Formula 1 is back from its summer break, and in case you forgot what was happening, the 2023 Heineken Dutch Grand Prix offered a quick summary of the season to date. Red Bull never looked like they weren’t going to win, and hometown hero Max Verstappen delivered yet another crushing performance to earn himself a spot in the record books, alongside Sebastian Vettel and Alberto Ascari as the winners of nine Grands Prix in a row.
His greatest challenge wasn’t from another driver – although Sergio Perez and Lando Norris did technically take turns up front. No, Mother Nature brought in the rain clouds on two separate occasions, creating a dry-wet-dry-wet challenge for drivers and strategists alike (although, again, Verstappen and Red Bull didn’t put a foot wrong).
But with rain comes two things: red flags and controversy, and the Dutch Grand Prix had plenty of either. With a set of regulations that decreases visibility, and intermediate tire that’s great for a wide range of conditions and an extreme wet tire that no driver wants to be on, Jack Swansey and Alex Gintz have a lot to talk about, as they break down the state of wet-weather racing in F1.
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