As far as the race to bring an end to the season break goes, the 2023 Dutch GP did not fail to impress. Predictable as the result may have been, with Max winning, the drama and excitement brought to fans’ screens seemed worth the wait.
Following a chaotic 4 laps, the order was shuffled up due to light rain on the track, forcing the grid into the pits. However, Verstappen quickly found himself on the top after a brilliant drive backed by excellent strategy, aiding him in achieving a record-equalizer 9th victory.
Record-tying win for Max Verstappen at Dutch GP
Currently, Sebastian Vettel holds the record for most consecutive race wins with 9 wins in a row. However, this season, Max’s form has been incredible, with him winning 11 out of 13 races already, the last 9 being back-to-back! His win at the 2023 Dutch GP put him on par with Vettel as the holder of this record.
Speaking about this achievement, the Dutchman said, “It was probably one of the more difficult races to win, but yeah, nine in a row is something I never even thought about.”
What probably accentuates this feeling for Max is winning a difficult race at home to equal the record. He acknowledged this, saying “Very happy with that, but I’m in general very happy to win here in front of my home crowd.”
Speaking about his star driver, the Red Bull team boss adds, “I think that Max is in a period of his career where he’s simply untouchable. I don’t think there’s any driver on the grid that would be able to achieve what he’s been doing in that car.”
Perez’s Dutch GP podium hopes dashed by late-race errors and penalty
At the end of the Dutch GP, Perez found himself denied of a podium finish due to a 5-second penalty imposed on his final race time due to a rule infringement on the Mexican’s part by speeding in the pit lane: by 0.8 kph!
What is just as interesting, perhaps, is, that Perez was actually leading the pack at one point: until he was undercut by Max Verstappen.
Later, when he seemed set for a 2nd place finish, two mistakes ended up costing him the race.
The first was an issue on the intermediate tire, where he slid off the track at Turn 1, losing position to Alonso. Following this, he was marked and later penalized for speeding in the pit lane, demoting him from a P3 finish to P4.
On his mistake, he said, “As I was coming into the pits, it was completely flooded at the time. When I braked, I just went straight into the wall.”
Do you think Max will break the record at Monza this weekend? Comment what you think down below!
