2023 Dutch GP: Post Race Analysis

Great post, as always.

Ferrari was not ready for LeClerc to pit because the team has no idea ... literally ... where their cars are on the track, or in the pit lane, at any given moment. I used to joke that "state of the art" telemetry for Ferrari meant some guy on the pit wall with a stop-watch. I was wrong. The guy with the stop-watch is seated deep inside the garage.

EVERYONE knows it's about to start pouring rain ... no matter if the decision to pit is a last-second call by the team or the driver, the pit crew should be READY. Instead, the pit crew had no clue that a tire change was "imminent", and had no clue that LeClerc was coming in until he was parked in front of the garage.

What a complete and utter embarrassment. Worst part? Ferrari won't even understand that they did something wrong, by not being fully prepared.

I agree ... it really is tough to be a Ferrari fan.

 

You act like this was Ferrari's 1st time one of their drivers comes into the pits and the pit crew wasn't ready.

It's happened before..........which is why I wasn't surprised to see it yet again. Amateurish to say the least from a number of people behind the pit wall.

Brazil 2022 when Leclerc came into the pits....remember?

 

I'm fully aware. Which is why i said i used to think the full extent of Ferrari's telemetry was a stop-watch on the pit wall. Turns out, i was being generous ...

 

Well, at this point a Ferrari double DNF might have been even better. Even the commentators don't talk about them anymore. Only one shot of Vassuer the Toad. And who do we thank for Sainz's amazing 8 second pitstop. Surely they knew in the pits that it was raining. Good for Alonzo...he's going to fight to the very end of the season, no matter how dark things can sometimes get. Charles and Carlos will be lucky to hold on to 7th and 8th in the drivers' championship.

 

Ferrari was an embarrassment today, plain and simple.

 

Ferrari has an entertainment value one cannot ignore; you never know how they are going to get their knickers in a twist next.

 

I was kinda disappointed to see LeClerc retire ... i was looking forward to an epic battle between LeClerc and Liam Lawson in his AlphaTauri

 

Ouch!

 

Good summary. I agree it was the best race of the year from a viewer’s perspective. Alonso had a brilliant drive, and Max and team actually had to work for this one. Gasly’s excitement was unlike anything — a stark contrast to the familiar motions of the usual suspects.


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Gotta have The Show!!

 

I'll have to rewatch the race, there was so much going on sitting track side it wasn't very easy to follow.

I posted some of my own experiences already in the quali thread. My back had pretty much completely given up at that point already which definitely didn't make my situation any more fun.

I left the track the moment the drivers crossed the line and started to walk toward the train station. We were lucky; we got on the first train (already packed) and by the time we got to the house we rented, we could still get a taxi (note, this place was what I assumed wouldn't have many F1 fans staying, and certainly didn't see many on the train). However, a few friends of mine who stayed in paddock left about 1.5 hours after us and the train station was absolutely swamped. Phoned me trying to figure out if I knew anyone at all. I did have one friend who had a sticker to get in and out of town but he'd been drinking at the track and couldn't risk his license. It took them a good 3 hours to finally get to where we were...which met us with the next problem. Every single taxi company I phoned had no taxi for hours. None. Luckily the owner of the restaurant we where sitting in (Taj Mahal in Noordwijk if anyone ever visits!) and he said he would pick them up! So that was their evening rescued. Top marques to that man! I want to make it clear that it was only on Sunday going home that it was an issue with the trains for people. My guess is most going home after partying the whole weekend.


The atmosphere at the track and in town was absolutely amazing Obviously it was 95% Max fans but still saw people with Ferrar/Mercedes/Mclaren/Aston stuff walking around, and some diehards from the old days with really worn Michael Schumacher hats or even Minardi/Orange Arrows stuff. Everyone was very friendly and no one cares if anyone supports another. Zhou crashed in front of me and behind me 4 guys in Alfa Romeo gears immediately had so many people offer their sympathies to them. Cheers when others where overtaking others, even the Merc boys doing overtakes was met with cheers.

Zandvoort itself, I know it very well of course but it was like I landed on planet Max. the whole town is completely transformed into everything F1. People selling things such as cold drinks, home made snacks, little girls selling F1 themed armbands, hell, even a woman and her son were selling poncho's for just 3 euroes each when every single surrounding town had none left...It was all done in the spirit to make it seem as enjoyable as possible and they certainly succeeded. The party in town on Saturday night was something else entirely. I've never seen anything like it.

My advice for anyone contemplating going: Absolutely do. I'm going to guess not everyone's back seizes up on trips like this or are just normal size so they actually don't have much issues with the seats, so that's very much a me problem. If you somehow can stay in Zandvoort, absolutely do! My group was far too large to even attempt to find accommodation but for smaller groups if you do go, just send me a message and I *may* be able to help you out as I know a few people that rent out apartments etc.

 

This is what astounded me. Sitting in the grandstands it was clear the moment the formation lap started, inters were the tyres to be on. I was actually surprised not to see more get in the pit after the formation lap to be honest. And more so during lap one, so few pitted. It was completely obvious.

 

Fantastic post Bas, it almost feels like being there. Many thanks!

 

Pleasure my friend