Verstappen Leads in Wet Dutch GP Qualifying

Max Verstappen secured pole once again for the Dutch Grand Prix in wet conditions at Zandvoort. Verstappen stated, “Just try to keep on doing the same thing – that would be nice. But, of course, after a break, you never know how you get back into things. Also [with] the track, and the weather that is forecast, I think it’s always a bit more tricky. We’ll see. We have a quick car, but it’s again about putting everything together to have a really strong weekend.”

It’s clear that the summer break only gave Verstappen more time to recoup and he’s come back in full swing. Now that Verstappen has kept his pole position streak alive, Red Bull will be looking to do the same thing in the win column. Red Bull have won every single race this season and have not shown any signs of slowing down. The team will be pushing to extending their streak to 13 wins in a row tomorrow in the grand prix.

Elsewhere on the Grid

After it was announced that both Haas drivers Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen would be returning in 2024 having recently signed new contracts. Qualifying for the pair did not go as planned as both drivers failed to make it to Q3. In unfortunate fashion, 7 time world champion Lewis Hamilton failed to make it into Q3 after getting caught out on rain tires as the track dried rapidly. His pace suffered and he was not able to set a good enough lap to make it into Q3.

At the start of Q3 teams took a gamble between staying on intermediates or switching to the soft compound tires as the track was drying with every passing minute. Logan Sergeant’s (Williams) gamble on slick tires did not pay off with him crashing in turn 2 at high speed. It was confirmed that he was unharmed in the wreck.

Norris Impresses Again

Lando Norris had yet another flying qualifying session finished P2; just 6 tenths behind Verstappen. Norris had the following words, “P2 was a good result in these conditions. Every now and again you hope Max makes a mistake and he doesn’t. Frustrating in a little way but I’m very happy! The team’s done a good job. It was a chaotic qualifying but another P2, so a good start to being back in the car.”

“The first half of the lap was mega, the second half was probably one of the worst second halves of a lap that I’ve done! I’ve always enjoyed these conditions, it’s when we do well. So, I’ll take P2. I think there’s quite a bit of tire degradation here and not our forte when it comes into play: we start to struggle quite a bit in certain corners. But we’ve improved the car quite a bit since Friday, so I want to be a little bit more hopeful. There are opportunities, but it’s going to be tough.” Rounding out the top 3 was George Russell (Mercedes).

Tsunoda Handed a 3 Place Grid Penalty for Impeding, Ferrari Fined

Yuki Tsunoda (Alpha Tauri) was handed a three place grid penalty for impeding Lewis Hamilton during Q2 ultimately costing Hamilton a shot at Q3. The penalty effectively drops Tsunoda to P17 after the penalty. Tsunoda will have his work cut out for him if he wants to score points. Alpha Tauri teammate Liam Lawson made his debut for the finishing P20.

Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) was reprimanded for an incident involving he and Piastri in Turn 2 resulting in a €5000 fine for Ferrari. No grid penalties were issues for the scuffle.

Full Qualifying Results for the Dutch Grand Prix

F1 returns this weekend for the Dutch Grand Prix. FP1 took place earlier this morning with Max Verstappen (Red Bull) finishing on top of the session along side Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) and Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes). However, the tides turned in FP2 when Lando Norris (McLaren) ran fastest by 0.023 seconds. Verstappen did not seem bothered when ask how he thought the session went, “Pretty good.” he said. “Tried some things on the car. I think FP2 was a little bit more difficult. But I think overall FP2 was really difficult to get a clean lap, there were a lot of cars always around. It was fine, but we have a few things that we want to improve, but even on the long runs the car was handling quite well, so overall I think it was quite a good day.”

Piastri and Ricciardo Crash

FP2 did not end with out incident. Both Oscar Piastri (McLaren) and Daniel Ricciardo (Alpha Tauri) crashed out of the session at Turn 3. Piastri lost the rear and spun around into the wall. Ricciardo locked up after not seeing Piastri parked in the turn and locked up sending him into the wall as well. The Alpha Tauri of Ricciardo was also heavily damaged as Ricciardo wasn’t able to slow the car down in time to prevent the contact. Ricciardo was taken to thew hospital for further evaluation after the crash. It was later announced that Ricciardo broke his hand in the accident and will be replace by reserve driver Liam Lawson for the remainder of the weekend.

It is an unfortunate outcome for Ricciardo after making his return to F1 and finally getting acclimated with the car only to sustain an injury before the grand prix. There do no appear to be any obvious reasons why he can’t make a speedy recovery.

Full Dutch Grand Prix FP2 Results

Ferrari have had a tough year with multiple poor finishes and almost no ability to answer the might of Red Bull to challenge for a championship run in 2023. The campaign has mostly been a reflection of the last two years. Ferrari has struggled to have any continued success to bring the team back into title fighting contention. After firing Mattia Binotto at the end of last season. The move led many to believe he was the issue. What fans soon found was that this was not the case.

The same issues that plagued Ferrari last year still seem to linger. Lack of performance, reliability issues and questionable strategy calls all seem to be playing a role. However, one man does not seem to be wavered by any of that. That man is team principal Frédéric Vasseur.

With Formula 1 teams enjoying some down time during the mid season break Leclerc took the opportunity to speak on the recent status at Ferrari and how the manufacturer needed to reset before their more recent return to the podium. Driver Charles Leclerc finished second in Austria, and third in Spa in the final Grand Prix before the summer break. Is this late success indicative of a turnaround point for Ferrari?

Frédéric Vasseur Speaks on the Status at Ferrari

In an interview with F1.com, Vasseur stated, ” “What we have to keep in mind is the whole pack is very tight. But if you have a look at McLaren, [in Hungary] they were at the top, [in Belgium] they were at the bottom, and it was the opposite for us. It means we have to continue to develop the car, continue to pay attention to details. Because for one or two tenths you can move from the bottom to the top and it’s a good lesson from the first part of the season.”

Also speaking to F1.com was Charles Leclerc. He stated, “Before the first race, the target was to do a step better compared to last year, which was to win the world championship. If we look at the first half of the year, we are very far from where we put our expectations before the season. So, on the other hand, as soon as we understood that we reset it and there was an incredible reaction from the team. They brought upgrades, sometimes a month and a half earlier, and this requires a lot of effort from everybody at Maranello. It helped us have great results.”

Leclerc Continued

“I think we still need to try to understand, because if I do a step back in the last two races, I think we expected to be much more competitive in Budapest than on a track like here [at Spa] and at the end, it’s the opposite…these are things that we need to look at because maybe we haven’t optimized the package in races like Budapest, and maybe we’ve done something that was surprisingly good on a track like [at Spa]. It’s good, anyway, to finish on a positive note the first part of the season and now we will take the time of the summer break, or at least whenever the guys can work again, to try to analyze those two last races and hopefully maximize the package at all races for the second half of the season.”

Red Bull Racing has been the talk of a variety of issues this season across the internet. Tts no surprise that there is a gossip spreading like wildfire. Sergio Perez (Red Bull Racing) has had a both productive but alos underwhelming season thus far in 2023. Despite still holding second place in the drivers championship race the talks never seems to end regarding Perez and his future at Red Bull. The latest rumor links Lando Norris (McLaren) to the frenzy. From a logistical stand point such a move wouldn’t be possible without some level of contract buyout/penalty. Currently Norris is contracted with McLaren through the 2025 season. Perez is only contracted through 2024. This leaves a one year gap between free agency for the two drivers which makes it unlikely that Norris was ever a real candidate for a Red Bull move.

Helmut Marko, Advisor for Red Bull Racing contributed to the controversy by stating, “Having Verstappen and Norris on the same team would be perfect for fans, as well as for television and all journalists. Of course, for the success of the team, we want to win the World Cup and the best thing for this is to have a clear hierarchy. You have to be clear, I don’t want to say the first driver, but know who is the fastest driver.”

Do Red Bull Need a Change?

Makro has had mixed feelings on Sergio Perez and his stent with Red Bull. From the outside in one might wonder what more they could be looking for. Currently they hold first and second in the drivers championship and a commanding lead in the constructors. The points advantage at this point of the season has prompted discussions on whether Red Bull needs to continue anymore development on this years car. When the championship is eventually statically won Red Bull could theoretically focus all efforts on the 2024 car which would give them a hefty advantage in development ahead of their competitors.

At this point this is all speculation. It’s clear that there are no official talks of Lando Norris making a move for Red Bull. Quite honestly Red Bull have a well oiled machine that is working perfectly in terms of team outcomes. Why would they change that? We call this speculation rubbish.

Red Bull Racing’s Sergio Perez seemingly had himself setup for the season of his career at the beginning of the 2023 campaign. However, he has gone through a rough patch this year from Monaco to the British Grand Prix. In any normal circumstance one might say he would be fine but his teammate Max Verstappen has been completely dominant this season. Verstappen has won 8 races in a row and has shown no signs of slowing down.

While Perez has improve in form recently it may be too little too late. Team principal Christian Horner stated the following to F1.com: “I think he’ll take a lot of confidence from this performance. He qualified on the front row, he led the Grand Prix, he finished second, so yeah, he goes into the break a clear second in the drivers’ championship and he’ll take some confidence out of that.”

Horner Continued on Perez and His Championship Race

“I think Checo knows that, barring a disaster for Max, this championship is out of reach, so it’s about him maximizing his own performance, not losing out to any of the drivers behind and trying to pick up a few wins between now and the end of the year.” Max currently leads the championship by 125 points. A margin equivalent to 5 race wins without fastest lap. To say the championship is still within grasps for Perez would take some catastrophic finishes from the reigning champion. Statistically, Verstappen could seal the championship as soon as Singapore. If at the time Verstappen has at least a 207 point lead over second place no one would be able to catch him.

While this is speculative. It’s not entirely unreasonable to believe. Verstappen has won all but two races this season and there is no indication that he has fallen off of form. If he keeps winning the championship will be called long before the final race of the season.

Red Bull Racing has won every race in the 2023 season. Max Verstappen made it 8 wins in a row and 10 overall in his 2023 campaign which has all but sealed his path to the drivers championship. Verstappen started from P6 due to a 5 place grid penalty after securing pole position. The penalty proved to be futile and Verstappen did what he does best; win.

Verstappen was elated with the vistory stating, ““I knew that we had a great car, it was just all about surviving Turn 1,” said Verstappen. “I could see it was all getting pretty tight. I’ve been in that position before myself, so I was just like, ‘I’m going to stay out of that’, so it worked out. I think we all made the right overtakes, moves, I just got a little bit stuck in the beginning in a DRS train. Once that [was] clear I could do my own pace. Again, really enjoyable!”

Teammate Sergio Perez bounced back after a disappointing last 5 races. Perez had struggled with making into Q3 in the last few races. However, he would not be denied at the Belgian Grand Prix. Perez crashed out of the Sprint Race and thus tensions in the garage were high. However, the best response is to bounce back and he helped deliver Red Bull near maximum points on the weekend. Verstappen sits 125 points ahead of his teammate Sergio Perez in the drivers championship. Red Bull sits 256 points ahead of Mercedes.

Perez Praised his Teammate’s Success

Perez stated the following to F1.com after the race, “There’s nothing to be taken away from Max, certainly. He did a tremendous a race, and he’s done a tremendous season…the gap looked bigger today, because we had to make sure we brought it home once the result was settled. But certainly he’s done a tremendous job, he’s very talented, around his team they’re getting the maximum out of the weekends, weekend after weekend, which is really impressive.”

Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) snatched away the fastest lap from the Red Bulls to accompany his P4 finish in the race. Charles Leclerc also returned to form claiming his 3rd podium of the year for Ferrari.

Elsewhere on the Grid

Aston Martin secured yet another double points finish in their quest to overtake Mercedes again in the constructors championship. At McLaren Lando Norris had a very disappointing race that eliminated his chances at three podiums in a row. McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri made contact with the wall into turn 1 on lap 1 after Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) closed the door on Piastri leaving Piastri no where to go which resulted in the contact. No action was taken by the stewards and both cars were forced into retirement. Sainz stated the following, “I was on the attack with Lewis and I think I pretty much had the move done into Turn 1, made the apex cleanly and everything, but unfortunately I think Oscar was trying to do a bit of an optimistic move on me.”

Intermittent light rain triggered a variety of tire strategies across the grid. Some opting for longer stints than others. The majority pitted for intermediates as the rain picked up in intensity and then quickly went away triggering a frenzy int he pit lane to get the cars back on slicks. Due to the number of pit stops the margins between cars started to increase. Surprisingly there we no other major on track incidents for the remainder of the race and the Red Bulls sailed away to take the win.

Max Verstappen won the Belgian Grand Prix Sprint from Pole position. The wet race prompted various strategy calls form the team. Red Bull seemed to be on the wrong side of the strategy calls in the early stages of the sprint race. Verstappen lost position to Lando Norris’ McLaren. However, Max Verstappen fought back to retake the lead after Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) crashed out of the race triggering a safety car.

Due to the conditions race control mandated full wet tires to be used by all drivers. Almost immediately Oscar Piastri (McLaren), Carlos Sainz (Ferrari), Pierre Gasly (Alpine), Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), Sergio Perez (Red Bull), Daniel Ricciardo (Alpha Tauri), Alex Albon (Williams), Lance Stroll (McLaren), Valtteri Bottas (Alpha Romeo) and Nico Hulkenberg (Haas) all pitted to opt for intermediates. Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), Lando Norris (McLaren), Esteban Ocon (Alpine) and George Russell (Mercedes) all stayed out on full wets until they completed one lap.

Red Bull’s Verstappen Spoke to the Media After the Race

Verstappen started to gain on Norris and it appeared that Norris was suffering form some premature tire degradation. After the race Verstappen commented on strategy, “I think [staying out on wets at the start] was just a safer call. I could come in first, but then I might be blocked by other cars. There might be a Safety Car and then you lose out massively. I didn’t to stay out, we lost one position, but we know that we are quick. I think you could see that when we put the inter tires on we were flying, so it was OK!”

Lewis Hamilton was given a five-second penalty for causing a collision with Perez and dropped to seventh. Perez did not finish the race. In the end Oscar Piastri finished P2 ahead of Pierre Gasly in an unexpected podium for the Belgian Sprint Race. The Grand Prix is tomorrow and there is mixed weather on the forecast.

Full Sprint Race Results are Below

The rain continued to fall at Spa Franchorchamps during the Sprint Shootout. The drivers took to the track despite early rumors that the Belgian Grand Prix could be cancelled due to safety concerns. The session had mixed conditions. Max Verstappen finished his pole claiming lap with just 4 seconds left on the clock for the session. He set a 1m 49.056s which was 0.011 seconds faster than Oscar Piastri who’s McLaren has come to life in the last few race weekends.

Verstappen stated the following to F1.com, “It was good enough. Just tricky conditions, you don’t want to make big mistakes so I think the lap was okay – I just didn’t risk too much in the second sector where it was still a bit damp, and it was just enough for first so that’s good. If it’s going to be wet, dry, also if it’s wet, how you’re going to survive with the wet tires or the intermediates. So a lot of question marks still but we’ll figure it out along the way.”

Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) claimed third place ahead of teammate Charles Leclerc in fourth. Lando Norris finished fifth to round out the top 5. The Sprint race will take place later today and will be the first opportunity of the weekend to score championship points.

Elsewhere on the Grid

It was a nightmare of a qualifying for the Aston Martins as both Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll failed to make it to Q3 and finished behind both Williams cars. Lance Stroll crashed out of Q2 and Alsonso did not start the session.

Daniel Ricciardo (Alpha Tauri) once again out qualified his teammate Yuki Tsunoda. His pace appears to be improving as he gets more acclimated with the car. Second place driver’s championship sitter Sergio Perez has his work cut out for him as he will start from P8. Perez finished nine tenths behind his teammate Verstappen. Below are the results from the shootout that will set the grid for the sprint race later this afternoon.

2023 Belgian Grand Prix Sprint Shootout Results

Max Verstappen (Red Bull) finished on pole but has been handed a 5 place grid penalty for the Belgian Grand Prix after fitting a fifth gear box. This is one gear box over the season limit for each car on the grid. The penalty will apply to Sunday’s race. Despite running fastest in Q3 Verstappen would be demoted to P6 after the penalty. This allowed Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) to inherit pole for the Grand Prix. Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez moved up to P2 due to the penalty.

Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) and Oscar Piastri also benefitted from the Verstappen penalty and will start in the top 5 on Sunday. The starting grid order is below

Belgian Grand Prix Starting Grid, Leclerc on Pole

1. Charles Leclerc (16), Ferrari
2. Sergio Perez (11), Red Bull-Honda RBPT
3. Lewis Hamilton (44), Mercedes
4. Carlos Sainz (55), Ferrari
5. Oscar Piastri (81), McLaren-Mercedes
6. Max Verstappen (1), Red Bull-Honda RBPT
7. Lando Norris (4), McLaren-Mercedes
8. George Russell (63), Mercedes
9. Fernando Alonso (14), Aston Martin-Mercedes
10. Lance Stroll (18), Aston Martin-Mercedes
11. Yuki Tsunoda (22), AlphaTauri-Honda RBPT
12. Pierre Gasly (10), Alpine-Renault
13. Kevin Magnussen (20), Haas-Ferrari
14. Valtteri Bottas (77), Alfa Romeo-Ferrari
15. Esteban Ocon (31), Alpine-Renault
16. Alexander Albon (23), Williams-Mercedes
17. Zhou Guanyu (24), Alfa Romeo-Ferrari
18. Logan Sargeant (2), Williams-Mercedes
19. Daniel Ricciardo (3), AlphaTauri-Honda RBPT
20. Nico Hulkenberg, (27), Haas-Ferrari

Belgian Grand Prix TV/streaming schedule

All times are EST

Friday
7:25 – 8:30 a.m.: Free practice 1 (ESPN2, F1 TV Pro)
10:55 a.m. – Noon: Qualifying (ESPN2, F1 TV Pro)

Saturday
6:25 – 7:30 a.m.: Sprint shootout (ESPN2, F1 TV Pro)
10:25 – 11:30 a.m.: Sprint (ESPN2, F1 TV Pro)

Sunday
7:30 – 8:55 a.m.: Pre-race show (ESPN)
8:55 – 11 a.m.: Belgian Grand Prix (ESPN, F1 TV Pro)

Tomorrow morning is the Sprint Shootout to determine the grid for the Sprint Race.

Max Verstappen won the Hungarian Grand Prix this weekend in dominant fashion. Verstappen blazed past the checkered flag ahead of Lando Norris by a whopping 33.731 seconds; a margin large enough for almost 1.5 pit stops at Hungaroring. The win also marked Verstappen’s 44th career win and the 250th podium for Red Bull Racing. It was also the 12th win in a row for Red Bull Racing. Lando Norris was second for the second race in a row. This marked the first time he has had consecutive podiums in F1.

Verstappen checked out at the front but behind there were multiple developments. Verstappen stated the following to F1.com after the race, “For the team, 12 wins in a row is just incredible. What we’ve been doing for the last two years has been unbelievable. Hopefully we can keep this momentum going for a long time. Also, just to work with the whole team is very enjoyable. It’s always good to look into [what happened in qualifying] yesterday, for example, to keep pushing, always wanting to do better, but days like this are just perfect.”

Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez received driver of the day after starting P9 and finishing P3. In the final 20 laps it seemed as thought Perez might catch Norris. Norris was clearly suffering from some tire degradation and his pace began to fall off. However in the last 10 laps Perez fell off of attacking pace and Norris was able to hang on to P2.

Elsewhere on the Grid

The earliest was a double DNF by Alpine Drivers Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly on lap 1 of the race. The two were involved in a back of the grid scuffle that resulted in catastrophic failures on both cars. Zhou Gunayu was penalized for putting other drivers in danger per Appendix L, Chapter IV, Article 2d of the FUA International Sporting Code. Zhou had an incredible qualifying and unfortunately that success was wiped away by the penalty at the very beginning of the race.

The struggles do not appear to be subsiding for the Ferraris. Charles Leclerc was hit with a 5 second grid penalty for speeding in the pit lane. The penalty lost him P6 and he settled for P7. Teammate Carlos Sainz despite the penalty could not amount an attack and ended up settling for P8 in the grand prix. While both Ferraris finished in the points it is a long way away from their winning ways over the past 3 years. While multiple teams seem to have jumped forward with mid season upgrades. Ferrari did not appear to have any new flair this weekend in performance. Time will tell if the Ferrari camp can bounce back as we approach the mid season break.

Lewis Hamilton Loses out on Pole Advantage

Lewis Hamilton had hoped for a better result after securing pole for the 70 lap race in Hungary. However the Brit settled for P4 after a late charge they may have seen him compete for P3 if the race had a few extra laps at the end. All in all Hamilton was able to make up some lost time so Mercedes will evaluate and make changes based on how they stacked up.

Ricciardo’s Alpha Tauri Debut

Daniel Ricciardo started his first race with his new post at Alpha Tauri. While Ricciardo did not score points he finished ahead of teammate Yuki Tsunoda. As Ricciardo gets more acclimated with the car we expect his pace to improve as we move into the second half of the season.

Verstappen extended his champion lead over teammate Sergio Perez to 110 points. Perez sits in second 32 points ahead of Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin). For more exlcusive content be sure to visit F1.com