2023 Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix highlights

 

Introduction

 

Max Verstappen converted pole position into victory at the 2023 Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix for the third year in a row, navigating an action-packed, rain-hit encounter to take the chequered flag ahead of Fernando Alonso and Pierre Gasly and draw level with Sebastian Vettel on nine successive F1 wins.

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Mario Isola, Motorsport Director, Pirelli:

It was a very spectacular race, with several changes in the weather, which made life difficult for the teams when it came to deciding on which tyre to use and when to pit. From a purely technical point of view, apart from the literally colourful sight of having all five of our tyre colours being used, two aspects are worth highlighting. As expected over the course of the weekend, the cooler temperatures favoured the use of the Softs, clearly the best tyre in the dry, even coping well in wet conditions, as demonstrated by the drivers who chose not to pit in the opening laps when it started to rain. The compound most affected was the Hard, but the long stint from Russell, who would probably have run to the chequered flag if the rain had not returned, demonstrated that this tyre was not totally unsuited to the conditions. The second point to underline concerns the Intermediate, which once again proved to be competitive with either a little or a lot of water on the track.

Finally, there are various people I wish to congratulate: Max Verstappen for his ninth consecutive win, the Zandvoort spectators who once again put on an amazing show in the grandstands, their enthusiasm so contagious despite the bad weather, Fernando Alonso back on the podium, as he had been doing regularly at the start of the season, at one point even looking to challenge for the win and to Pierre Gasly who produced a really great result.

How the race was won from the tyre point of view:

The rain was the main factor that affected the outcome of the race. Everyone started on dry tyres, Hamilton on the Medium, with everyone else on the Soft. But right from the opening lap the rain appeared, forcing almost the entire field to pit for Intermediates. However, some brave drivers – the Williams duo, Hulkenberg, Bottas and Piastri – opted to stay out, banking on the rain not lasting long. Indeed, after about ten laps, the track was again suitable for slicks so that in the space of 12 laps everyone was back on dry tyres. In these very cool conditions, the Soft was clearly the best compound and was used for as long as possible, as can be seen from the fact that Tsunoda did 50 laps with one set and Albon 44.

Only one driver, Russell, opted for the Hard tyre, finding himself down the back end of the pack after the Safety Car came out following Sargeant going off track. The Mercedes driver would probably have finished the race on that set of C1s if the rain had not decided to shake things once again, falling even more heavily than at the start of the race. Once again, all the drivers began to pit, and with the rain really coming down, some even opted to fit the extreme wet, Ocon being the first to do this, followed by the two Red Bull drivers. The race was red-flagged after Zhou went off, so the question of how these tyres would have performed in these conditions went unanswered. In the closing stages after the restart, the intermediate proved it was a valid choice even with a lot of water on a track with a temperature of only 20° C.

What’s next?

Next weekend, Monza hosts the Formula 1 Pirelli Gran Premio d’Italia 2023. Tyres for the Italian round, from 1 to 3 September, will be the C3, C4 and C5 compound, and for a second time after it was first tried in Hungary, the Alternative Tyre Allocation will be applied. Pirelli is the Italian Grand Prix title sponsor, its home race, as its headquarters are just a few kilometres from the circuit in the Bicocca district of Milan.

2023 Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Country	Team	Time	Points	Overall
1.	1	Max Verstappen	Netherlands	Red Bull Racing	2:24:04.411	25	339
2.	14	Fernando Alonso	Spain	Aston Martin F1 Team	+3.744s	19	168
3.	10	Pierre Gasly	France	Alpine F1 Team	+7.058s	15	37
4.	11	Sergio Perez	Mexico	Red Bull Racing	+10.068s	12	201
5.	55	Carlos Sainz	Spain	Scuderia Ferrari	+12.541s	10	102
6.	44	Lewis Hamilton	Great Britain	Mercedes-AMG Petronas	+13.209s	8	156
7.	4	Lando Norris	Great Britain	Mclaren Racing	+13.232s	6	75
8.	45	Alexander Albon	Thailand	Williams Racing	+15.155s	4	15
9.	81	Oscar Piastri	Australia	McLaren Racing	+16.580s	2	34
10.	31	Esteban Ocon	France	Alpine F1 Team	+18.346s	1	36
11.	18	Lance Stroll	Canada	Aston Martin F1 Team	+20.087s	0	47
12.	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Germany	Haas F1 Team	+20.840s	0	9
13.	40	Liam Lawson	New Zealand	Scuderia AlphaTauri	+26.147s	0	0
14.	20	Kevin Magnussen	Denmark	Haas F1 Team	+26.410s	0	2
15.	77	Valtteri Bottas	Finland	Alfa Romeo F1 Team	+27.388s	0	5
16.	22	Yuki Tsunoda	Japan	Scuderia AlphaTauri	+29.893s	0	3
17.	63	George Russell	Great Britain	Mercedes-AMG Petronas	+55.754s	0	99
18.	24	Zhou Guanyu	China	Alfa Romeo F1 Team	DNF	0	4
19.	16	Charles Leclerc	Monaco	Scuderia Ferrari	DNF	0	99
20.	2	Logan Sargeant	USA	Williams Racing	DNF	0	0

2023 Constructor Standings

Pos	Picture	Team	Points
1.		Red Bull Racing	860
2.		Mercedes-AMG F1 Team	409
3.		Scuderia Ferrari	406
4.		McLaren Racing	302
5.		Aston Martin F1 Team	280
6.		Alpine F1 Team	120
7.		Williams Racing	28
8.		Scuderia AlphaTauri	25
8.		Alfa Romeo Racing	16
10.		Haas F1 Team	12

Here are the team-by-team highlights:

Red Bull Racing

 

Max Verstappen continued his march towards another world championship as he cruised to his eighth straight victory, while teammate Sergio Pérez finished in second to make it a fifth one-two of the season for Oracle Red Bull Racing at the 2023 Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix.

The Oracle Red Bull Racing driver mastered the wet conditions as he finished ahead of the Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso and Pierre Gasley in the Alpine, securing an 11th victory of the season and equalling Sebastian Vettel’s record of nine wins in a row.

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.”

While it was another dominant display from Verstappen, team-mate Sergio Pérez had an up-and-down race, leading for a short period before dropping back, receiving a five-second penalty, and eventually finishing in fourth place.

Max Verstappen, Driver, Red Bull Racing

I feel extremely proud to win the Dutch Grand Prix again, and to win nine in a row is a massive achievement. I never thought it would be possible. It’s always amazing to be here, and the National anthem before the Grand Prix really gave me goosebumps. Of course, there were a lot of hectic moments today with the rain coming in, the race was all about trying to stay calm and make the right calls at the right time, and we did just that. There was a fantastic atmosphere here all weekend, and being at my home Grand Prix with all the fans makes this win feel even more special. I think everyone was completely soaked after that downpour, and still, they were listening and dancing to music and having a great time.

Sergio Pérez, Driver, Red Bull Racing:

It was such an unfortunate afternoon in the end, especially with the later calls. We got the first one right, and then when we boxed for the inters, things weren’t ready because I had to make such a late call due to the rain suddenly falling. When I was coming into the pitlane to box for inters, it was completely flooded. I lost traction in the car and ended up clipping the wall and sliding a little, which put me over the speed limit. You know a lot more after the race, but overall it’s an okay result, given the chaos of the afternoon. The Team always know the wider picture when they are making decisions in the race, and I don’t have all the information in the car; that’s why we have strategists, and everyone makes the calls in the interest of the Team. We had a good pace and definitely deserved a podium today, so it’s a shame we didn’t make it.

CHRISTIAN HORNER – CEO and Team Principal, Red Bull Racing

The rain was on and off throughout the whole race, but Max did an amazing job in the tricky conditions. He had an incredible drive having to come back through the field after his first pit stop, with some drivers staying out on the slick tyre and others pitting for the inters. Once everything settled down, he was able to build a lead and had everything under control. We knew the heavy rain towards the end was coming, and when you’re in first place, you have everything to lose, but Max had a great restart and secured first place with an excellent drive.

Checo made great progress coming from seventh on the grid and made a superb call to switch to the interns towards the start. The Team reacted super-fast, and he took the lead of the race. During the next cycle of pit stops, as the track started to dry, we had to bring Max in to avoid getting undercut. Sometimes you have to make big calls for the Team, and that was one of those moments. It’s a shame we couldn’t have Checo up on the podium following his penalty, as he deserved to be there, but with a race with so much drama and jeopardy, there are always things that we can reflect on.

In all, the Team had a very strong day, and for Max to match Seb Vettel’s record of nine consecutive victories, it’s incredible. The fact that we’ve achieved it twice now as a Team is something very special to us.

Red Bull Racing Honda best pictures:

Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team

 

A dramatic afternoon in Zandvoort saw the team drop to the back, recover to the top ten – and then finish in the points with a single car after a chaotic wet sprint to the flag.

Lewis Hamilton

It was a non-eventful race for me today, with not a huge amount going on. I was unable to keep up with the cars ahead of me and was struggling in the beginning. We know the rear end is our biggest issue, and then we had some bouncing this weekend. In the end, I was keeping the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc within a few seconds, but I couldn’t get any closer. It was nice to have the gap to the car behind and to attempt to go for the fastest lap. It was gusty out there today, and difficult to keep it on the track, but my lap was decent.

We know we have more work to do to close the gap to the front. We’ll work with all the data we’ve accumulated and try to figure out what we can do for the next race after the summer break.

George Russell

That was a tough one today – I went into the race expecting to fight for a podium, and I ended up P17. We were expecting the rain to stay for just a few minutes, and it ended up being close to ten. It was ready for inters, but I thought I could brave it out for another lap or two if it was only going to be short – but that’s not what happened. We’d rather have a fast car and a bad day than the opposite, but it was a missed opportunity today. In the end, I was side by side with Lando into the chicane at the end of the lap. Then we had contact. It cost a few points, and it was a shame because we had such a fast car today, and then our decisions on the weather went against us. But there are still positives to take away from the base pace we showed. We knew this circuit could be strong for us – and looking at Monza, it’s a totally different beast. We will clear our heads, go in with some new ideas and the learnings from this weekend, and see what we can do.

Toto Wolff, Team Principal & CEO

That was a difficult day for us. In the opening 15 laps, we got pretty much everything wrong that we could have done – and that cost us any chance of fighting for the podium. For the next 50 laps until the red flag, it was pretty much business as usual: the car was quick on every tyre compound, we made the right calls, and the drivers made a great recovery to P6 and P8. In the final laps, George was unlucky to fall to the back after contact, while Lewis tried everything he could on Sainz, but there was no way past. In the end, I’d rather we have a quick car and a bad result than the other way round. It was an entertaining race for Formula One – and the kind of day when we should have been part of the action at the front. But if, but and maybe don’t count for anything in this sport. Now, we need to regroup, understand why we as a team got things wrong today, and go again to Monza next weekend.

Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director

Not a good day for us. We didn’t anticipate how heavy the early shower was going to be, which meant we’d dropped both cars to the back from the very early stages. The decisions we took after that, however, were good, and we managed to get both cars back into a reasonable position when the race got red-flagged. Unfortunately, Lewis couldn’t find a way past Sainz in the short intermediate stint at the end, and George picked up a puncture fighting Norris, so we leave here with just eight points, making it our worst points score of the season. However, we can take encouragement from the fact the car has been good this weekend. Although we’ve struggled in certain conditions, the pace in the race was strong, and we’re going in the right direction. We’re very happy that we’ll get to hit the track again in five days’ time, as we want to put this result behind us.

Mercedes-AMG F1 Team best pictures:

Aston Martin Formula One Team

 

Drama amid the dunes of Zandvoort as Fernando puts in a stunning performance to take second place in the 2023 Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix.

Read what Fernando, Lance, and Team Principal Mike Krack said after the unforgettable 2023 Dutch Grand Prix.

Fernando Alonso

It’s a nice feeling to be back on the podium after a very intense race and some intense emotions. I think P2 and the fastest lap were the maximum we could have achieved today with the heavy rain and the red flag. It was a very well-executed race by our team, and it means a lot in front of the passionate fans here in Zandvoort. The AMR23 responded well to everything today, and I was in sync with it; it was a good feeling. I’m probably happier now than I was scoring podiums at the beginning of the year because after we struggled for podiums in July, coming back strong feels incredible. I cannot lie, I thought about passing [Max Verstappen], and if I had side by side with him, I wouldn’t have lifted off, but I did not have the full chance. You need some intuition sometimes in the race, and there was a bit of rain, so I attacked very aggressively. Now I’m looking forward to Monza.

Lance Stroll

It wasn’t the race we were hoping for today. The changing weather conditions made it very challenging to make the right strategy call, and we didn’t make the right tyre decisions in the opening few laps. We’d hoped to survive the first downpour on the slick tyres, but the rain was heavier than expected, and we switched to the Intermediate compound a little too late. Once the running order had stabilised, I found myself stuck in traffic and struggled to make any progress. It’s disappointing as the car was performing well, and I think more was possible, but that’s racing sometimes. We’ll learn from today’s mistakes and push hard again in Monza.

Mike Krack, Team Principal:

What a race! A fantastic second place for Fernando and the team. Fernando delivered a well-judged race, survived the tricky conditions, and showed a strong pace in the wet and the dry. This result will mean a huge amount to the entire team at the track and back at the Campus and shows our hard work is paying off. It means we have broken the 200-point barrier for the first time, and gives us real momentum going into the final races of the year. It is a shame we did not optimise the race for Lance, and the decision to remain on dry tyres in the early stages cost him a chance of scoring points.

Aston Martin Cognizant F1 Team best pictures:

Scuderia Ferrari

 

The 2023 Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix proved to be a complicated race for Scuderia Ferrari, the team leaving Zandvoort with a fifth place courtesy of Carlos Sainz, who put in a solid and gritty performance in extremely difficult track conditions. Unfortunately, Charles Leclerc had to retire following a first-lap collision with Oscar Piastri.

The race. The weather made life difficult, with the formation lap being dry before the rain came down really hard as the lights went out at Zandvoort. Charles pitted at the end of the opening lap to switch from Soft to Intermediate tyres, while Carlos came in the next time round. After every one, with the exception of Alex Albon, had pitted, the Ferraris found themselves in fifth and seventh places. However, it was immediately clear that Leclerc’s SF-23 had sustained damage in the collision with Piastri. The front wing was changed, but the floor was also damaged. Nevertheless, Charles continued at a much slower pace, a second a lap off his team-mate, but as the problem got progressively worse, the decision was taken to retire the car.

Middle stints. Sainz’s race continued without much change, and when the track dried, he twice pitted for Softs. He made no mistakes and put in solid stints, getting as high as third, partly thanks to a slow stop from Fernando Alonso, who later got ahead of Carlos again. Eventually, he dropped to fifth as he was also passed by Pierre Gasly. With nine laps remaining, it started to rain very heavily, and two laps later, the race was red-flagged as Guanyu Zhou crashed. The race resumed 35 minutes later with seven laps remaining. Conditions were very tricky on Intermediate tyres on a very slippery track, but none of the front runners made any mistakes, so although Carlos was now running with very old tyres, he was able to take the chequered flag in fifth place.

Heading home. The World Championship is back on track in a matter of days with what is the most special race for the Scuderia, the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, where the team can expect a warm welcome from its “Tifosi.”

Carlos Sainz #55

We had a good race execution overall, with no mistakes in these difficult conditions. For the last stint, we had to fit a very used set of Intermediates from yesterday, and it was all about defending. I gave absolutely everything from the first lap to the last, but unfortunately, P5 was the maximum we could achieve this weekend.

It’s good points, and we have gained ground over Mercedes and McLaren on a difficult weekend for the team. We obviously want more, and we will keep pushing. Now I’m looking forward to our home race at Monza next weekend.

Charles Leclerc #16

It was a tricky race on my side. When I arrived at the last corner on lap 1, I saw how much rain was coming down and decided to call for a pit stop. I knew it was a late one, but at the same time, I also knew that it would be worth it in the end because we had more to gain than to lose there.

Unfortunately, after Oscar (Piastri) and I touched, I had damage on my floor, and the issue got worse over the course of the race, ultimately leading to our retirement. It’s not been the weekend we wished for overall, but I’m already looking forward to our home race in Monza next week.

Frédéric Vasseur, Team Principal

It was definitely a busy weekend, run in very difficult conditions. Carlos drove a great race, managing to match the pace of those ahead up until the rain returned. At that point, he had to deal with the handicap of running Intermediates that had done more laps than those of the drivers around him, and he did well to keep two strong competitors, Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris, behind him, thus bringing home the best result possible in these circumstances.

Charles’ race was compromised on the opening lap when there was a collision with Oscar Piastri, which caused damage to his SF-23. We felt it would be enough to change the front wing, but unfortunately, the floor was also damaged, and that got worse with every passing lap, to the point that we decided to retire him.

Now we focus on Monza, our home race, where we want to execute the weekend perfectly from every point of view so that the drivers can get everything there is to be had out of our package.

Scuderia Ferrari best pictures:

McLaren Racing

 

Hear from McLaren Formula 1 driver Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri, and Team Principal Andrea Stella after the 2023 Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix.

Lando Norris

If I start by looking at the final positions, we got some points, which is a good thing but not as many as we should have gotten today. We made some incorrect decisions, and on a day like today, that can win or lose you a lot of time. We were just on the losing end. We’ll review it. We’ll make sure we do a better job next time. I think it’s impossible to be perfect with this; it’s just about limiting your mistakes. We’ve got some work to do, but we’re getting there.

Oscar Piastri

P9 is not the most straightforward of afternoons. I think we maybe could have taken a few more opportunities that were there, but all-in-all not a terrible afternoon and definitely some things to learn from. At one point, it was looking a lot worse, so it was a nice comeback in the second half of the race. We’ll definitely learn what we could have done a bit differently before heading to Monza with the goal of scoring more points.

Andrea Stella

After a busy race with changing weather conditions, we finished P7 and P9, scoring some important points. But the reality is we could have got more today as we missed a couple of opportunities.

With Lando, we hesitated too much at the start of the race before pitting for Intermediate tyres. On Oscar’s side, we opted to stay out through the rain on dry tyres, where he did an excellent job. From there, his race was unfolding well, but unfortunately, he locked the front tyres, needed to pit, and we lost the advantage gained.

We don’t give up. The good news is that the car was, again, quite competitive. So we will review where we could have improved and go again in Italy.

McLaren Racing best pictures:

Alpine F1 Team

 

BWT Alpine F1 Team clinched its second podium of the 2023 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season, as Pierre Gasly put in an impressive performance from twelfth on the grid in mixed conditions to finish third in Zandvoort in the Dutch Grand Prix. Esteban Ocon fought through the field to tenth place to secure a double-point finish for the team.

In a rain-affected race with multiple pit stops and a red flag delay six laps to the end, Pierre kept his cool throughout to claim his first podium for the team and the fourth of his Formula 1 career.

Running in fourth at the restart, Pierre held on to the back of Red Bull Racing’s Sergio Perez until the chequered flag, promoting him to third place with Perez handed a five-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane. Esteban put in a solid drive in difficult conditions progressing up the order from sixteenth on the grid to clinch the final point in tenth place, capping off a positive day for the team.

Esteban Ocon:

First of all, congratulations to Pierre and the whole team for today’s great result. Overall, we can be happy with our race as a team, leaving Zandvoort with double points and the podium. On my side, it was a solid recovery drive from where we started, fighting my way to well within the points. We will definitely need to review a few things as there were some opportunities missed, which cost us some positions and some points. Generally, there will be many learnings from the last few days, which I hope we can take to Monza next week to keep improving as a team.

Pierre Gasly:

What a race! It feels really good to be on the podium here in Zandvoort, and the entire team deserves this. After the season we have had so far, so many ups and downs, I do feel we deserve this result. It was an insane race, with so much action and so many tough calls to make, but everything went well, from the decision-making to the strategy to the pit-stops. It was all very well executed. We had the unfortunate five-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane, but in the end, that did not matter as we still had enough pace to put ourselves in contention for a good result. It was a tough final few laps with the conditions, but we managed it very well. Thanks to the entire team for his podium, and let’s keep up the hard work looking ahead to next weekend’s race in Monza, where I have fond memories!

Bruno Famin, Interim Team Principal:

With the weather conditions today, it was important for the team to remain calm and make the right calls. Doing so allowed the drivers to advance up the order from their qualifying positions and bring home valuable points for the team. It was about being on the right tyre at the right time, as well as keeping the car on track, and the drivers drove a very mature race. Operationally we executed the race extremely well, and Pierre’s podium is a reward for the team’s efforts. Together with tenth for Esteban, it’s good to have both cars finishing in the points. We still have lots of work ahead of us, and we will look to capitalise on this result heading to the next race in Monza.

Alpine F1 Team best pictures:

Williams Racing

 

You could argue we should’ve pitted earlier at the start of the race, but we stuck to our guns, and it worked for us with tyre management, managing for 40-odd laps on the soft. You can only do that with a car that’s good, and it felt strong all weekend. It was very easy to control the front and rear degradation, just with tools and driving, always able to shift the balance where I needed it to be. Then we pitted for mediums and began making our way up the order towards P5 and P4, and I thought it was perfect until I found out about the rain. We need to review that second pitstop call; it’s so tricky because I didn’t pit, and for the first half of the lap, I thought I’d overcut the two cars in front of me, but in 30 seconds, it went from a soft to a full wet tyre, and we lost out on the undercut. It happens; it feels like we finish today slightly disappointed that we didn’t finish in 6th, but 8th is still an amazing result for us, especially considering we’re here on merit this weekend. It’s been our strongest weekend yet and the best I’ve felt in the car in my time at Williams, so there are so many positives to take from here.

Logan Sargeant

It was a tricky start to the race with the rain coming down. It looks like the inters were maybe the better option, but we tried to survive out there on the slicks, and after yesterday, I was trying to be extremely cautious and build up nicely, but I lost a bit too much tyre temperature in those wet conditions. Then, unfortunately, it didn’t end the way we wanted it to. I touched the kerb, and it seems that from the impact of that, we had an issue with hydraulics and power steering. Once I lost that assistance, there was really nothing I could do. I still need to watch it back, but we need to look into what went wrong. I want to say a huge thank you to the team for getting the car turned around for today.

Dave Robson, Head of Vehicle Performance

Overall, it was a really strong result for the team today. To finish 8th in Zandvoort with our main rivals out of the points is a great result. However, having worked our way back to 6th place with Alex, the timing of the final rain interruption was frustrating. The car worked well this weekend, and whilst there are a few things that we could’ve done better today, we can be pleased with the result. We’ll review the race and understand how we could’ve done better in the changeable conditions, and we’ll be stronger next time. The team did an excellent job repairing Logan’s car overnight, and it was a shame that he was unable to finish the race. We are still investigating the cause of his DNF, but he suffered from a loss of hydraulics. We now look forward to Monza, which is the second ATA event of the season and quite a different challenge to this weekend in Zandvoort.

Williams F1 Team best pictures:

Haas F1 Team

 

MoneyGram Haas F1 Team drivers Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen finished 12th and 14th, respectively, at the Dutch Grand Prix, Round 14 of the 2023 FIA Formula 1 World Championship.

Kevin Magnussen

I think we did a good job at the beginning of the race with the conditions and managing that well. We got up to P7, I think, and then it dried up, and there was a Safety Car which didn’t help us because we lost all that advantage that we had given ourselves with the right calls. We fell from P7 to outside of the points, and it’s a shame. It feels extra frustrating when you manage to hustle your way into the top 10, and then you don’t have the pace to be there. We’ll keep working, and today we showed we’re trying our best and going for it when there’s an opportunity, but we need more pace.

Nico Hulkenberg

It was a very dynamic race, and the last five laps were just survival mode. I think there were only two of us – Valtteri (Bottas) and myself – who decided to stay out on slicks when the rain began, which wasn’t the right decision in hindsight. I lost quite a bit of race time in those couple of laps, so we missed an opportunity there. After that, you ran your race, but it was difficult to gauge where you were, so I did my own race. Pace, from what I could see, was right in the midfield but obviously not enough to do anything at the front. We collected a lot of data with the new front wing, which we now need to study and understand more and hopefully, we can optimize it.

Guenther Steiner, Team Principal:

Quite an exciting race in general with all the weather changes, and I think we got right what we could. We steered clear of unforced errors in some tricky conditions. Our dry pace is not good enough at the moment, however, but I think we got out as much as we could from the race – that is where we are right now.

Haas F1 Team best pictures:

Alfa Romeo Racing Stake

 

Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake left Zandvoort with no reward after a challenging weekend in the Netherlands. In a race heavily affected by the weather, with sudden downpours making the track nigh on undrivable, Zhou Guanyu and Valtteri Bottas both drove within the points at times: Eventually, though, the team could not capitalise on this position, with Valtteri finishing 14th and Zhou emerging unscathed from a rain-induced crash at turn one

The team will regroup and focus on the next event, the final European race of the season and a key moment of our year – the Italian Grand Prix.

Valtteri Bottas (car number 77):

First and foremost, I am really glad to see Zhou is okay after his crash. Every chaotic race is an opportunity, and I feel we weren’t able to really make the most of it today. We had a really good start, making up a lot of positions, and when the rain came, we kept it on track, which was not easy in such challenging conditions. The grip out there was very poor, and visibility was limited, which on such a technical track is making driving even harder. In the end, we did not have the pace to be in the points, especially in regular circumstances. We need to understand what went on and improve on it; I know everyone is working hard for it. Next up is Monza: it’s an important race for us, on a completely different track, and we can surely do better than this. There will be a lot of people from our factory on the stands, and we’re looking forward to all the support.

Zhou Guanyu (car number 24):

Finishing the race in the barrier is never nice: I am not injured, which is the most important thing, but I’m disappointed as we were doing a decent race until then. The downpour was very sudden, and it was a tricky moment for me: I was one of the first on the scene at turn one, I wasn’t pushing given the conditions, but as soon as I touched the brakes, the car aquaplaned. There was nothing I could really do, I couldn’t scrub any speed, and I just went straight into the barriers. Before that, it had been a busy race in which we spent a lot of time in good positions. We were quite strong in the wet, but as soon as it got dry, we didn’t really have the pace to stay in the top ten. The Safety Car didn’t help us either: we were on medium tyres, hoping to go long, but as soon as the race was neutralised, we ended up among those on soft tyres, and it was not possible to keep them behind. We move on to Monza now, an important race for us: Hopefully, we can have a better outcome.

Alessandro Alunni Bravi, Team Representative:

This race marks the end of a difficult weekend for the team. We were not competitive in qualifying or the race, and this was the key element on which we would need to focus. The team tried everything: we made some good strategic calls in the changing conditions and put ourselves in a good position with Zhou. We tried the opposite strategy with Valtteri, leaving him out on dry tyres in order to cover all scenarios. Our mechanics did a good job managing all the pit stops in difficult conditions. Unfortunately, in the end, there was just not enough pace in the car, and when conditions returned to normal, we were not able to remain at the points. Zhou’s crash had a big impact, but thankfully he was able to walk away with no injury. We’re not letting our head drop: we’ll keep working hard to improve our performance and move forward, starting next weekend in Monza.

Alfa Romeo F1 Team best pictures:

Scuderia AlphaTauri

 

New Zealand’s Liam Lawson impressed on his Formula One debut as he managed to guide his Scuderia AlphaTauri car from 20th on the grid at the start to 13th by the chequered flag, while Japanese team-mate Yuki Tsunoda finished in 16th.

Liam Lawson

The aim was to do all 72 laps today. When I first got on the grid and it started raining, it wasn’t the best feeling. After that, we had no choice but to make the pitstop, but unfortunately, we got a penalty and lost a huge amount of time during it. I think once we got clean air during the second half of the race and then drove on the intermediate tyres at the end, my pace wasn’t so bad. There’s some work to do, but I’m just happy to have gotten through the race, experiencing different conditions and scenarios, to be able to take them forward.

Yuki Tsunoda

I showed good speed and had some exciting moments throughout the first part of the race, defending from quite a few cars, so I’m happy about that. Before the race, the team and I agreed on our strategy of staying out on the used soft tyre, and I thought we could make it until the end. The grip wasn’t too bad, but the new tyre had more of an advantage than we thought, so it didn’t pay off in the end. When it started raining, I thought it was better to come in, and I appreciated the team listening and respecting my call. In the end, I didn’t have enough grip during the last laps on the intermediate tyres and struggled to warm them up and keep the temperature in them. We have to look into it as it’s a little unusual. It’s a shame we didn’t show our pace during qualifying yesterday, but I’m happy we tried really hard today and were able to show a little more performance in the race.

Guillaume Dezoteux – Head of Vehicle Performance

The weather played a huge part today, and it’s been a big challenge for all of us to cope with the constant changes. Both drivers started on the soft compound but were immediately called in to change to the intermediate tyres when the first shower hit the track. It was the right call and allowed us to jump some cars. When the track started to improve, we went back to the soft tyres, and Yuki was able to maintain position compared to the fast-coming cars who stayed on dry tyres during this first wet period. After the Safety Car, he was in a good position, so we took the gamble to leave him out. It was not the right decision because he started to lose time and position due to the old tyres. Yuki eventually managed to hold on until the next rain came, which caused a red flag as the track was far too wet to carry on. The last laps on the intermediate tyre were difficult, resulting from poor warm-up and low grip conditions. Yuki finished P16 after serving a 5-second penalty due to a collision with Russell.

As for Liam, he did a very good job today, learning about the car and adapting to the conditions, which were constantly evolving. He made no mistakes and was able to build up the pace on dry tyres, which he was driving on for the first time in our car.

Overall, it was a difficult weekend. We will review the various decisions made and analyse the data to improve the cars and the decision-making process in such circumstances. Now it’s time to prepare for next week’s race in Monza, which will hopefully be dry!

Scuderia AlphaTauri Team best pictures: