Poll: Official 2023 Dutch Grand Prix Thread - Circuit Zandvoort - Round 14

Rate the Dutch race

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chrismscotland

chrismscotland

chrismscotland

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Zandvoort​

When was the track built?​

Like Silverstone, Zandvoort was first opened in 1948, part of the wave of post-war motorsport enthusiasm that swept across Europe. Originally made up of a mixture of permanent track and public roads that snaked through the sand dunes of the Zandvoort resort town, the Dutch Automobile Racing Club – who initiated the plans for the circuit – brought in 1927 Le Mans winner Sammy Davis to consult on the layout for the original 4.2km track.

When was its first Grand Prix?​

Formula 1 arrived in the Dutch dunes in 1952, with Alberto Ascari dominating the race as he led home a 1-2-3 for Ferrari. Formula 1 would go on to race on and off at the track until 1985 – before, in 2019, the announcement came that the championship would return to Zandvoort for 2020, after a 35-year hiatus. The Covid-19 pandemic meant that became 36 years and a 2021 date.

What’s the circuit like?​

‘Really quick’, ‘pretty insane’, ‘crazy’ and ‘old-school’ were words used by the current crop of F1 drivers when asked to describe the Zandvoort track that many of them tackled in their junior category days. We’d also add ‘undulating’ to that list. The Zandvoort track swoops and flows through the sand dunes, creating a rollercoaster-like feel to the lap. And while the circuit was modernised in time for F1’s most recent return – including increasing the banking angle at the famous Tarzan corner to an Indianapolis Motor Speedway-trumping 18 degrees – Zandvoort remains a proper, challenging drivers’ track.

Why go?​

Zandvoort combines a lot of enticing features for an F1 fan. There’s the historic track, which famously featured in John Frankenheimer’s Grand Prix, and was the scene of many great F1 moments over the years (Gilles Villeneuve’s three-wheeled lap, anyone?). There’s the atmosphere, which with Max Verstappen on the grid is always guaranteed to be electric, and most definitely orange-hued. And then there’s the beachside location, just a 30-minute train ride outside of Amsterdam. What’s not to love?

Where is the best place to watch?​

We recommend taking to either the first turn at Tarzan, or to one of the banked corners, either at Arie Luyendijkbocht – the final turn on the track – or Hugenholtzbocht. For F1’s 2021 return, the latter corner was both widened and banked into a parabolic corner, to allow cars to run side by side, and at the same speed, through it. Exciting is an understatement…

Dutch Grand Prix 2023 - Schedule Information & TV Broadcast Times​

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Channel 4 Highlights - Broadcast Times​

Saturday 26th August - Dutch GP Qualifying Highlights - 18:45
Sunday 27th August - Dutch GP Race Highlights - 18:30


Weekend Weather Forecast (as at 11:26 on 23/08/2023)​



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Track Diagram & Information​



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Previous Race Highlights​

Championship Standings​

Drivers Championship​


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Constructors Championship​


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Just a reminder, but consider it a warning - can we not have any further derogatory name calling of drivers, team bosses and the like. We don't expect you to like every driver/team, but at least keep comments respectful.

If you don't follow this warning, you will lose access to the race thread and the thread for the following race as well.

This includes but is not limited to such terms including Lulu, Crashstappen, Karen Horner, Whingey Spice etc.
 
SKILL said:
I wouldn't say perfect, he'd need to be more consistent, some of his performances (both this year and last) in the best car on the grid have been kinda awful...
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I imagine they don't overly care though provided Max keeps winning every race. They're going to walk the constructors and drivers championships, it's not like Max has really had any off days either this season.

The concern for Red Bull with having a more competitive driver in that second seat is you get a Hamilton/Rosberg situation where they take points off each other and have incidents (like Max and Danny Ric had when they were teammates) - and if you've got another competitive team who aren't too far away then you just allow them the opportunity to sneak a few wins and make the championship closer. The sort of stuff that is ideal for us watching but less ideal for the team at the front.

2014 was a walk in the park for Mercedes - but it was a really exciting season to watch because Hamilton and Rosberg just traded blows nonstop.
 
The racing has been quite interesting this season when you ignore Verstappen's achievements.

From a team's point of view, I agree Perez is ideal in that he rarely troubles Verstappen once the season gets underway, a true number two driver.
 
t2na said:
I imagine they don't overly care though provided Max keeps winning every race. They're going to walk the constructors and drivers championships, it's not like Max has really had any off days either this season.

The concern for Red Bull with having a more competitive driver in that second seat is you get a Hamilton/Rosberg situation where they take points off each other and have incidents (like Max and Danny Ric had when they were teammates) - and if you've got another competitive team who aren't too far away then you just allow them the opportunity to sneak a few wins and make the championship closer. The sort of stuff that is ideal for us watching but less ideal for the team at the front.

2014 was a walk in the park for Mercedes - but it was a really exciting season to watch because Hamilton and Rosberg just traded blows nonstop.
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I was thinking more like a Bottas-like number 2 (not that I think Bottas was officially/treated like a #2 at Merc), someone who fundamentally isn't quite quick enough to really challenge Max but is consistent enough to put the car in 2nd or very close 'most' of the time.

Perez has like 3 tracks where he's stupidly good, better than Max, maybe 3-5 other tracks where he's good enough to get 2nd easily, but that leaves a whole lot of races where he's nowhere. Fine now when Max has 1s+ a lap over everyone else and is just cruising but next year or the year after if/when another team gets close Perez will become a liability...
 
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One month off and still all that’s worth talking about is how poor Perez is :D
He would be long gone if the red bull wasn’t so much faster than the opposition.
Hopefully some teams gain a little ground during the rest of the season and can make next year a bit more competitive
 
It's interesting reading some of the articles over the break about how the cost cap is impacting upgrades. Basically meaning instead of brining out every upgrade as it's made, rolling a number of incremental upgrades in to one. Which is why we're seeing side wide variances in performance such as McLaren jumping up the pecking order. Under the old system, they would have crept up the grid instead of one big jump. So maybe not beyond the realms of possibility a team makes that jump to match Red Bull towards the end of the season as the caps on Red Bull's development start to have an impact.

Though I still find it hard to think it will happen as often Max is cruising to 20-30 second victory so we don't really know how fast that Red Bull can go (obviously we know in quali but race pace is different)
 
Still undecided to carry on following f1 or not now with f1tv gone.

Not really feeling it. Will watch highlights but feels different even though I used to watch highlights.

I think what doesn't help is highlights sometimes are so late on 4od,i don't see the race until Monday.

Not excited at all. And this is a first following the summer break
 
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