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Record Equaling Ninth Win In a Row For Max Verstappen At Dutch Grand Prix

By Robert Haile

In a chaotic wet Dutch Grand Prix, Max Verstappen claimed his ninth victory in a row to equal Sebastian Vettel’s record.

The Dutch two-time world champion had to manage two separate bouts of rain and restarts after a problematic start where he dropped back to fourth to claim his third Dutch Grand Prix victory in a row.

Championship leader Verstappen said: “Incredible. They didn’t make it easy for us with the weather to make all the right calls. I’m incredibly proud. I’m going to enjoy this weekend. It’s always tough. The pressure is on to perform and I’m very happy to win here.”

Max Verstappen of the Netherlands driving the (1) Oracle Red Bull Racing RB19 leads Fernando Alonso of Spain driving the (14) Aston Martin AMR23 Mercedes and Sergio Perez of Mexico driving the (11) Oracle Red Bull Racing RB19 at the restart during the F1 Grand Prix of The Netherlands at Circuit Zandvoort on August 27, 2023 in Zandvoort, Netherlands. – Photo by Lars Baron/Getty Images

Aston Martin returned to the podium as Fernando Alonso took second with Sergio Perez finishing third but lost the podium place due to a five-second penalty giving Alpine’s Pierre Gasly third.

Perez finished fourth ahead of Ferrari’s only finisher, Carlos Sainz, in fifth.

After an awful qualifying Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton moved up to sixth as McLaren’s Lando Norris finished seventh after missing out on pole position.

Alex Albon took eighth for Williams after an impressive qualifying as Oscar Piastri’s McLaren took ninth as Esteban Ocon completed the points scoring with a tenth place finish for Alpine.

Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll missed out in eleventh with Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg and AlphaTauri’s stand-in Liam Lawson in thirteenth.

Kevin Magnussen’s Haas came home in fourteenth with Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas in fifteenth as Yuki Tsunoda, also picked up a five-second penalty for causing a collision, finished sixteenth with George Russell’s Mercedes the last of the runners.

Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Williams’ Logan Sargeant all retired from the race with Guanyu and Sargeant crashing out.

Max Verstappen’s lead is increased to 138 points ahead of his teammate Sergio Perez in the Drivers Championship with Fernando Alonso 33 points off Perez in third.

The Constructors Championship has Red Bull 285 points ahead of Mercedes in second with Aston Martin 40 points behind them in third with Ferrari sitting in fourth, 14 points behind.

Formula One makes its second trip to Italy and the Autodromo Nazionale Monza for the Italian Grand Prix on September 1-3.

Drivers Championship

  1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) – 339
  2. Sergio Perez (Red Bull) – 201
  3. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) – 168
  4. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) – 156
  5. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) – 102
  6. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) – 99
  7. George Russell (Mercedes) – 99
  8. Lando Norris (McLaren) – 75
  9. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) – 47
  10. Pierre Gasly (Alpine) – 37
  11. Esteban Ocon (Alpine) – 36
  12. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) – 36
  13. Alex Albon (Williams) – 15
  14. Nico Hulkenberg (Haas) – 9
  15. Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo) – 5
  16. Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo) – 4
  17. Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri) – 3
  18. Kevin Magnussen (Haas) – 2
  19. Logan Sargent (Williams) – 0
  20. Nyck De Vries (AlphaTauri) – 0
  21. Daniel Ricciardo (AlphaTauri) – 0
  22. Liam Lawson (AlphaTauri) – 0

Constructors Championship

  1. Red Bull – 540
  2. Mercedes – 255
  3. Aston Martin – 215
  4. Ferrari – 201
  5. McLaren – 111
  6. Alpine – 73
  7. Williams – 15
  8. Haas – 11
  9. Alfa Romeo – 9
  10. AlphaTauri – 3