Sebastian Vettel did it 2013, Max Verstappen has done it in 2023. The defending champion picked his 11th win of the season and his 3rd Dutch GP win on a row. What a race start it has been. Fernando Alonso came second and Pierre Gasly finished third to knock out Perez from the Podium spot after the Mexican got a 5 sec penalty. Lewis Hamilton finished 6th behind Carlos Sainz.
Most Consecutive F1 Wins: Max Verstappen equals Sebastian Vettel with 9 F1 Wins
Max Verstappen converted pole position into victory at the 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.
It all began with spits of rain before the start of the race that dramatically turned into a shower on the first lap, prompting split strategies up and down the order as Verstappen headed a pack of drivers who initially stayed out on slicks and team mate Perez led a group into the pits to take on intermediates.
What followed was a frenetic opening phase as those who made an early switch to intermediates rose to the fore, while those who stayed out longer on slicks lost a hatful of positions, prior to the rain easing off and the track gradually drying up.
With the Red Bulls running those aforementioned alternate strategies, it was Perez who led the way as the race settled down, while Verstappen had fallen back to fourth – behind Zhou Guanyu and Gasly – and had work to do to reclaim P1.
After managing to do so with much superior pace, Verstappen looked set for a clear run to the chequered flag and the win on a bone-dry track, only for further rain to work its way onto the radar and hit the track with force in the closing stages.
