Alpine's bizarre pattern of success & AlphaTauri's tough Lawson call - Dutch GP diary

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Why Nyck de Vries was close to an F1 comeback at the Dutch GP; Ricciardo's ambitious comeback hopes; and rare praise for race control: Chris Medland's F1 diary from the Zandvoort paddock

Pierre Gasly holds three fingers up on podium at 2023 Dutch GP

Alpine's successes in 2023 have come in stormy circumstances

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Back to action after the summer break and with it came one of the most chaotic and challenging races for the teams to handle. But the 2023 Dutch Grand Prix was also a test for those running the event, and for one driver it’s going to be a weekend that affects them for a number of weeks to come.

 

Praise where it’s due for F1 race control

Nobody wants to see a race stopped, but race control absolutely made the right decision with the way it handled the weather on Sunday. It didn’t get spooked by the incoming shower at the start of the race and the drivers duly were left to battle a wet track on slick tyres but in manageable conditions that made for a dramatic opening.

Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton amid heavy rain at 2023 Dutch Grand Prix

Hamilton wades through the Zandvoort downpour

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Then when the latter threat grew, you could tell that race director Niels Wittich was preparing to for it to be particularly heavy and that he might need to red flag the race. It was a decision almost taken out of his hands by Zhou Guanyu’s crash as it left a car in the firing line where multiple had already aquaplaned off, but even without that the level of rain was too intense to race in.

A 43-minute delay felt like it was bordering on being too long but the reasoning was to make sure the track was in fit enough condition so that a restart could happen quickly rather than more racing laps be lost behind the safety car. Monitoring more rain, the decision was made that any further showers would be light enough to race in, so the resumption was well-timed and the FIA committed to a restart after two laps behind the safety car.

Crashed Alfa Romeo of Zhou Guanyu at 2023 Dutch Grand Prix

Zhou’s Alfa Romeo was right in the firing line

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It has been easy to criticise race control on many occasions, but on Sunday it felt like it got a number of very tough decisions right.

 

The drama around Daniel Ricciardo

Friday practice on a normal race weekend is meant to be a relatively serene affair, devoid of controversy or major action. But the double crash for Oscar Piastri and Daniel Ricciardo definitely put paid to that at Zandvoort.

Daniel Ricciardo sits on crashed AlphaTauri holding his broken hand at 2023 Dutch Grand Prix

Ricciardo waits for medical attention after crash and (inset) returning to the paddock after diagnosis

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Firstly, Ricciardo’s broken hand is a reminder of the forces involved in any racing accident. Even something that looks relatively innocuous tends to be a car coming to an abrupt stop at speeds you and I would find terrifying, and the snapback from the steering wheel was enough to leave the Australian with a fracture as he hadn’t got his hands clear in time.

It was quickly obvious he was in trouble given the way he was holding his arm and AlphaTauri immediately went into contingency planning.

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It was coincidentally earlier in the same day that I’d learned Nyck de Vries is still contracted to Red Bull in some form – sensibly given the fact Ricciardo’s race seat means one fewer reserve and it therefore might provide the Dutchman with another unexpected chance at some stage – and at his home race with limited practice time left it wasn’t an easy decision for Helmut Marko to make.

Of course he wants to test his drivers and had more to learn about Liam Lawson than de Vries, but it was also a massive challenge to expect Lawson to get up to speed with just one (wet) practice session on such a difficult track. Plus de Vries had already raced well at Monza last year…

All of those factors left Lawson a nervous wreck in the intervening hours before a final call was made. Not because of the prospect of driving, but the prospect of not getting the nod, as he feared de Vries would be recalled and another chance might pass him by. The New Zealander badly wanted to show what he could do regardless of the odds being stacked against him, and that’s exactly the mindset that Red Bull and Marko will want to see.

Liam Lawson walks through alphaTauri F1 garage at 2023 Dutch Grand Prix

Lawson got the nod over De Vries, but had far from conditions for his F1 debut

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As for Ricciardo, a rapid trip to Barcelona on Saturday was scheduled to have a consultation and then surgery to help speed up the recovery period. It’s a very different injury to the one Lance Stroll came back from within 12 days at the start of the season – and Singapore (in less than three weeks’ time) a very different track to Bahrain, where Stroll raced with broken wrists – but that’s the first ambitious target Ricciardo has in mind.

 

Podium a welcome boost for Alpine

If there was a team that needed a big result it was probably Alpine, given the turmoil of Belgium and the restructuring – and team principal search – that is now taking place.

Employees were in good spirits after a reset over the summer break but the reality is there is uncertainty regarding the future direction. So now focus has turned to improving internal communications and giving clarity to team members, rather than big outward-facing statements and a lack of insight for those working so hard each day at Enstone and Viry.

Alpine team sprays Pierre Gasly with champagne after 2023 Dutch GP F1 podium finish

Celebrations for a team that’s been in turmoil

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That approach is partly driven by the lack of results this season, despite what can be a very quick car at times. And Pierre Gasly delivered on it with an excellent third place having shown strong performance in all conditions during the race.

Mingling with the team ahead of its celebration photo, the relief was palpable, but the irony of both podiums – Esteban Ocon’s in Monaco coming one race after the criticism in Miami – immediately following internal turmoil was also not lost. Perhaps a new tactic will be a further change ahead of each race from now on…

 

The name Alex Palou

Zak Brown on 2023 Dutch Grand Prix grid in front of McLaren F1 car

Zak Brown unhappy at Palou snub

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When Zak Brown sat down for a belated media session on Saturday morning alongside team principal Andrea Stella, the first topic that was brought up had little to do with Formula 1. Alex Palou’s decision not to honour his McLaren IndyCar contract had to be addressed, and Brown tried to leave it at one answer and close it with the fact that legal processes are ongoing.

But the McLaren Racing CEO is clearly irked by Palou’s move – specifically the lack of direct contact that means the pair haven’t actually spoken about the decision – and he found it hard to sidestep further questions. He wants to give his side and is angered that a marquee signing who potentially could have crossed over to F1 has changed his mind.

It is understood that AlphaTauri holds some form of interest in Palou, or at least did, but Brown also feels the about turn is likely to have put doubts in the minds of other F1 teams if they were considering seeing what the Spaniard could do in an F1 car.

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