Photo by Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images
How about some love for Pierre Gasly as well?
Max Verstappen has made Formula 1 history.
Despite tricky weather conditions, and a field that threw everything they could at him, the Red Bull driver secured his ninth-straight win in the Dutch Grand Prix, tying the mark set by Sebastian Vettel back in 2013.
That certainly make him one of the winners of the weekend, but who else joins him?
Winner: Pierre Gasly
Exactly what the doctor ordered for Alpine.
In a season of turmoil, and after a difficult qualifying session for the team, Pierre Gasly turned in a masterful performance to secure a third-place finish, for his first podium since the 2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
The late-stage restart saw Sergio Pérez start in third, ahead of Gasly. But with the Red Bull driver given a five-second penalty for speeding on pit lane, Gasly just needed to stay within five second of Pérez to secure just his fourth F1 podium, and his first with Alpine.
Making the drive even more impressive? Gasly had to overcome a five-second penalty of his own, handed down earlier in the race.
Given everything that the team has endured this season — from ownership changes, management changes, and even some bad luck along the way — this was a superb drive for Gasly, and Alpine. He started 12th and found a way to the podium, and if his celebrations in the cockpit, and with his team, are any indication the result meant the world to them.
Loser: Logan Sargeant
On Saturday Logan Sargeant became the first American since Michael Andretti to start in the top ten of a F1 race.
While Andretti went on to secure a podium in the 1993 Italian Grand Prix, finishing third, Sargeant saw his day end early. The American driver slid off the track and into the wall in sector 2, bringing his race to a close on just Lap 16:
The day had already started to go away from him, as Sargeant was one of the drivers who stayed out in the wet conditions on the soft compound. That saw him shuffle back to 20th after starting 10th. But with Sargeant facing increasing pressure to perform to secure his seat for 2024, this was not the day he wanted.
Winner: Fernando Alonso
It was a rather quiet Saturday for Alonso, who qualified in fifth but was overshadowed by the masterful results in qualifying from Alex Albon and some other drivers. But as he noted after the race, the car was “competitive,” on Sunday, and he completely trusted the car.
The result? Alonso’s first podium since the Canadian Grand Prix earlier this season, as he finished second behind Verstappen. He was unable to chase down the Red Bull driver after the late-stage restart, but the second place finish will go a long way towards Aston Martin righting the ship. After their strong start to the season, the team had faded in recent weeks as McLaren and others seemed to catch them.
This is just what he, and the team, needed.
Loser: Charles Leclerc
If Saturday was bad for Leclerc, Sunday was a disaster.
First came a classic Ferrari blunder during the early pit stop to make the switch to intermediates. The teams was not ready, and Leclerc and to wait a moment for the front left tyre to get bolted on as it was carried over from the garage.
Then Leclerc’s SF-23 picked up some front-wing damage early in the race, losing the right end plate. That required another pit stop on Lap 12 to switch out the assembly.
By the midway point of the race, Leclerc was sliding back through the field, and at one point he even saw Liam Lawson — making his first F1 start — overtake him on the track. With Leclerc battling with Lawson for P15, the commentary box at F1TV started thinking about a retirement for the Ferrari driver.
That message came from his box a few minutes later, for his first retirement since Australia. “41 laps of pain” is how F1TV described his day.
Winner: Lewis Hamilton
It was a shocking result on Saturday when Hamilton failed to advance out of Q2, forcing him to start the Grand Prix in 13th place.
On a track like Zandvoort, where overtaking comes at a premium, it was hard to see Hamilton salvaging much of anything from the Grand Prix itself. But he managed to do just that, pushing his W14 up into the points for a hard-earned P6.
One can say that declaring Hamilton one of the “winners” of the weekend for a sixth-place finish speaks to just how much the game has changed for Mercedes. But given where he started, and how the conditions made life tough for the drivers, this was a very good result for him, and Mercedes.
Loser: Zhou Guanyu
Similar to Sargeant, Zhou is another driver fighting for his F1 future.
Similar to Sargeant, the possibilities that were in front of him were undone in the race itself.
At one point Zhou was running at the front of the field, all the way up in P2. While that was a bit of a mirage given how the field was shuffled at the start of the race, he remained in the fight for points throughout most of the day.
But when the second bout of rain hit in the later stages of the race, Zhou slid off the track at Turn 1 and straight into the barrier. It was a hard hit, and while Zhou did a good job to get his hands off the wheel — and avoid a potential injury like Daniel Ricciardo endured earlier this week — it drew his day to a close.
And with it, a chance to perhaps make something out of the Grand Prix.
Winner: Alex Albon
More accurately, this should read “Alex Albon’s soft tyres.”
Albon started the race fourth after a masterful qualifying session, and when the rain came early he was one of the few drivers who decided to stay out on slicks. That saw him shuffle to the back of the field, as driver who made the switch to intermediates found life much easier in the wet conditions.
At the time, it appeared that Williams had made a poor strategic decision.
However, as the track dried out and teams made the switch back to slicks, Albon forged on, managing to survive on that set of softs for over 40 laps, well beyond the expected life of those tyres.
In the end, that gave Albon a chance to salvage something from the day, and he did just that, with an eighth-place finish. With both Haas struggling on the day, that pushes them into seventh place alone in the Constructors’ standings.
A far cry from where they were a season ago.
Winner: Max Verstappen
The F1 gods threw everything they could at him this week, from drivers in his rear-view mirror to tricky weather conditions.
And he answered every challenge, as he does so often.
The result? His ninth-straight victory, and some F1 history. Verstappen now stands alongside Sebastian Vettel with nine-straight wins, the all-time mark in F1.
Up next? Monza and the Cathedral of Speed. Will anyone doubt that he sets the record with ten-straight victories next weekend? Probably not.
