Max Verstappen writes history with victory in chaotic home race and equals record Sebastian Vettel | Instagram

Violin virtuoso André Rieu had barely stored his Stradivarius safely dry when it started to drizzle above Zandvoort. Threatening clouds were hanging over the circuit for a while, as King Willem Alexander and Princess Maxima also saw when they left the starting grid. Clouds with substance, because Max Verstappen hadn’t started yet, or he could go to the pits again for a bit coarser profile on the rubbers. A harbinger of a soaking wet afternoon in the North Holland dunes, it turned out. A godsend for the pure F1 fans, because of course the Dutch GP new style had already proven itself as an event in its first two shining years. But at edition three, the potential of the wonderful circuit turned out to be limitless.

What was previously portrayed as one straight forward ‘Sunday ride’ for the dominant Verstappen, transformed by the drops of heaven into an entertaining fine racing puzzle, which the Limburger had to put in place with no fewer than five pit stops. The importance of strategy is growing, the driver has more influence on the result and a bit of luck sometimes makes a huge difference. Yes, rain regularly brings out the best in motorsport in addition to danger. Lando Norris and George Russell, starting from P2 and P3, saw their podium opportunities wash away early on.

At the start it suddenly started to rain

But on the wall at Red Bull Racing and in Verstappen’s cockpit, everything remained cool and controlled. Also during the second late shower, when the sky above Zandvoort suddenly turned an even more frightening gray with fifteen laps to go. “Will it be very extreme, or will inters suffice?” Verstappen wanted to know. The second, as it suddenly turned out.

Teammate Sergio Pérez got a very late call, somewhat overwhelmed by the downpour, because the tires were not ready yet. A lap later Verstappen came for the inters, then Red Bull was ready. And thanks to his large lead, he was able to quickly switch to the more extreme rubber. So he remained comfortably in the lead even after five pit stops (softs-inters-softs-softs-inters-full wets).

Before all the danger. Because yes, that shower in extremis completely disrupted the end of the afternoon on the Dutch coast. Sergio Pérez slipped onto a run-off lane and the Chinese Zhou shot hard straight through the Tarzan corner. A red flag, a long break and a rolling restart only after 45 minutes, with six laps to go. Six laps in which Verstappen stayed out of trouble despite the field being pushed together again and managed to keep a pushy Fernando Alonso off.

Chaos right before the red flag

This is how the more than 105,000 Dutch fans got what they hoped for. A Dutch GP full of chaos, but with the dream winner, who was overtaken with fireworks by flagist DJ and friend Martin Garrix. Again the Wilhelmus sounded for Verstappen, with the beautiful white trophy of Piet Boon, with a large orange lion in front, in front of him. Alonso finished second, Pierre Gasly third, taking full advantage of a late five-count penalty for Pérez.

Verstappen thus strengthened his grip on the championship for his own people, with his ninth victory in a row. An equalization of Sebastian Vettel’s Formula 1 record from 2013. ,,This is incredibly beautiful. It wasn’t made easy for us today with the weather, but I’m so proud,” said the winner. “I had goose bumps at the national anthem before the start. What a great atmosphere. Good weather, bad weather, is always a party.” In Monza, Italy, Verstappen can set the record even more sharply in a week’s time. “Ten victories? I’ll think about that next week. First recover, because this was a tough weekend with a lot of pressure.”