2023 Dutch Grand Prix Heroes and Zeroes

[Jericoke]

Heroes
Weather/track.  What a show we got today!  Not just the rain, but the track itself seemed to take the rain on in such a way that the water cleared out quickly, meaning strategy mattered, skill mattered, experience mattered.  There was a lot to see for fans.

Max/Newey.  9 straight wins, both at the the top of them game.  Horner running a team that can keep everything running smoothly.

Alonso.  Maybe the best blend of skill/experience than F1 has ever seen.  Not only can he drive the wheels off his car, he knows exactly when to do so.

Gasly.  He's certainly this season's Jekyll/Hyde driver.  On his good days, he's elite, but on too many days he's ordinary.  Today he was great. Maybe a change in management was what he needed?

Sainz.  Not the best of the best, but held off other drivers at key moments

Albon.  Most F1 drivers have the same skills, the same driving style, and it's just a question of how good they are.  Albon sees the track differently, runs the race differently.  It's a challenge for Williams to give him the race he deserves, but today things worked out well.

Hamilton.  A race like today lets the talent bubble to the top, and despite a bad day from Mercedes, Hamilton managed to create opportunity and then take advantage.

Lawson.  Finishing ahead of your teammate with a single practice session under your belt isn't too shabby!

Zeroes
Mercedes.  They seem to have taken on Ferrari style management of the weekend.  Just a pile of mistakes, and they were lucky that Hamilton was able to produce a not awful result.  Russell had some bad luck, or they might've had a decent enough weekend.

Hard to give anyone else a 'zero'.  Lots of rain, lots of bad luck.  Sargeant certainly had a weekend to forget.  Perez continues to be completely outclassed by his teammate.

[Dare]

At the start I didn't know whether to call it a wet race but I got my answer with 15 laps to go.

A standing start would have been better all 15 laps with real
racing

[Willy]

I watch F1 on F1 TV and we get Jolyon Palmer with guests commentators. This race had David Coulthard as colour commentator and someone else I don't recall.
I am not sure who was talking at the time but they were making up words as they went along and channeling their inner Murray Walker. It was not David as I recognize his Scots accent.

I like the elevation changes and the way the track winds among the hills but there are no real long fast stretches and I wonder if we would be seeing this track back on the calendar if there were no Dutch driver leading the championship right now.
The rain shook this up nicely and Liam Lawson showed real promise.

Once again we watched Red Bull do what they will continue to do until the rules are changed.
Russell whined and Lewis did his best.
Alonso should be running a team or teaching driving as he has such strong skills that he can call upon.

[lkjohnson1950]

I think he really builds confidence in his team when he says "We were close. We will win one this year". Alonzo is pretty amazing.

[cosworth151]

As usual for me any more, I wasn't able to watch the 1st hour of the race. I really enjoyed the part I saw. I think the best thing Max has done for F1 is to get Zanvoort back on the schedule.

Totally agree about Alonso. I'd love to see him pull of a win this season.

[Jericoke]

As usual for me any more, I wasn't able to watch the 1st hour of the race. I really enjoyed the part I saw. I think the best thing Max has done for F1 is to get Zanvoort back on the schedule.

Totally agree about Alonso. I'd love to see him pull of a win this season.

It is kind of crazy how a star driver can cause entire races to happen.  Alonso gave us Valencia, Schumacher made sure we got two races in Germany, and of course Max and Zanvoort (and probably a life extending boost to Spa).

As much as Alonso 'deserves' a win this year, and I'd like to see it, I'm hoping to see RBR run the table, just so I can say I was watching when it happened.  That's about the only thing that can justify RBR's utter dominance by being historically dominant.

[Alianora La Canta]

Hard for me to do this one because the coverage was so poor that even keeping track of what was happening was difficult. There were times when I was thinking, "Yes, that car is broken. We've established this. Go look at the other things that the timing screen says are happening"!