Max Verstappen recorded his ninth successive F1 victory in a chaotic Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort.

Verstappen survived difficult changeable conditions that necessitated a red flag and raced his way back to the front after losing out in an earlier rain storm.

He headed Fernando Alonso to the flag while Esteban Ocon completed the podium, the Alpine driver inheriting the spot following a time penalty for Sergio Perez, which relegated him to fourth.

Lando Norris slipped from the front row to seventh, while Oscar Piastri scored points in ninth despite braving the early rain on slick tyres.

At the race start, Verstappen swept across the road to defend from Norris and maintain the lead into the opening corner, with George Russell slotting into third.

That became fourth as Fernando Alonso dived underneath the Mercedes at Turn 3 as the chasing pack swallowed Alex Albon.

Heavy rain hit by the end of the opening lap, with Sergio Perez, Charles Leclerc, Pierre Gasly, Zhou Guanyu, Yuki Tsunoda, Liam Lawson, and Kevin Magnussen all diving in.

The final corner, as was the run to Tarzan, was sodden with the rain rapidly engulfing the entire circuit.

It was chaos in the pit lane, Ferrari without tyres for Leclerc in farcical scenes.

Alonso capitalised on the conditions to pass Norris for second, the pair still on slick tyres.

Perez was flying on the intermediate rubber, prompting Verstappen into the lane as others gambled on the rain easing.

Norris and Russell remained on track, Albon also staying on slicks.

First into the pits, midway around Lap 3, Perez claimed the race lead, his lap time almost 20 seconds faster than those on slicks.

Verstappen found himself only fifth in a jumbled order that left Zhou Guanyu a net second as Russell remained on track ahead but was yet to box.

Then came Gasly from Verstappen, the Dutchman harrying the Alpine driver, then Leclerc and Alonso.

Norris plummeted to 15th after battling for the lead, while Piastri sat 14th, having also not stopped during the worst of the weather.

Russell finally stopped on Lap 6 to emerge 13th.

During the melee, Liam Lawson picked up a 10-second penalty for impeding in the pit lane.

The Kiwi driver was among those who pitted at the end of the opening lap but was forced to queue behind his team-mate.

On Lap 7, Verstappen passed Zhou for second, having made short work of Gasly a lap earlier.

That left him less than 10 seconds back from the race leader, who’d already begun catching traffic; Logan Sargeant was lapped by the end of Lap 7.

Verstappen was making rapid progress, lapping well over a second faster than his Red Bull team-mate ahead.

In the drying conditions, the needle had swung back in favour of those on slicks, Piastri logging a 1:18.587s, a time some six seconds faster than those on intermediates.

The field took notice and pulled their drivers in despite the weather on the near horizon – though it was predicted to be lighter than what fell on the opening lap.

Zhou was among those to stop, swapping to the medium tyres, with Verstappen boxing next time around on Lap 12.

Having reduced the deficit to Perez to 5.9 seconds, the Mexican fell to second after he stopped on Lap 13.

Red Bull remained first and second, Verstappen holding a 2.9-second advantage.

Behind them, the order ran Alonso, Gasly, Sainz, Zhou, Kevin Magnussen, Piastri, Tsunoda, and Esteban Ocon in the top 10 after 14 laps.

Piastri boxed for the first time on Lap 16, his time in the lane coinciding with a yellow flag that resulted in the Safety Car being deployed after Sargeant crashed.

The American crashed out at Turn 8, damaging the front-right wheel as he spun into the barrier. The Wiliams driver was able to climb out unharmed.

On the radio, he was perplexed by the cause of the crash, suggesting something in the front-right broke as he clipped the apex kerb.

That saw him skate straight off the track and into the wall, where his race ended.

Under the Safety Car, Russell stopped for a set of hard tyres, his race having been heavily compromised by a slow decision to stop when the rain began falling.

Racing resumed as they started Lap 22 after Verstappen slowed the field approaching the chicane towards the end of the lap.

He jumped as he entered the final corner, Perez coming under fire from Alonso into Tarzan while Sainz and Gasly battled behind them, the Alpine driving just holding on.

Verstappen meanwhile had scampered clear to hold a 1.2s lead at the end of the first racing lap after the green flag waved.

After a mistake that opened the door for Valtteri Bottas to claim 14th, Piastri quickly recovered to repass the Finn at Tarzan.

On Lap 26, he claimed the scalp of Leclerc, scything by the Ferrari driver at Turn 3 with an aggressive move.

At the front, the race had settled down; Verstappen had eased out to a 4.5-second lead over Perez, who’d eked out a similar gap to Alonso in third after 36 laps.

Norris, Hamilton, and Piastri were the agitators, the trio all moving forward through the field before getting stuck behind Tsunoda in eighth.

Leclerc’s dismal race only worsened as the Monegasque, who languished 15th, lost the spot to Lawson at Turn 11 on Lap 40.

The Ferrari driver had DRS and reclaimed the spot down the front straight.

Having learned his lesson, Lawson moved later on the next lap, robbing Leclerc of the opportunity to counterattack with DRS.

It was unnecessary, as Ferrari called the car into the pits, citing floor damage as the reason for its retirement.

With 18 laps to run, Verstappen had moved out to 7.7s over Perez, though the race leader was warned rain was expected with 10 laps from the end.

The suggestion was conditions were force a change in tyres, adding the prospect of a final twist in the tale.

The consensus was that the rain would be more intense than the shower that hit the circuit as the race began and saw the field shuffled.

That had been mainly washed, though Albon remained sixth, locked in battle with Russell, who’d climbed up the field courtesy of a lengthy stint on hard compound rubber.

Anticipating the change, Alonso began to push on, lowering the fastest lap to 1:13.837s as he used the performance left in his soft tyres before the weather closed in.

The Spaniard sat 10 seconds back from Perez in second and just under seven clear of Sainz behind – though the Ferrari was losing time battling with Gasly.

A mistake from Russell saw the Brit drop a wheel onto the grass entering Turn 7, but he somehow saved it to remain on track.

However, it delayed Hamilton, who was in his wheel tracks, the two Mercedes on different tyre strategies entering the race’s final stanza; Hamilton looking forward while Russell was dropping back down the order.

Soon, the rain arrived, triggering the pit lane into life with much of the field taking to the narrow lane.

Mercedes double-stacked its drivers, but Verstappen carried on out front for another lap.

Everyone had the intermediate tyres fitted except for Ocon, who opted for the full wet tyres.

He ran eighth ahead of rain that was expected to get heavier – starting on the pit straight.

Perez was caught out by the conditions, sliding off at Tarzan and allowing Alonso through into second.

Conditions had rapidly deteriorated, and the Virtual Safety Car was deployed as Verstappen dived into the pits for a set of full wets.

The red flag soon followed when Zhou skated into the barrier at Tarzan on Lap 65 of 72.

Under the stoppage, Verstappen led from Alonso, Gasly, Sainz, Hamilton, and Perez, who’d pulled out of his pit bay as the red flag was shown.

Race control updated that, determining the order for the restart was Verstappen from Alonso, Perez, Gasly, Sainz, Hamilton, Norris, Russell, Albon, Piastri, and Ocon in 12th.

Following a delay of 46 minutes, cars filtered back out on track behind the Safety Car, all on intermediate tyres.

The Safety Car was withdrawn and racing proper resumed at the start of Lap 67, Verstappen holding on out front from Alonso.

There was drama for Perez, who was noted by officials for speeding in the pit lane, which quickly became a five-second penalty.

In the thick of the action, Russell picked up a puncture and dropped to the back of the field.

At the other end, Alonso clung to the back of Verstappen’s race-leading Red Bull, with Perez in tow as the trio pulled away from Gasly in fourth.

The Aston Martin’s challenge was short as Verstappen soon dropped away and instead became vulnerable to Perez – Alonso was told not to defend too hard given his rival’s pending time penalty.

It left Verstappen to claim a ninth successive race win, with Alonso second on the road from Perez, though he fell behind Gasly in the final standings.

Perez was classified fourth ahead of Sainz, then Hamilton, Norris, Albon, Piastri, and Ocon to round out the top 10.

Lawson meanwhile managed to finish 13th, three places up on Tsunoda for Scuderia AlphaTauri in what was a solid debut for the New Zealander.

Race results: 2023 Dutch Formula 1 Grand Prix.