2022 Dutch Grand Prix Formula 1 race winner Max Verstappen Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Max Verstappen can equal Sebastian Vettel's record nine wins in a row this weekend as Formula One heads into the Dutch Grand Prix.
The 25-year-old Red Bull driver can count on a capacity crowd cheering him all the way as he returns home more dominant than ever.
The double world champion is favourite to complete a hat-trick, after winning the two races held at the circuit since it returned to the calendar in 2021, and has a 125 point lead over Mexican team mate Sergio Perez after 12 of 22 rounds.
Red Bull are meanwhile chasing a 14th successive win, and 13th of this season, with the run dating back to Abu Dhabi last year.
Germany's Vettel, now-retired, is the only driver to have won nine races in a row during a single campaign and he did it for Red Bull on his way to a fourth title in 2013.
"I'm excited to get going with the second half of the season now and what better way to start than in the Netherlands," said Verstappen.
"It's an amazing track and of course, the fans are incredible there, so I'm definitely excited to get back on track.
"It looks like the weather could be temperamental there but I don't mind either way, wet or dry, we'll do our best to make sure we score maximum points."
The battle to be best of the rest promises to be more exciting, with Mercedes, Aston Martin, Ferrari and McLaren all ready to pounce if Red Bull have a shock off day and drop the ball.
Ferrari came closest at the previous round in Belgium, with Charles Leclerc finishing third behind the two Red Bulls, and the Monegasque also started on the front row at Zandvoort last year.
"We have a group with Mercedes, Aston, McLaren and sometimes Alpine able to fight for the first rows which means that its an exciting challenge and situation," said Ferrari team boss Fred Vasseur.
"I think its quite impossible to predict who will be in good shape at Zandvoort or Monza," added the Frenchman, saying much depended on track conditions, set-up, how teams managed the weekend and drivers making the difference.
Ferrari's Israeli reserve Robert Shwartzman will take Carlos Sainz's place for first practice as part of team obligations to run a young driver in two sessions over the year.
Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff said Lewis Hamilton and George Russell, who was second in Zandvoort last year, would also be recharged and ready.
"We will push hard in the battle for second in the constructors' championship. We will also be driving development forward for 2024," said the Austrian.
Renault-owned Alpine, under new management after the departure of principal Otmar Szafnauer, will also be hoping for a strong weekend.
"Clearly, the weeks leading up to the break were not easy for everyone at the team," said Alpine's interim principal Bruno Famin.
"There is no change to the team's strategy or objectives, only a change in some personnel as outlined before the break. Zandvoort is an exciting fresh start for all of us and IG��m sure everyone at the team is ready for the challenge."
Max Verstappen at the Dutch Grand Prix Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Formula One statistics for the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort, the 13th race of the 22-round season.
Lap distance: 4.259km. Total distance: 306.587km (72 laps)
2022 pole position: Max Verstappen (Netherlands) Red Bull one minute 10.342 seconds.
2022 race winner: Verstappen
Race lap record: Lewis Hamilton (Britain) Mercedes 1:11.097, 2021
Start time: 1300GMT (1500 local)
NETHERLANDS
The race returned to the calendar in 2021 for the first time since 1985.
Verstappen won in 2021 and 2022, both times from pole position, making him the only current driver on the grid to have won the Dutch Grand Prix.
Zandvoort opened in 1948 in the coastal sand dunes and is often described as "old school" -- a quick and flowing circuit with high-speed changes of direction and much of the lap spent cornering.
Overtaking can be a challenge, putting an emphasis on qualifying.
It is roughly a half-hour train journey from Amsterdam.
The last two banked corners have an angle steeper than the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The 235 metre pit lane is the shortest of the season, and the speed limit is lowered from the usual 80kph to 60kph.
The narrow and twisty track, with 14 corners, is the second shortest on the calendar and the race has only six laps less than Monaco. Only 55% of the lap is spent at full throttle.
WINS
Verstappen has won the last eight races and can equal the record of nine successive wins in a single season set by Sebastian Vettel, also with Red Bull, in 2013.
The Dutch driver has so far won 10 races in 2023. He has 45 wins from 175 starts and is fifth on the all-time list. Alain Prost, with 51, is fourth.
Red Bull have won every race this season (10 for Verstappen, two for Perez) and a total of 13 in a row dating back to Abu Dhabi last year.
No team has ever won every race in a championship season.
Hamilton has a record 103 career victories from 322 starts but has not won since Saudi Arabia in December 2021.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso has 32 wins, most recently in his home Spanish Grand Prix in 2013 with Ferrari, from a record 367 starts.
POLE POSITION
Hamilton's pole in Hungary last month was the record-extending 104th of his career and ended Verstappen's run of five in a row.
Red Bull have been on pole in nine of the season's 12 races, with Charles Leclerc taking the top slot in Azerbaijan and Belgium and Hamilton in Hungary. Verstappen has seven poles for 2023.
PODIUM
Six teams and eight drivers have made a podium appearance this season: Red Bull, Alpine, Aston Martin, McLaren, Mercedes and Ferrari. Verstappen has yet to finish outside the top two.
Verstappen holds the record for most podiums in a season -- 18 in 2021.
Michael Schumacher is the only driver ever to have finished on the podium in every race of a season, in 2002.
POINTS
Verstappen leads Perez by 125 points.
FASTEST LAPS
Five different drivers have taken fastest laps this season - Alfa Romeo's Guanyu Zhou, Verstappen (6), Perez (2) and Mercedes' George Russell and Hamilton (2).
-Reuters