The F1 circus returns from the summer break and it was a Dutch party as Max Verstappen wins in front of his home crowd, where the rain didn’t dampen the crowd or the action. But to go deeper than just the race result our summary covers the 2023 Dutch Grand Prix Result for the big event and so much more.
This 2023 Dutch Grand Prix Result, Lap by Lap, Review & Summary gives you just enough to catch up with. With just a hint of cynicism, bias, opinion and colour. The perfect bite sized review for those who couldn’t be bothered, or don’t have enough time.
READ MORE:
2023 Latest Grand Prix Driver Ratings
2023 Dutch Grand Prix Preview
Our 2023 F1 Calendar & Results
Five Ways To Save Formula 1
Five Great F1 Comebacks
2023 Dutch Grand Prix Result Main Race Summary
Didn’t see the race live? Don’t have time to watch the whole race? Well here are the top laps where stuff happened. We write these live as we go, sort of like a minute by minute for the football, but marginally more interesting.
Setting the scene – Another wet qualifying, but again Max Verstappen takes pole position. But it is a harder battle than usual with the McLarens giving him the biggest challenge, and the highlight is Lando Norris on the front row. Alex Albon was a star, qualifying 4th. Lewis Hamilton missed Q3 and starts in the midfield.
And what better way to warm up for a Grand Prix than Andre Rieu. What a mix for Roy & HG to have F1, Max Verstappen and Andre Rieu together at least.
By the way, rain is possible, and looking more likely, just to spice up the race. Potentially 20 minutes into the race. Yes please.
GRID (Starting Order) – VER NOR RUS ALB ALO SAI PER PIA LEC SAR – HAM (12th)
Lap 1 – Max Verstappen and Lando Norris get off the line well and stay 1-2, behind them Fernando Alonso gains two positions by turn three getting in front of George Russell and Alex Albon. The cars all behave themselves going around the first part of the lap. But the rain is here before the lap is finished and it is quite hard in spots with spray being thrown up. Only a handful of drivers decide to pit – Sergio Perez, Charles Leclerc and Pierre Gasly the highest runners to pit. And can you believe it, but Ferrari don’t have tyres ready for Leclerc’s pit stop. They truly are the clowns of strategy.
ORDER – VER NOR ALO RUS ALB SAI PIA STR BOT HUL
Lap 2 – The track is getting wetter and Alonso has overtaken Lando Norris without us seeing. Sergio Perez’s pitstop seems to be paying off, as he was seven seconds quicker in one sector than Verstappen. But the rain is easing now. That doesn’t stop Max Verstappen pitting from the lead, joined by Fernando Alonso, leaving Lando Norris in front of a Grand Prix again.
Lap 3 – Norris’ lead is short-lived as George Russell overtakes him early on lap three. But Russell’s lead is also short-lived as Sergio Perez glides past halfway around the same lap. So much happening in such a short space of time. It’s hard to keep up with all the position changes, so we’ll offer up the order for now.
ORDER – PER RUS ZHO GAS VER LEC ALO ALB PIA NOR
Lap 4 – Lando Norris pits, and this might be too late as the earlier pitting drivers are massively quicker, and the rain is stopping. Guanyu Zhou is second proving the point.
Lap 6 – Max Verstappen overtakes Pierre Gasly for third on turn three. A lap later Verstappen gets past Zhou for second at the same spot. Which leaves him 11 seconds behind his team mate in first.
Lap 7 – Logan Sargeant, currently last, is lapped after just seven laps. Pointing out just how bad the strategy was to stay out on dry tyres. For now. Oh, and Max Verstappen was over four seconds a lap quicker than Perez.
ORDER – PER VER ZHO GAS ALO LEC SAI TSU MAG OCO
Lap 9 – Ferraris swap Leclerc and Sainz around in 6th/7th is a rare piece of strategy smarts. Gasly hounds Zhou for third place, but Alonso is lurking behind both of them.
Lap 10 – Oscar Piastri has pit for soft dry tyres and is quicker almost straight away. Lewis Hamilton changes tyres too along with Kevin Magnussen. Same with Zhou. And Alonso. Only the top four are on wet tyres.
Lap 12 – Three of the top four (not Perez) all pit for dry tyres. Ferrari also change Leclerc’s nose. Sergio Perez pits a lap later and loses the lead to Max Verstappen. Did Perez pitting a lap later mean that Red Bull purposely advantage their lead driver Max Verstappen. Perez asks the question over the radio. And is given a definitive yes. To be fair, given the season’s points tally, and Perez’s run of patchy / ordinary form at times, it is fair enough.
Lap 14 – Max Verstappen has a comfortable lead over Perez, and behind is a moving feast. And….there appears to be a few spots of ran again.
ORDER – VER PER ALO GAS SAI ZHO MAG PIA TSU OCO
Lap 16 – Oscar Piastri pits for new tyres, just as a Yellow Flag warning signals for Sector 2. This could be perfect timing for Oscar Piastri. Or not. And the yellow flag you ask? It was Logan Sargeant binning it at a decent speed. Shame for the American who threatened to break out of his regular mediocrity for 2023 by making Q3 in qualifying. Pierre Gasly is given a five second penalty for speeding in the pit lane. That’s reasonably dumb, and a shame for him as he is currently fourth.
SAFETY CAR DEPLOYED
ORDER – VER PER ALO GAS SAI ZHO MAG ALB OCO TSU
Interesting to note that Alex Albon hasn’t pitted for tyres at all yet. Amazing.
SAFETY CAR ENDS
Lap 22 – Cars threaten to overtake each other in the top five straight after the Safety Car disappears, but stay as is. Kevin Magnussen falls down the order as the biggest losers of the restart. Alex Albon is a driver on the move.
Lap 26 – Oscar Piastri overtakes two cars in two laps. Lewis Hamilton makes an passing move a position ahead. Max Verstappen sets fastest lap of the race (for now) to eliminate any fun for competitors.
ORDER – VER PER ALO GAS SAI ALB OCO ZHO TSU MAG
Lap 30 – In tales of disappointment, Kevin Magnussen seems to be getting overtaken every second lap. And Charles Leclerc is down in 15th and being caught by 16th placed Nico Hulkenberg. Tsunoda overtakes Zhou for 8th. In tales of delight, Liam Lawson is doing a decent job in the Alpha Tauri. He may be last but is right on the tail of the cars in front. A train developing behind…Leclerc.
Lap 32 – A little pic of the radar on the pitlane screen shows rain is coming. Confirmed by radio. More action awaits, if you need more.
Lap 38 – Still no rain, but Guanyu Zhou decides to pit anyway. He drops to lower than Leclerc. Meanwhile at the front Max Verstappen is six seconds up the road.
Lap 42 – Ferrari put Charles Leclerc out of his misery and retire him due to damage on the car, which explains why he was so crap.
Lap 47 – The last few laps are about pitstops with Norris, Perez, Gasly, Ocon, Piastri and Hamilton all pitting, but looming large are some very dark clouds in the distance, and the wind direction is right for F1 chaos. So maybe not the time to change?
ORDER – VER ALO PER TSU SAI GAS RUS ALB HUL OCO
Lap 49 – All change for the podium as Carlos Sainz overtakes Yuki Tsunoda, and Fenando Alonso pit but there was an issue and it was a slow enough stop for Alonso to fall behind Sainz and Tsunoda for third. Although it doesn’t take long for Alonso to pass Tsunoda. Nor Gasly to go past too. And Alonso to get past Sainz for third. Oh, and Max Verstappen pitted. But that doesn’t matter unless Red Bull stuff the pit stop. Which they didn’t and don’t in general.
Lap 54 – Team radio advises Max Verstappen that rain is coming ten laps from the end and could be substantial.
Lap 60 – A moment worth watching is George Russell nearly losing it at high speed in front of his team mate. Doomsday rain predictions come thick and fast. Talking of thick and fast, Pierre Gasly passes Carlos Sainz for fourth.
Lap 61 – The rain is here….Sergio Perez has pit. As has Gasly, Sainz, Mercedes and McLarens.
Lap 62 – Max Verstappen and Fernando Alonso pit a lap later, along with everyone else. Worth noting, Esteban Ocon is the only driver on the full wets, and the rain is due to get heavier. Interesting indeed.
ORDER – VER PER ALO GAS SAI HAM NOR ALB RUS PIA
Lap 63 – Sergio Perez slides off at turn one and loses second to Alonso. And the rain is teeming down. Ocon could be laughing just half a lap after moaning on his radio that the full wet was a bad idea. Zhou Guanyu is into the barriers at turn one at pace.
VIRTUAL SAFETY CAR DEPLOYED
Lap 64 – Max Verstappen pits for full wet and keeps lead. Sergio Perez enters the pit lane to change to full wets just as……
RED FLAG – RACE STOPPED
ORDER – VER ALO GAS SAI HAM PER NOR RUS ALB PIA
The Red Bull decision to pit Perez seems strange and almost unfair as there was no point after the Zhou crash with all the rain it was highly likely to red flag the race.
Not all is lost as the order is switched back to the lap prior when Perez was third.
And it’s a long time at this late an hour for a Red Flag restart.
RESTARTED ORDER – VER ALO PER GAS SAI HAM NOR RUS ALB PIA
RACE RESTARTS UNDER SAFETY CAR
Lap 67 – Race restarts for real as a rolling start. Max Verstappen banks up the field and we are away for a five lap burst. Alonso is harassing Max Verstappen. Sergio Perez gets a five second penalty for speeding in the pitlane, making that stop just before the red flag plenty useless. George Russell makes his way to the pitlane, dropping out of the points with a puncture.
ORDER – VER ALO PER GAS SAI HAM NOR ALB PIA OCO
Lap 70 – Three laps to go, and to be honest it is a disappointing mix of competent driving and no overtaking.
Final Lap – Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz almost touch for 5th, but they don’t and Hamilton can’t manage to pass Sainz either. But at the front Max Verstappen defies all the chaos to win again, and it is a ninth win in a row. Fernando Alonso comes second in his best race in a while and Pierre Gasly steals third from Sergio Perez as his five second penalty is applied.
FINAL ORDER – VER ALO GAS PER SAI HAM NOR ALB PIA OCO
Here we go through the field and highlight the very best (Great) of the race, and the plodders, the over-ambitious, the out of luck, and simply hopeless (Grape).
These points get added to our Driver of the Season scores. Five points for a great nomination, and -5 for the worst or grapest driver in the pack. Then it is +2 /-2 for honourable or dishonourable mentions.
THE GREAT-EST – MAX VERSTAPPEN
A little more action than he is used to this season, but he’s also used to winning which he does again. A win in front of his home crowd, and a record equaling winning streak of nine wins.
HONOURABLE MENTIONS
FERNANDO ALONSO – A return to the best of the rest. And he looked quick and feisty as ever. Gave Vestappen plenty after the red flag.
PIERRE GASLY – A welcome return to good form, and he seems to enjoy the track after a fourth place in 2021 in an Alpha Tauri. An unexpected podium it has to be said.
CARLOS SAINZ – A decent day out for the Ferrari driver, and avoided the wheel-less pit stops and unreliability of the other Ferrari.
ALEX ALBON – Fourth on the grid, strong through Free Practice, ran strongly in the race, earned some points. Another quality weekend for Albon.
YUKI TSUNODA – Another good race for the Alpha Tauri driver, who ran in the top ten for a chunk of the race. A damaged front wing reduced his reward, but not the effort.
LIAM LAWSON – Considering he got next to no notice regarding driving an F1 car at a race weekend, and that qualifying was wet, he did a great job on debut, and certainly didn’t embarrass himself.
THE GRAPE-EST – DANIEL RICCIARDO
Broke his hand in qualifying just three races since his F1 return. Out of the next race, handing another driver an opportunity to snavel a 2024 drive ahead of him. Doing all this while trying to avoid crashing into his fellow countryman’s Piastri’s crash at turn three.
DIS-HONOURABLE MENTIONS
LOGAN SARGEANT – Made Q3 in qualifying in a timely boost for the confidence. Which was squashed when he was dead last in the race after being on the wrong strategy for tyres, and then spun off into the barriers.
CHARLES LECLERC – Pit stop without tyres? Check. Car not great and eventually retired due to damaged floor, which appears to be why he could barely keep in the front of the backmarkers.
LANDO NORRIS – After qualifying second, anything off the podium was a disappointment. He raced well, but poor initial strategy hurt him. If they do a better job early a podium was a certainty.
GEORGE RUSSELL – Race ruined at the end with a puncture, and was reasonably obscure before then.
Was it a good race, loads of action, tense, or just a big, fat, snooze-fest.
We rate the big race itself so we know which races to go back and watch in the off season or one to simply remember the winner for the post season quiz nights.
SEASON IMPORTANCE – 3 / 10
Max Verstappen was already a mile in front of the Driver’s Championship, and now he’s a mile and a bit in front. We guess the win means the potential race he could win the Championship would be a new record. The Red Bull 1-2 gives other teams the finger for any significant battle for the Constructors Championship too.
ON TRACK ACTION – 9/10
Almost more action in the first five laps than a lot of races won by Max Verstappen this season. It didn’t need a large amount of rain. Just any amount. The middle of the race was a little dull, hence why a perfect ten wasn’t handed out.
ENDING 7 / 10
A big rain storm dump a tonne of water onto the track to liven things up. Sadly it was too much as cars went off too easily and then Zhou’s crash brought out the red flag. Meaning a late finish for those not in Europe was even later.
OVERALL RATING 19 / 30
Rain brings joy, if not a new winner. Although the red flag at the end was a real mood killer for a long time.
2023 SEASON RATINGS SO FAR
Want to know what we thought of previous races? Or which ones to to back and watch?
R1 – Bahrain Grand Prix – 15/30
R2 – Saudi Arabian Grand Prix – 10/30
R3 – Australian Grand Prix – 23/30
R4 – Azerbaijan Grand Prix – 8/30
R5 – Miami Grand Prix – 20/30
R6 – Monaco Grand Prix – 23/30
R7 – Spanish Grand Prix – 15/30
R8 – Canadian Grand Prix – 12/30
R9 – Austrian Grand Prix – 18/30
R10 – British Grand Prix – 15/30
R11 – Hungarian Grand Prix – 15/30
R12 – Belgian Grand Prix – 14/30
2023 F1 Season Power Rankings
Stay tuned for our Power Rankings from the race soon as it is currently being calculated and will be ready on Monday.
Who not check out last season: Our 2022 F1 Season Driver Ratings
