Rain causes CHAOS as Sergio Perez pits and leads Dutch GP

Verstappen talking to Perez during the Belgian GP weekend — Photo: © LAT Images

Dutch Grand Prix

LAP ONE REPORT: Rain causes CHAOS as Perez pits and leads Dutch GP

It got crazy at the start of the Dutch GP as the heavens opened and the pack was well and truly shuffled

Joe Ellis

Sunday 27 August 2023 15:10 Updated: 21:17

The Dutch GP had a very spicy opening lap as rain poured onto the Zandvoort track and caused chaos.

Max Verstappen remained in the lead at the end of the first lap but his team-mate Sergio Perez came into the pits and soon found himself out front as the track became too wet for dry tyres.

Zhou Guanyu found himself in second while Pierre Gasly jumped up to third by being among the first to pit.

Article continues under video

Charles Leclerc also came in early but Ferrari, in typical fashion, was not ready and he had to wait for intermediate tyres to emerge from the garage, costing him a lot of time.

Shuffled order

It may have still been a Red Bull at the front but it certainly wasn't the one we were expecting as the pecking order got switched around in a big way.

Fernando Alonso, who made an excellent start on dry tyres, found himself fifth behind Gasly and Zhou, who were quickly disposed of by Verstappen.

Yuki Tsunoda and Kevin Magnussen found themselves in the points behind the two Ferraris while both Mercedes and McLaren cars were left outside the top 10.