Can’t miss it. He is the great favorite. He is in a state of grace and, after eight consecutive victories, he wants to go for the ninth at home, in front of his people. The first step in that direction should be taken this Saturday. And he was right again. Max Verstappen won pole position at the Formula 1 Dutch GP in a classification that started in the wet and finished in the dry. In changing conditions, this season he showed that his pulse did not tremble either. And with a dry ending, nothing can stop him. The McLarens passed him before the final attempt, after several stops due to red flags. And then, at the decisive moment, there was a shout of joy from the whole crowd that should have reached all the way to Amsterdam.
The ‘Orange Tide’, dedicated to its idol, celebrated a new pole position for a Max who, at 25 years old, already has 28 pole positions.less than one of the greatest in history, Juan Manuel Fangio, champion of 5 crowns. The leader of the World Cup remains unstoppable and in his garden he did not disappoint. He has warned that the pressure to satisfy all his fans with another victory will not weigh heavily on him. Two consecutive wins here and this Sunday he will go at it from the first position in the view of Norris (2nd), Russell (3rd), Albon (4th), Alonso (5th) and Sainz (6th) for his third win in the Netherlands, with his partner Pérez in the distance, in 7th place at 1″3.
CLASSIFICATION RESULTS
GP NETHERLANDS F1 2023
1. Max Verstappen (PB/Red Bull) 1:10.567
2. Lando Norris (GBR/McLaren) 1:11.104
3. George Russell (GBR/Mercedes) 1:11.294
4. Alexander Albon (THA/Williams) 1:11.419
5. Fernando Alonso (ESP/Aston Martin) 1:11.506
6. Carlos Sainz (ESP/Ferrari) 1:11.754
7. Sergio Perez (MEX/Red Bull) 1:11.880
8. Oscar Piastri (AUS/McLaren) 1:11.938
9. Charles Leclerc (MON/Ferrari) 1:12.665
10. Logan Sargeant (USA/Williams) 1:16.748
11. Lance Stroll (CAN/Aston Martin) 1:20.121
12. Pierre Gasly (FRA/Alpine) 1:20.128
13. Lewis Hamilton (GBR/Mercedes) 1:20.151
14. Yuki Tsunoda (JPN/AlphaTauri) 1:20.230
15. Nico Hulkenberg (Germany/Haas) 1:20.250
16. Zhou Guanyu (CHN/Alfa Romeo) 1:22.067
17. Esteban Ocon (FRA/Alpine) 1:22.110
18. Kevin Magnussen (DIN/Haas) 1:22.192
19. Valtteri Bottas (FIN/Alfa Romeo) 1:22.260
20. Liam Lawson (NZL/AlphaTauri) 1:23.420
Qualifying was complicated in Q1, with wet and slippery asphalt, and in Q2, for intermediates, drying on the forced march. It was so complicated that Leclerc barely made it past Q2 and Lewis Hamilton starred in a negative surprise by staying out of Q3, which had to start on Sunday the 13th. Carlos Sainz also took a risk in that Q2, marking a clear plan for his engineer, to put the new intermediate to perform his last lap, which helped him get into the top 10.
Once there, the battle begins, with everyone riding the soft tires. However, the track is still very slippery and any mistake can end anyone’s chances. Sargeant was the first to warn everyone that there was a heavy crash into the barriers heading into Turn 3. And after the red flag, when action resumed, Leclerc, who has always suffered in this type of qualifying this year, ended up fighting at turn 9.
Charles is on fire, marking a micro sector in purple. But as has happened many times before, in a very sensitive car like the Ferrari, it was too much on the wire that in the end it fell.
At that moment, the two McLarens, very fast at Zandvoort, held the first two provisional places, with Norris 1st and Piastri in second place before Verstappen, who had to attack. Only 4 minutes left. The Dutchman played it with one card. All or nothing. He wants pole position and he will attack everything for it. It will be worth its cost. Norris led Max by a few thousandths in the first sector. But the English made a mistake in the second sector. That’s what makes Lando different from Max. The two-time world champion is rarely wrong. At the most delicate moment, when he is the most burnt out tire, Max takes it with all his might to make a change in his class and ambition. He did it again. Verstappen overtook Norris and took pole position. Zandvoort went crazy.
Alonso, 5th
In the classification of the three previous races, Fernando Alonso has been 9th, 8th and 9th. Aston Martin suffered a lap away and was overtaken by McLaren, Mercedes and Ferrari. The green team responded with a major upgrade package focused on the floor and diffuser for this race to start their comeback. And although he still couldn’t fight to be in the top 3 in ‘qualification’, there was an improvement in the dry, based on how happy Fernando Alonso was after noticing a step forward in his car on track. Fernando Alonso will start 5th this Sunday, closer to the podium, and now we have to see what long run rhythm this renewed Aston Martin has. It could have been a perfect 7th or 8th if Hamilton had got into Q3, if Leclerc hadn’t made a mistake and if ‘Checo’ had performed better, but there is already a car in that group and not a step back as he is inside. previous appointments. The rest was put by Alonso with his hands, because unlike the aforementioned rivals, he did not disappoint and won those places from Lewis, Charles and ‘Checo’.
The Spaniard can dream of something better if the change of conditions continues, as in the case of his great ‘qualification’ in Canada, where with the drying of the track he sits as a professor. This time the track dried out too quickly due to the wind at Zandvoort. In Q3, already in dry conditions, he finished 5th, not bad as a starting point for the comeback that the green team wants to lead for the rest of the year.
Sainz, 6th
Carlos Sainz will be Ferrari’s first sword for this Sunday’s race. Leclerc melted down at a crucial moment in his accident and will start 9th, while Carlos Sainz will start 6th. Ferrari suffered badly on the first day of free practice, with two of its drivers far from comfortable in the car, and things were complicated by rain in Free 3, which prevented Carlos and Leclerc from testing changes to dry setting. So they reached the classification and the Spaniard showed great confidence. First, because he was not nervous in Q2, that the track dried up at a forced speed. He told his engineer over the radio the strategy: “The track has dried out very quickly. We will put the intermission on for the last lap.” He took a risk, because any red flag could leave him. Also a mistake. But it didn’t fail. He entered the top 10 and in Q3 he got the 6th best time at 1″187.
In the race, Pérez, who starts 7th in a Red Bull, should be stronger and that position should be given up. Carlos will be looking for the maximum with a Ferrari that will have to see if this time melts or not on Sunday with tire wear.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
