates, and when it eventually did, it was too late, as he came out of the pit in last place.

“As a team, we made the wrong decision. … We paid the price for that, but then we came out last,” Hamilton said.

“We stayed out catastrophically too long,” team principal Toto Wolff added.

Aided by a late safety car, Hamilton was able to salvage the day by finishing sixth but believes he could’ve challenged the Red Bulls for a top-two finish had Mercedes nailed the start.

“Not saying that we would beat them,” Hamilton conceded.

As bad as Hamilton’s day was, George Russell’s was even worse.

Starting third on the grid, Russell was also a victim of poor strategy calls and could be heard complaining over team radio as his car slipped further down saying that he was expecting to be on the podium. Russell said that the team predicted it would initially only rain for a few minutes, but the poor weather extended much longer. The team thought it could brave the conditions on its current tires but ended up severely butchering the call.

In the end, Russell finished 17th after suffering a late puncture on Lap 67.

“Bit of a shame of an afternoon. … The decisions and the weather went against us,” Russell said.

He added, “A big missed opportunity.” – Wile

Checo stung by Red Bull strategy, own gaffes

Perez is generally viewed as the only real threat to beat Verstappen because at least he has the same machinery. That makes some of Red Bull’s early strategy calls so tough for fans rooting against the historically great Dutch driver.

Checo was one of the first drivers to pit in the early going, putting intermediates on with rain looming. That quick decision while starting the race from seventh shot him into an early race lead. And once a Red Bull is leading, it’s notably difficult to wrestle it from them.

However, a handful of laps later, Verstappen undercut Perez by pitting one lap earlier than expected to get new slicks right before his teammate. Ultimately, that strategic call was the end of the Mexican’s hope of standing atop the podium.

Of course, it didn’t help that Perez went off track as the downpour started later in the race, came into the pits as the red flags seemed imminent, and got pipped off the podium by a five-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane.

And that’s ultimately what this comes down to. In order to beat Verstappen, Perez simply has to be perfect. But he’s made too many mistakes this year to get beneficial strategy calls while his teammate chases down historic streaks.

Even Wolff pointed out the “odd” and “bizarre” pace difference between Verstappen and Perez in qualifying. Being the second driver on Verstappen’s team presents unique challenges. Checo seemed up to them for a while, but he’s creating new ones for himself – and that’s not his path to victory. – Bradburn

With Monza on deck, Ferrari needs any good news

Ferrari’s motivation for performing well in the Netherlands was simple: have something positive to talk about at Monza next weekend.

Instead, Charles Leclerc didn’t finish, while Sainz was outpaced down the stretch by Gasly. That’ll certainly ensure the Tifosi will be unforgiving upon Ferrari’s arrival at their home race.

And, once again, it will be worsened by the team being simply unable to go an entire grand prix without having at least one pit stop where Yakety Sax wouldn’t make a good soundtrack.

To his credit, Leclerc was actually somewhat forgiving of the strategic call and restrained himself from making the team look worse.

“Even if the guys weren’t ready, this was the right call,” Leclerc said. “We gained more than what we lost. I don’t regret that call, but we could have optimized it.”

And, to be fair, this year’s Dutch GP was a marathon, with multiple drivers noting how challenging the changing conditions and evolving track were. That also takes a toll on the pit crew.

As for the driver who did finish the race, Sainz noted that he held on as best as he could given that his Ferrari’s pace was simply lacking.

“Our pace was nowhere near (P5),” Sainz noted after surrendering fourth to Gasly in the late stages of the race.

That’s also not something you necessarily want to hear if you’re a Ferrari fan, but it is positive that both drivers seem to be trying to get the most out of the car. The car is just simply not good enough, and the Prancing Horses seem destined to finish fourth in the constructors’ – so long as they can hold off a surging McLaren. – Bradburn

Poor luck for Ricciardo

Three races into his F1 return, and Daniel Ricciardo is sidelined indefinitely.

The Aussie broke his hand during a crash in practice Friday trying to avoid a collision with Oscar Piastri.

Ricciardo’s injury could have serious ramifications for his F1 future. With only nine races remaining after the Dutch GP, his window to win a seat for next season is small, and his injury opens the door for 21-year-old Liam Lawson, who finished 13th on Sunday, ahead of Valtteri Bottas, Yuki Tsunoda, Kevin Magnussen, Russell, and three others who DNF.

Ricciardo finished 13th during his AlphaTauri debut drive in Hungary and fell to 16th in the follow-up race in Belgium. It was always going to take time to get up to speed, but now the pressure really mounts.

“He’s just taken a bunch of time off, just got his mojo back, back into it, now he’s on the bench again,” Horner said, according to ESPN’ Nate Saunders. “That was his frustration.”

Horner suggested Ricciardo could be back for Singapore in mid-September but also cautioned that’s far from a certainty.

“A shame for him, but I am sure that at the back of his mind, he has got Singapore as a target. But then again, Singapore is probably one of the toughest circuits on the calendar,” Horner said. “Nature will take its course.” – Wile