Grand Prix 2023 Dutch Grand Prix Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

As we already know the result of the Dutch GP here's something a bit different, The Unbelievable Truth. Hidden in the following nonsense are various truths about The Netherlands. Your task, should you accept it, is to find those truths.

We all know the Dutch like cycling, this is because the bicycle was invented by a Dutchman, Guido van Peedalman. The Dutch people own, on average, 1.3 bicycles per person. Lewis Hamilton famously comes from the slum town of Stevenage, the building of the first houses of the New Town was in 1950. Almere in Flevoland used the roundabouts and underpasses of Stevenage New Town as a template for their city.

The Dutch love orange, despite it being the colour officially regarded as being most despised by F1 fans. Carrots are orange, but in olden times carrots were actually white, purple and yellow. Dutch farmers deliberately bred orange carrots to celebrate their Royal Family, something for us all to think about when having our next roast dinner. Dutch are statistically the tallest nation in the world, as a result when Dutch politicians travel around the world they have a team of diggers who are tasked with creating 20cm holes for them to stand in to make sure they don't tower over their opposite numbers from other nations.

Bridges were invented by Ruud de Bridgemaker, a Dutch amateur engineer who in the 8th century married a woman who lived on the other side of a river. The wedding ceremony involved him and his bride to be, Marta van Ballbreaker, shouting their vows at one another. A bridge was, of course, essential for him to be able to consummate his marriage. To celebrate this hero the Dutch have built over 1,200 bridges in their capital, Amsterdam, so that horny stag party attendees can get to visit prostitutes without having to swim a canal. There are over 1,000 windmills in the Netherlands. These were needed as over 2/3rd of the Netherlands was below sea level in the 16th century and the windmills were used to lift up the land from the sea so they could put bricks underneath. Now only 1/3rd of the country is below sea level.

The Netherlands has given us some great musicians, for example Eddie van Halen and Andre Rieu (I did a quick search and they were the only two I knew). The Dutch National Anthem, Het Wilhelmus, is the oldest patriotic song in the world and was adopted as their anthem in 1932. So you can sing along at the upcoming race here at the lyrics:

Wilhelmus van Nassouwe
ben ik van Duitsen bloed
den vaderland getrouwe
blijf ik tot in den dood.
Een Prinse van Oranje
ben ik, vrij onverveerd,
den Koning van Hispanje
heb ik altijd geëerd.

Mijn schild ende betrouwen
zijt Gij, o God mijn Heer,
op U zo wil ik bouwen,
verlaat mij nimmermeer.
Dat ik doch vroom mag blijven,
uw dienaar t'aller stond,
de tirannie verdrijven
die mij mijn hart doorwondt.

Which translate as:

William of Nassau am I, of German descent;
True to the fatherland I remain until death.
Prince of Orange am I, free and fearless.
To the King of Spain I have always given honour.

You, my God and Lord, are my shield, on You I rely.
On You I will build; never leave me,
So that I may remain pious, your servant at all moments,
Dispelling the tyranny that wounds my heart.

The Dutch GP is 72 laps of a 4.259 km circuit. Here's the schedule, enjoy. Well, try not to scream too loudly as Max tops every session, takes pole, lead every lap, and sets the fastest even though he will be making a pit stop every 5 laps "just for a laugh".

 

[FB]

Could someone explain to me how the so called best drivers on the world were incapable of driving their cars in the rain? There weren't the right type for the weather conditions, but surely they should then know to slow down to a speed appropriate for the tyre rather than barrelling towards a corner, with very large, obvious areas of standing water hoping that the car would stop.

Four drivers, if I recall correctly, failed to make the first corner after it started to rain, one of which got it so wrong he caused the race to have to be red flagged. Would this not count as dangerous driving on the part of that driver in particular, and the others who also failed to stop for the corner? Should this not mean that they should have their racing licences endorsed?

I am sick to death of F1 drivers proving again and again that they are incapable of driving their cars appropriately for the weather conditions, and then causing the race to be stopped o even abandoned. And the designers bear some responsibility as if F1 cars are supposed to be able to race in the rain they have to be designed to be able to do that. If that causes there to have to be a compromise for how they perform in the dry then so be it.

 

[Brogan]

Slicks are simply not suitable for driving on a wet circuit (depending on the volume of water), regardless how good a driver one is.

At a minimum intermediates would be required.

 

[F1Brits_90]

Could someone explain to me how the so called best drivers on the world were incapable of driving their cars in the rain? There weren't the right type for the weather conditions, but surely they should then know to slow down to a speed appropriate for the tyre rather than barrelling towards a corner, with very large, obvious areas of standing water hoping that the car would stop.

Four drivers, if I recall correctly, failed to make the first corner after it started to rain, one of which got it so wrong he caused the race to have to be red flagged. Would this not count as dangerous driving on the part of that driver in particular, and the others who also failed to stop for the corner? Should this not mean that they should have their racing licences endorsed?

I am sick to death of F1 drivers proving again and again that they are incapable of driving their cars appropriately for the weather conditions, and then causing the race to be stopped o even abandoned. And the designers bear some responsibility as if F1 cars are supposed to be able to race in the rain they have to be designed to be able to do that. If that causes there to have to be a compromise for how they perform in the dry then so be it.

i think it comes down to the 1st bit, i think every strategist underestimated the intensity of the weather going on to intermedites, bar 1 ocon strategist, who deserves a bonus outstanding decision & if Zhou hadn't skated off & into the dangerous position that necessitated the red flag. he was in the pound seat & wouldve finished 2nd.

& the 2nd is pirelli failure to have useable wet tyre, at the end of this season i believe they will have been in F1 as long as bridgestone were, before pirelli took over. in 13 years we are no better off than we were in 2010. bridgestone wet tyres from 2009 would probally still be better than what we have now. ocon was on the right tyre for the conditions but

Ocon: Pirelli F1 wet "not the right tyre at any moment"

www.motorsport.com

 

[FB]

I fully accept that slicks don't work in the wet. In this situation they weren't on slicks, and Hamilton, Tsunoda and one other failed to negotiate Tarzan, then Zhou Guanyu stuffed his car on to the barrier at such a speed that he couldn't drive on and the race had to be stopped. Why he wasn't instructed to drive more slowly, or more simply made the decision himself, I have no idea. And if the concern is slower cars on the racing line, drive off the racing so those on the right tyres can continue to race.

 

[F1Brits_90]

the teams dislike the full wets that much that wont use them unless its absolutely a last resort. we saw that sunday & part of the reasons why Japanese GP was red flagged last season

on the drive more slowly well i guess for the same reasons thats why VSC was brought in, because teams would just berate the driver for being to safe. but hamilton from the on board i saw he was coasting into tarzan from timing line. he was being careful on the inters in the full wet but even skated off

 

[Dartman]

It's a bit like sailing racing, you don't reduce sail in worsening conditions until you've been knocked down or broached at least twice, so you don't come in for tyres until you've had a couple of track excursions

 

[Chris Tea]

Could someone explain to me how the so called best drivers on the world were incapable of driving their cars in the rain? There weren't the right type for the weather conditions, but surely they should then know to slow down to a speed appropriate for the tyre rather than barrelling towards a corner, with very large, obvious areas of standing water hoping that the car would stop.

Four drivers, if I recall correctly, failed to make the first corner after it started to rain, one of which got it so wrong he caused the race to have to be red flagged. Would this not count as dangerous driving on the part of that driver in particular, and the others who also failed to stop for the corner? Should this not mean that they should have their racing licences endorsed?

I am sick to death of F1 drivers proving again and again that they are incapable of driving their cars appropriately for the weather conditions, and then causing the race to be stopped o even abandoned. And the designers bear some responsibility as if F1 cars are supposed to be able to race in the rain they have to be designed to be able to do that. If that causes there to have to be a compromise for how they perform in the dry then so be it.

They're not taking an afternoon stroll in the park, they're racing at the limit, and that limit is so fine and the cars go so fast, any slight imperfection can end in disaster. There is no point in driving safe, it's win or bust mostly...

 

[cider_and_toast]

There is no point in driving safe, it's win or bust mostly

As Alan Prost cleans his four world title trophies, he says he disagrees with the above statement.

 

[Dartman]

Racing drivers are like pilots they have extreme faith in their abilities to control their vehicles despite the conditions, like a pilot they still believe they will recover until the nose starts to crumple, until then they then take their hands off the wheel.

 

[F1Brits_90]

i know that it was 1 race but we dont want to go overboard but i dont feel liam lawson got the credit for the debut he had. that is as trickier weekend you could have for a rookie. chucked in the deep end 1 hour of very disturbed FP3 practise before having to qualifying & then have not only get to use to the car but also navigate the topsy turvy weather

pitted at the right times which many couldnt, kept it on the island, saw the chequered flag & beat his teammate. monza should be a breeze compared to last sunday