Max Verstappen triumphed in a wet 2023 Dutch GP thriller with a record-equalling ninth consecutive F1 victory.
Verstappen initially led the race amidst a heavy rain shower on the opening lap which caused him to lose the lead to Sergio Perez once the majority of drivers pitted for the intermediate tyres.
Red Bull however opted to undercut Verstappen on Lap 12 which saw him regain the lead a lap later which he comfortably held from Perez until the red flag came out on Lap 64 after a crash for Guanyu Zhou during a torrential shower.
The race resumed after a 43 minute delay as Verstappen comfortably clinched a record-equalling ninth consecutive Grand Prix win, ahead of Alonso, whilst Pierre Gasly benefitted from a time penalty for Perez to finish on the podium for the first time since 2021 Azerbaijan GP.
Carlos Sainz, Lewis Hamilton, Lando Norris, Alex Albon, Oscar Piastri and Esteban Ocon rounded out the top ten.
In the drivers’ standings, Verstappen extended his title lead over Perez to 138 points as he continues his march towards a third consecutive title, whilst third-placed Alonso extended his lead over Hamilton to 12 points.
Brief rain showers fell around ten minutes prior to the race start but the circuit remained dry at the start as Verstappen fought off Norris, whilst Russell and Albon got overtaken by Alonso for third after the Spaniard dived up the inside of Turn 3.
The entire grid however were greeted by torrential rain at Turn 11, which forced Perez plus six other drivers to pit immediately for intermediate tyres whilst everyone else stayed out.
Verstappen meanwhile pitted at the end of Lap 2 as Alonso cleared Norris and quickly dived for the pits which left Norris out in the lead but he was passed by Russell into Turn 1, before Russell himself lost the lead to Perez at Turn 8.
Perez led Zhou once the majority of the frontrunners pitted for intermediates but Zhou lost second to Verstappen on Lap 7, after the Dutchman cleared Gasly for third a lap earlier.
Sainz meanwhile found himself stuck behind his Ferrari teammate, Charles Leclerc in sixth place, until the Monegasque driver let him past into Turn 1 on Lap 9.
Track conditions however quickly dried with Magnussen the first to return to slick tyres on Lap 10, which led everyone else bar Kevin Magnussen, Valtteri Bottas and Piastri to follow suit – after the latter trio stayed out in slicks in the wet conditions.
During that particular phase, Verstappen pitted at the end of Lap 11 and undercut Perez who pitted a lap later to regain the lead.
Williams’ Logan Sargeant however was lapped by Perez on Lap 7 and eventually lost control into Turn 8 on Lap 16, which triggered a five-lap Safety Car.
Racing resumed on Lap 22 as Magnussen quickly lost seventh to Albon – after the Dane had started from the pit lane due to a power unit change, with Ocon following through a lap later.
Russell meanwhile pitted for hard tyre under the Safety Car on Lap 17 and found himself playing a long game with the majority of the field on soft tyres, in a quieter middle phase aside from Zhou struggling on the medium tyres to slip outside of the top ten.
Sainz triggered the second round of stops by pitting on Lap 42 whilst Norris and Hamilton found themselves stuck behind Yuki Tsunoda until they made their second stops, which enabled them to jump the AlphaTauri driver.
Up front, Verstappen continued to comfortably lead Perez whilst Alonso suffered a sticky front left tyre during his second stop, which dropped him to fifth but he quickly recovered to third but was unable to pass Perez for second.
Torrential rain showers however swept in on Lap 59 and forced everyone to pit, with Alpine gambling Ocon on wet tyres whilst everyone else played safe with intermediates.
Zhou however crashed at Turn 1 on Lap 63 after aquaplaning under braking which caused a Virtual Safety Car to be deployed and forced Red Bull to pit Verstappen and Perez for the wet tyres on Lap 64, although the red flag was thrown on that lap with Perez stuck in the pit lane.
Perez though had spun off at Turn 1 a lap earlier which cost him second to Alonso, before he slipped to sixth during his stop by virtue of the red flag, which left Verstappen in the lead from Alonso, Gasly, Sainz and Hamilton.
Norris, Russell, Albon and Piastri also pitted at the time of the red flag and rounded out the top ten.
Stewards however decided to promote Perez to third by reverting to the end of the previous lap prior to the red flag, which demoted Gasly, Sainz and Hamilton a position in the order.
The race resumed 43 minutes later under the Safety Car with everyone on intermediate tyres as mandated by race control, in order to avoid a flurry of cars pitting on the restart as seen in recent races where the track dried enough to switch from wet to intermediates at the start.
Race control also opted for a rolling restart which meant that once the Safety Car pitted at the end of Lap 66, Verstappen led the field back racing with the top six holding position as Russell passed Norris through Turn 6 for seventh.
Russell however got a puncture after he clipped Norris’ front wing at Turn 11 despite only making a minor touch, which ended his hopes of a points finish as he pitted for another set of intermediates.
Up front, Verstappen fended off Alonso to take a record-equalling ninth consecutive Grand Prix victory – as he matched Sebastian Vettel’s achievement set in the final nine races of 2013 season.
Perez meanwhile received a five-second time penalty for speeding in the pit lane, which promoted Gasly to third ahead of the Mexican, Sainz, Hamilton, Norris, Albon, Piastri and Ocon who rounded out the top ten.
Liam Lawson meanwhile finished 13th on his first F1 start after he replaced Daniel Ricciardo on Saturday, after the Aussie was ruled out with a left hand injury.
F1 now heads to Monza, Italy next weekend for the Italian GP across 1-3 September, where Verstappen will look to clinch a record tenth consecutive Grand Prix victory.
| Position | Driver | Team | Laps | Time |
| 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 72 | 2h 24m 04.411 |
| 2 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | 72 | + 3.744 |
| 3 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | 72 | + 7.058 |
| 4 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | 72 | + 10.068 |
| 5 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | 72 | + 12.541 |
| 6 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 72 | + 13.209 |
| 7 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 72 | + 13.232 |
| 8 | Alex Albon | Williams | 72 | + 15.155 |
| 9 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 72 | + 16.580 |
| 10 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | 72 | + 18.346 |
| 11 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 72 | + 20.087 |
| 12 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas | 72 | + 20.840 |
| 13 | Liam Lawson | AlphaTauri | 72 | + 26.147 |
| 14 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 72 | + 26.410 |
| 15 | Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo | 72 | + 27.388 |
| 16 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | 72 | + 29.893 |
| 17 | George Russell | Mercedes | 72 | + 55.754 |
| RET | Guanyu Zhou | Alfa Romeo | 62 | Crash |
| RET | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 43 | Mechanical |
| RET | Logan Sargeant | Williams | 15 | Crash |
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