Verstappen wins home Dutch GP, ties F1 record with 9th straight victory
There's no place like home when you're tying a Formula 1 record.
Max Verstappen won the Dutch Grand Prix on Sunday at Circuit Zandvoort, marking his ninth consecutive victory to tie the record originally set by Sebastian Vettel in 2013.
Vettel also accomplished the feat as a member of Red Bull over the last nine races of his final championship season. Verstappen's stretch dates back to the Miami GP in early May. The 25-year-old has won 11 total races this year.
"I already had goosebumps when they were playing the national anthem before the start," Verstappen said following the race. "Even with all the bad weather the fans were still going at it. It was an incredible atmosphere."
Fellow two-time champion Fernando Alonso crossed the line second for Aston Martin. Alpine's Pierre Gasly rounded out the podium, finishing fourth but getting bumped up to third due to a five-second penalty to Sergio Perez for speeding in the pit lane. Checo ended up finishing fourth.
After a hot start to the season, Aston has struggled in recent races. This is Alonso's first podium since the Canadian GP.
Meanwhile, this marks Gasly's first podium since joining Alpine at the beginning of the year. He's previously finished in the top three a trio of other times, most recently with AlphaTauri at Azerbaijan in 2021.
Verstappen's won every Dutch GP since it returned to the F1 calendar for the 2021 season. The last driver not named Verstappen to win at Zandvoort was Niki Lauda in 1985.
The race was interrupted by rain, with red flags coming out on the 65th lap amid torrential downpour. It later resumed and ran all 72 laps.
The weather caused brief mayhem prior to the race's suspension. Multiple drivers went off track and Zhou Guanyu collided with the barrier on Turn 1. Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and Williams' Logan Sargeant were the other retirements on the day.
Liam Lawson, making his F1 debut while filling in for the injured Daniel Ricciardo at AlphaTauri, finished 13th, ahead of teammate Yuki Tsunoda in 16th. The New Zealand rookie may have to fill in for Ricciardo, who suffered a broken metacarpal in his left hand during practice, next weekend as well.
The Dutch GP marked the resumption of the F1 season after the summer break. Verstappen will go for a record-breaking 10th straight win at Monza next weekend with the Italian GP.