Max Verstappen sent his legion of orange-clad supporters into euphoria after winning a chaotic 2023 Dutch Grand Prix as Red Bull continued their domination of the F1 season.
Fernando Alonso and Aston Martin returned on the rostrum for the first time since Canada, whilst Pierre Gasly ended his two-year podium drought with third.
Total-Motorsport.com’s driver ratings for the 2023 Dutch GP assesses all 20 drivers based on their qualifying and race performances at Zandvoort.
Team errors such as a slow pit stop or poor strategy do not affect our ratings as they are no fault of the drivers. Instead, our driver ratings solely look at how well the drivers got on throughout the weekend in the Netherlands.
F1 Driver Ratings – Dutch GP 2023
Max Verstappen 9.5/10
Qualifying: 1st – Race: 1st
The home hero continued where he left off with a dominating display where he didn’t put a foot wrong and duly delivered another victory.
Fernando Alonso 8.5/10
Qualifying: 5th – Race: 2nd
A cunning move on Albon into Turn 3, followed by a steady drive to second, secured Alonso’s first podium since Canada after an excellent weekend’s work.
Pierre Gasly 8/10
Qualifying: 12th – Race: 3rd
Until race day, it hadn’t been a stellar weekend for Gasly, but after vaulting up the order, he kept his cool and ate up the gap to Perez, picking up his first podium since Baku 2021.
Sergio Perez 6/10
Qualifying: 7th – Race: 4th
Out-qualified and out-raced by his teammate, Perez had a low-key weekend and threw away a podium by speeding in the pits and spinning off in awful conditions.
Carlos Sainz 8/10
Qualifying: 6th – Race: 5th
On a track where Ferrari was not quick enough, Sainz had a good weekend where he out-qualified his teammate and was unlucky not to get a better reward for his efforts.
Lewis Hamilton 7.5/10
Qualifying: 13th – Race: 6th
It had looked hopeless for most of the weekend for Hamilton, but a superb comeback drive from as low as 15th softened the blow.
Lando Norris 7.5/10
Qualifying: 2nd – Race: 7th
Second to only Verstappen in qualifying, Norris couldn’t capitalise on his front-row start after being forced to play catch-up courtesy of an ill-timed pitstop.
Alex Albon 8/10
Qualifying: 4th – Race: 8th
After becoming the hero of Qualifying, Albon knew he had a tough race ahead with faster cars behind. Unfortunately, a poor strategy call meant he was unable to deliver a better result.
Oscar Piastri 5.5/10
Qualifying: 8th – Race: 9th
Piastri gave himself more work to, with a crash in FP2, and although he dusted himself down and picked up solid points, it was arguably one of the Australian’s more lowkey weekends.
Esteban Ocon 5/10
Qualifying: 16th – Race: 10th
Ocon was a surprise Q1 exit, but it looked as though he struck gold when the rain came down. However, the red flag followed, and one point was all he could take from Zandvoort.
Lance Stroll 3.5/10
Qualifying: 11th – Race: 11th
With questions circulating, he may call time on his F1 career, Stroll had an uneventful weekend, finishing where he started and way off the pace of his teammate.
Nico Hulkenberg 5/10
Qualifying: 14th – Race: 12th
Neither a spin in FP1 nor the lack of points was a great way to celebrate a contract renewal for Hulkenberg, who could achieve little with a Haas, which was off the boil.
Liam Lawson 7.5/10
Qualifying: 20th – Race: 13th
Thrown in mid-weekend, Lawson had a tough task on his maiden GP meeting, but he performed well despite picking up a 10-second pen for impeding.
Valtteri Bottas 4/10
Qualifying: 19th – Race: 14th
Like most weekends in 2023, Bottas was innocuous and finished once again mid-pack with an extended points drought.
Yuki Tsunoda 5/10
Qualifying: 14th [started 17th] – Race: 15th
Tsunoda looked to have made amendments after picking up a grid drop for blocking Hamilton, but a broken front wing when running in the points meant he could not stay there.
Kevin Magnussen 3.5/10
Qualifying: 18th [started from pit lane] – Race: 16th
2024 plans finally confirmed Magnussen had a pair of offs and was forced to start from the pits, forcing him to gamble on a strategy which didn’t bear fruit.
George Russell 7/10
Qualifying: 3rd – Race: 17th
Russell’s hard work from qualifying was washed away after being boxed too late, ending all hope of a podium. A valiant comeback drive followed until a puncture put him out of contention.
Zhou Guanyu 4.5/10
Qualifying: 16th – Race: DNF
Zhou ran as high as second following the first wave of showers, but the Alfa’s pace meant he couldn’t hold his position before falling foul of worsening conditions.
Charles Leclerc 4.5/10
Qualifying: 9th – Race: DNF
Everything that could go wrong did for Leclerc, crashing in qualifying before having his race wrecked by front wing and floor damage, ultimately ending his day early.
Logan Sargeant 3.5/10
Qualifying: 10th – Race: DNF
Q3 appearance aside, Zandvoort was a wretched weekend for Sargeant, with two crashes and no points all he could muster
