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Toto Wolff: Max Verstappen's dominance is damaging F1 – it is up to us to find a solution
By Tom Cary, Senior Sports Correspondent, at Zandvoort
Toto Wolff conceded that Max Verstappen and Red Bull’s continued dominance of Formula One was damaging the sport, but said there was nothing to be done about it but to look at themselves.
Speaking after Verstappen took an emphatic pole position for Sunday’s Dutch Grand Prix, going six tenths faster than his nearest rival, McLaren’s Lando Norris, and an extraordinary 1.3sec faster than his own Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez - a gap Wolff described as “odd” - the Austrian said he could sympathise with neutrals.
“Unpredictability is what makes the sport exciting,” he said. “That’s not happening because one team and one driver are doing a much better job than anyone else. We need to acknowledge that. It’s down to us to find solutions.”
Verstappen is chasing what would be a record-equalling ninth consecutive win this weekend and is odds on to get it. The double world champion did have to survive a couple of scares en route to pole.
Heavy rain ahead of qualifying had made the track treacherous and the Dutchman almost beached his car in a trap in Q1, managing to make it through and out onto an exit road around the perimeter. “Mate, what the f--- is going on with the car,” he told his race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase. “I’ve got no grip. I’m spinning everything everywhere.”
Verstappen had another heart-in-mouth moment at the start of his final run in Q3, after a couple of red flag delays brought about by crashes involving Williams’ Logan Sargeant and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
“I started the lap, I went into turn one and I thought ‘that’s it’,” Verstappen claimed afterwards. “I braked way too late. So probably my turn one wasn’t fantastic, but I think the rest of the lap was okay. I felt okay with the car.”
It might have made it an interesting race had the double world champion had to start from the back of the field. As it is, barring mishap or misadventure, Verstappen is almost certain to cruise to victory.
George Russell certainly thinks so. “I’m sure he’ll be waving to the crowds on his Sunday drive,” said the Mercedes driver who was delighted with P3 behind Norris, especially with his teammate Lewis Hamilton having such a tough qualifying session.
Hamilton did not make it out of Q2 and will start 13th, Wolff placing the blame unequivocally on AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda, who he accused of impeding Hamilton on his final quick lap. “It’s a shame because the pace was there all weekend and we would have had two cars competing right in the front,” said the Austrian, who urged the stewards to come down hard on the Japanese driver. “If you cheat your tax return and don’t get punished you do it again.”
Hamilton himself did not make much of the Tsunoda incident. “He was in the way a little bit, but it didn’t lose me time. I was just slow today,” he said.
That was not a problem for Norris, who looked so chilled-out during the various stoppages in Q3 he appeared to have fallen asleep in the cockpit at one point.
The battle for the podium should be interesting today with six different teams occupying the top six spots on the grid.
Behind Norris and Russell is Williams’s Alex Albon, who impressed again. Then comes Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, with Carlos Sainz sixth for Ferrari ahead of Perez, all the way back in seventh.
Wolff stressed he did not mean to imply anything untoward when he described the 1.3sec gap from Verstappen to Perez as “odd”, wondering instead whether the Red Bull car was set up on a knife-edge that only Verstappen can master. Either way, he said, the Dutchman was “on another planet”.
Unless he makes a mistake it is difficult to see past another crushing Verstappen win for him. The local favourite did make reference to the “pressure that is always there” with 105,000 members of the Orange Army roaring him on. But he has history in his sights and has made so few errors this season it would be a major surprise if he did not draw level with Sebastian Vettel with that ninth consecutive win.
“I think after about five [wins] in a row, Seb texted me and said ‘You’ve got to keep it up’ but at that point nine wins seemed like a long way away,” Verstappen said. “It’s not something I have in the back of my head. To be on pole here feels great and we have a very strong car for tomorrow, let’s see what we can do.”
Dutch Grand Prix qualifying classification
- Max Verstappen (Ned) Red Bull 1min 10.567secs
- Lando Norris (Gbr) McLaren 1:11.104
- George Russell (Gbr) Mercedes GP 1:11.294
- Alexander Albon (Tha) Williams 1:11.419
- Fernando Alonso (Spa) Aston Martin 1:11.506
- Carlos Sainz Jr. (Spa) Ferrari 1:11.754
- Sergio Perez (Mex) Red Bull 1:11.880
- Oscar Piastri (Aus) McLaren 1:11.938
- Charles Leclerc (Mon) Ferrari 1:12.665
- Logan Sargeant (USA) Williams 1:16.748
- Lance Stroll (Can) Aston Martin 1:20.121
- Pierre Gasly (Fra) Alpine 1:20.128
- Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) Mercedes GP 1:20.151
- Yuki Tsunoda (Jpn) Scuderia AlphaTauri 1:20.230
- Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Haas F1 Team 1:20.250
- Guanyu Zhou (Chn) Alfa Romeo Racing 1:22.067
- Esteban Ocon (Fra) Alpine 1:22.110
- Kevin Magnussen (Den) Haas F1 Team 1:22.192
- Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Alfa Romeo Racing 1:22.260
- Liam Lawson (Nzl) Scuderia AlphaTauri 1:23.420
Was that good?
I think it was one of the better qualifying sessions of the year. There was some jeopardy that Verstappen wouldn’t be in pole. We had a couple of crashes, Norris is back on the front row and Alexander Albon with a storming lap for Williams. Not sure anyone will be able to challenge Verstappen tomorrow, but what else is new?
McLaren’s Zak Brown thinks that Norris had a bit of time in his pocket but not quite the six-tenths that separated him from Verstappen and pole position.
We’ll return tomorrow with the build-up for the Dutch Grand Prix from around 12.40pm.
George Russell speaks after his third
“Really great session, really happy to be here in P3. Came in with a fresh set of ideas, good reset. The lap was okay to be honest. We know we always struggle when it’s either very wet or when it’s the crossover to the slicks and we struggle to get heat into the tyres. Our Saturday weakness is our Sunday strength but hopefully we can have a good fight with Alex, Lando and the rest of the guys. Really happy for Williams and Alex.”
Norris speaks
“I’m happy. P2 was a good result. In these kind of conditions every now and then you hope Max makes a mistake... but he doesn’t. Qualifying is always stressful no matter the conditions. The first half of the lap was mega, the second half of the lap was probably one of the worst second halves I’ve done. I’ve got a bit of work to do. Not the most comfortable but good enough so I’ll take it.”
Verstappen speaks after his pole
“It was a very tricky qualifying, starting of course with the intermediates... it was all about putting your laps in but also staying out of trouble. At the end it was like one dry line in places. We had to risk it a bit but that last lap was very enjoyable. We’ve been to some other places already where we’ve had wet races and stuff... I think we underestimated how quickly it dried. We still did the right thing. The pressure is always there to perform but when you can pull it of it’s incredible.”
Q3 - Verstappen goes fastest...
A 1:10.567... what can Norris do? Piastri had just gone second. Norris beats Piastri but cannot challenge Verstappen... he’s half a second down! Still decent but that is a fine lap from Verstappen.
Alonso into third, but then Albon beats it! What a lap! Russell then nips his old mate Albon for third!
Right, this is a bit tricky now
Four minutes gives the drivers a dilemma in how to approach their final runs. Out-push-cool-push? It’s not impossible. You might struggle to get that in and might get caught up in traffic, and then your push lap time will be set before most others’. It’s risky. Out-push-in is the safest option.
Q3 - RED FLAG
Leclerc has pulled up to the side of the track and it looks like he’s hit the barriers...
He understeered off the track in the middle sector. The tricky double right-handers. It’s a fairly big hit to the left side of the car with the front-left detached. Possible gearbox damage as well as it was a hefty hit to the rear. Not enormous but hefty and possibly at the wrong angle.
Q3 - RED FLAG
Sargeant is in the wall! His first Q3 session and it doesn’t last very long at all. Was that on a charge lap? He had just set a half-decent lap. Looks like he’s hit the front and rear of the car on the barriers. Front first and then spinning him around backwards into the barriers at turn two, I think. That’s what it looks like anyway.
Q2 - Piastri fastest as the clock runs out
Norris is in the drop zone... he cannot afford a bad lap here. Everyone still on intermediates. Hulkenberg into 10th but he surely won’t stay there. He doesn’t as Tsunoda goes 10th... Gasly knocks Hamilton down into 10th and he’s not on an especially good lap.
Sainz goes eighth and knocks Hamilton out! Hamilton comes into the pits... Norris moves into seventh.
And Sargeant puts in a stormer to get into Q3 for the first time this season! Two Williams cars into Q3 and only one Mercedes...
Q2 - Sargeant goes fastest but then Verstappen beats that by a second
Alonso is a couple of seconds behind nearly with Stroll half a second ahead of him. Leclerc moves into third for Ferrari. Piastri does the fastest middle sector of anyone... he gets a tow from a car ahead and moves second, 0.709sec behind Verstappen. Perez down in 14th is improving.
Q1 - Albon had a moment running across the gravel towards the end of the lap
Hulkenberg runs across the gravel himself at turn one. Verstappen does the same as Bottas leads the way currently from Tsunoda. A lot of exploration of lines and various other bits of the circuit. This session is all about building up to the end of the 18 minutes when the track will be at its driest.
It seems like Singapore is the target for Daniel Ricciardo's return
That seems sensible as Monza is surely too soon. Singapore gives him three weeks or so to get into decent shape. These are the remaining races:
August
27: Dutch Grand Prix, Zandvoort
September
3: Italian Grand Prix, Monza
17: Singapore Grand Prix, Singapore
24: Japanese Grand Prix, Suzuka
October
8: Qatar Grand Prix, Lusail +
22: United States Grand Prix, Austin +
29: Mexico City Grand Prix, Mexico City
November
5: Sao Paulo Grand Prix, Sao Paulo +
18: Las Vegas Grand Prix, Las Vegas
26: Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Yas Marina
+ Denotes sprint event weekend
Times after third and final practice
- Max Verstappen (Ned) Red Bull 1min 21.631secs
- George Russell (Gbr) Mercedes GP 1:22.010
- Sergio Perez (Mex) Red Bull 1:22.631
- Fernando Alonso (Spa) Aston Martin 1:22.634
- Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) Mercedes GP 1:22.723
- Alexander Albon (Tha) Williams 1:22.750
- Oscar Piastri (Aus) McLaren 1:22.892
- Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Alfa Romeo Racing 1:22.965
- Charles Leclerc (Mon) Ferrari 1:23.093
- Lando Norris (Gbr) McLaren 1:23.158,
- Pierre Gasly (Fra) Alpine 1:23.210
- Carlos Sainz Jr (Spa) Ferrari 1:23.438
- Yuki Tsunoda (Jpn) Scuderia AlphaTauri 1:23.544
- Logan Sargeant (USA) Williams 1:23.570
- Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Haas F1 Team 1:23.640
- Esteban Ocon (Fra) Alpine 1:23.80
- Lance Stroll (Can) Aston Martin 1:24.058
- Liam Lawson (Nzl) Scuderia AlphaTauri 1:26.343
- Guanyu Zhou (Chn) Alfa Romeo Racing 1:28.482
- Kevin Magnussen (Den) Haas F1 Team No Time
Good afternoon F1 fans
And welcome to our coverage for the 2023 Dutch Grand Prix from Zandvoort. Formula One is back after its three-and-a-bit week summer break but I cannot say that it is all that easy to get enthusiastic about this particular season restarting. Red Bull’s dominance – or rather Max Verstappen’s dominance in the Red Bull – has dulled the appeal of it all a little.
The Dutchman has won the last eight rounds and 10 of the 12 so far, with the RB19 victorious in all of them. Verstappen leads team-mate Sergio Perez by 125 points and his third world championship. In fairness, it would be a pretty interesting season were Verstappen taken out of the equation, but that is not the reality we live in. And, although the fight behind Red Bull has been good, the bottom line is who is winning and there has been a painful lack of variety so far this year.
Even in the Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes years of dominance we had good races, even if the outcome of the championship was obvious. And at least Nico Rosberg was mostly a thorn in his side. It has been a long time since Perez was that to Verstappen.
Anyway, Zandvoort is a decent place for the race and with the threat of rain throughout the weekend it could “spice things up” as the cliche goes. That said, we’ve had a fair few wet sessions over the past couple of months and I am not sure it has made things all that interesting. Or rather, it hasn’t changed the outcome of who stands on the top step of the podium. As I have said many times this season, the best driver in the dry is often the best in the wet and the same goes for the car.
First and second practice were dry but final practice was punctuated with heavy-ish rain showers. We had red and yellow flags and plenty of drivers locking up and sliding off track and the forecast is for more throughout the day and possibly tomorrow.
The big news this weekend, though, is that Daniel Ricciardo has been ruled out of the action with a broken wrist after crashing in second practice yesterday. It was a slightly strange incident that saw him follow compatriot Oscar Piastri into the wall at turn three and scans show a broken metacarpal. He had only just returned to F1 two races previously so this is a setback. Liam Lawson steps into his place for at least this weekend. You would suspect Ricciardo might find it difficult to be fit enough to take part at Monza in less than a week.