They just keep coming, Max Verstappen victories and the Dutch fans to watch him at Zandvoort. He never lets them down. Three times they’ve turned up now, three times he’s won here. In taking his ninth consecutive victory of the season, he’s equalled a record.
“I’m not in it for the records,” he said several times during the weekend and he almost certainly means that. He’s in it for days like this, perfect days of both rain and shine, days when he can prevail, jumping the sharks along the way like it was child’s play.
Heavy rain on the first lap scrambled up the order a little and made the correct call of strategy a guessing game in the moment. As did the quick passing of the cloud and the switch back to slicks (for those who’d not stayed out on their original rubber). A late return of rain was heavy enough that there was no strategy question to answer – though it did result in Verstappen’s Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez sliding off and losing his second place to the Aston Martin of a tenacious Fernando Alonso. Perez’s speeding in the pitlane then earned him a 5sec penalty which gave the official third place to Pierre Gasly’s feistily-driven Alpine.
