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Sun, sea, sand and a lot of showers at Zandvoort kept us well entertained this weekend. But even with the weather wreaking havoc, the winner of the Dutch GP was never seriously in doubt. There would have been a riot of orange if Max Verstappen hadn't taken victory and equalled Sebastian Vettel's record of nine in a row! But it was an exciting, unpredictable race full of action, commendable performances - and a few mishaps.
Logan Sargeant (Accident, Lap 15): 7/10
Williams hadn't been expecting Zandvoort to be a good weekend for them, but the FW45 turned out to be surprisingly lively in the Dutch Grand Prix with both Logan Sargeant and Alex Albon making it all the way through to the final round of qualifying. That was a welcome first for the American, who since the exit of Nyck de Vries has been the driver in the crosshairs of those discussing who will be the next man on the grid for the chop. He did end the session in the barrier but it's not like he would have been hoping for better than tenth on the grid anyway. He also crashed early in the race having stuck out the early rain on a set of slicks, but footage showed that was due to something breaking on the car (hydraulics or maybe suspension?) after striking a kerb rather than driver error so we're inclined to give the American rookie the benefit of the doubt for that one. Overall, both Sargeant and the FW45 showed some real ability and confidence this week, and hopefully there will be more to come in Monza.
Charles Leclerc (Damage, Lap 41): 6.5/10
What a miserable week for Charles Leclerc, who seemed waterlogged throughout the Dutch GP weekend. Not in the top ten at all on Friday, it was a slight surprise when he made it into the final round of qualifying - even if he did end up in the barrier during Q3. He'd been finding the Ferrari a handful long before that, with frequent forays into the turn 1 run-off during final practice, and nor did he get a chance to redeem himself in the race after an early clash with Oscar Piastri at the start left him with floor damage that only got worse as the afternoon wore on. Ferrari not being ready with intermediates when he made an early stop in the rain did less harm than it might have done. But when he found himself struggling to stay ahead of AlphaTauri debutant Liam Lawson in a battle over P15 it was clear there was nothing left to gain and it was time to head to the garage, get a restorative espresso and focus on next week's race.
