Max Verstappen took a superb record-equalling ninth consecutive FIA Formula 1 World Championship race victory in the Dutch Grand Prix that was twice hit by rain and saw a late red flag following a deluge that struck Circuit Zandvoort.

Starting from pole position, Verstappen held onto the lead into turn one from Lando Norris, but rain was already falling around the track, and the decision was to be made by the drivers whether to stay on slick tyres or switch to intermediates.

The first driver to dive into the pit lane was Oracle Red Bull Racing’s Sergio Pérez, who had not much to lose having started down on the fourth row of the grid.  He was followed into the pits by the likes of Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake’s Zhou Guanyu and BWT Alpine F1 Team’s Pierre Gasly as well as Kevin Magnussen and both Scuderia AlphaTauri drivers.

It quickly became apparent that the rain was hard enough to take to the pit lane, and Verstappen made his own stop at the end of lap two, as did the likes of Fernando Alonso, but Norris, George Russell, Alexander Albon, Oscar Piastri and Valtteri Bottas all opted to continue on slicks.

Pérez had significant pace advantage over those on the slicks and took over the lead before the end of the third lap, while Verstappen was more than ten seconds back on his team-mate despite pitting just a lap later.  Running second at this stage thanks to his own lap one tyre switch gamble was Zhou, while Verstappen was a few places further back having lost ground.

However, the Dutchman was a driver on a mission and was comfortably faster than Pérez and was closing the gap on his team-mate.  However, the rain had stopped and the track was drying, and when the slick-shod drivers were back on the pace, pit stops for those now on intermediates began to switch back to dry weather tyres.

Verstappen was given the first chance to pit by Red Bull, with Pérez following in on the next lap.  However, it was a role reversal compared to lap one, with the championship leader getting the jump on the Mexican and reclaiming the lead, one he would not give up again.

The safety car was deployed on lap sixteen when Logan Sargeant crashed his Williams Racing at turn eight after what appeared to be a car failure, his steering wheel indicating a brake-by-wire failure.

Verstappen continued in the lead at the restart ahead of Pérez and Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula 1 Team’s Alonso, while there was soon to be trouble for Scuderia Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who was struggling with a damaged car after losing downforce following a first lap tangle with one of the McLarens.

Leclerc appeared to have no pace compared to team-mate Carlos Sainz Jr., with the Monegasque driver sliding down the field before being called into the pit lane to retire by his engineers.

But there was to be one more twist.  Rain. Heavy rain. 

Pérez again was one of those to pit early when the rain began to fall with Verstappen coming in a lap later, but this time the rain was too much for intermediates.  Firstly, Pérez spun at turn one and hit the barriers with his rear wing, before Yuki Tsunoda went off track at the same place, the Japanese driver able to survive by running through the gravel trap.

However, Zhou was not so lucky, the Alfa Romeo driver aquaplaning straight into the barriers at the same turn, and not long after the red flags flew.  Pérez had been in the pit lane switching to the full wet tyres but was unable to return to the circuit and was initially showing as fifth.  He was also seen to have clipped the wall entering the pit lane for his second hit in just a few laps.

The race was halted while the weather cell passed over the circuit, and there was eight laps remaining when the decision was made to resume behind the safety car for two laps.  Verstappen was leading ahead of Alonso and Pérez, while Gasly, who had taken a five-second time penalty earlier in the race for speeding in the pit lane was fourth ahead of Sainz.

Verstappen was able to control the restart well, and although Alonso was tempted to try an overtake, the Aston Martin driver opted to maintain position and settle for second place.

Pérez, however, was unable to join them on the podium after becoming another driver to take a five-second time penalty for speeding in the pit lane, and he fell to fourth as Gasly claimed his first podium finish of his Alpine career.

Sainz ended fifth in what was a good drive from the Spaniard, while Lewis Hamilton recovered from leaving it late to pit for intermediates in the first few laps to finish sixth for the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team.

Having started on the front row, Norris made the mistake of staying on slicks through the first rain shower and fell towards the back of the pack, although he was lucky to see the field close up behind the safety car.  Ultimately, he finished seventh after some good overtakes, particularly into turn one, and he was followed home by the similarly compromised Albon and Piastri. 

The final point went the way of Esteban Ocon after Russell saw his chance of points end after contact at the chicane with Norris.  Russell suffered a puncture that required a pit stop, which meant he ended up seventeenth and last of those who saw the chequered flag.

Just missing out on points was Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll in eleventh, while Nico Hülkenberg was the best of the MoneyGram Haas F1 Team drivers in twelfth.  Team-mate Magnussen ended up fourteenth despite having timed his pit stops to intermediates and slicks to perfection to run as high as seventh, but the Dane just did not have the pace to maintain his position inside the top ten.

Tsunoda finished on the road in thirteenth but was handed a five-second penalty for forcing Russell off track as the two battled over a position inside the top ten, with the Japanese driver ending down in sixteenth as a result, just behind Alfa Romeo’s Bottas.

The penalty promoted team-mate Liam Lawson to thirteenth on race debut, the New Zealander showing well despite having only jumped into the AT04 for the first time on Saturday morning following Daniel Ricciardo’s withdrawal with a wrist injury after Friday practice. 

He also recovered from a ten-second time penalty for impeding Magnussen in the pit lane as AlphaTauri double stacked their cars at the end of lap one, while his best moment was fighting with and passing Leclerc just before the Ferrari driver retired.

But no one had an answer for Verstappen, who claimed win number eleven of the season, and he will be looking to break another record in the Italian Grand Prix next weekend, which will be to become the first driver in history to win ten consecutive races.