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The F1 Dutch GP comes at a very crucial juncture in the championship. We have Max Verstappen leading at the front, but there is still a lot to play for. The first race coming back from the summer break did not go well for every driver. While some drivers like Fernando Alonso left the race with a chuckle on their faces, that was not the case for everyone.
Some drivers will head to the F1 Dutch GP this weekend in a bit of a rut. Their confidence might be shot, and for some, even the future is on the line! These drivers will be desperate to get a strong result this weekend and gain momentum for the season's second half. All in all, there are drivers that head to the F1 Dutch GP desperate for a strong result. Who are they? Let's find out as we look at drivers desperate for a strong result at the F1 Dutch GP.
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#1 Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
Charles Leclerc's confidence is at an all-time low at the moment. Anything that could've gone wrong this season has gone wrong with Leclerc. So much so that the errant visor-tear-off from Max Verstappen ruined Leclerc's race at the F1 Belgian GP. The Ferrari driver is fast and arguably elite in that respect. But he needs to be mindful of the workload he puts on himself during the race.
You cannot have the Ferrari driver assessing all the data during the race, discussing it openly with the race engineer, and then dictating the tire strategy. If the driver driving the car to its limit on a track has to do with the added bit of dictating strategy, then what is the purpose of having a strategy unit in place anyway?
Such an approach will induce errors while driving because you cannot give 100% to both aspects. It does appear right now that Charles Leclerc more or less heads into every race with a hand tied behind his back. The track layout at Zandvoort should work in Ferrari's favor. Charles Leclerc will be hoping for a straightforward weekend to start rebuilding the team's momentum this time around.
#2 Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren)
In the eyes of many F1 pundits, Daniel Ricciardo looks like a defeated man. To be fair, that could certainly be the case with the Australian. The driver has looked like a shell of himself all season. He can't wrap his head around the intricacies of his McLaren, and because of that, the car does not respond to him the way it should.
Both McLaren and Daniel Ricciardo have admitted that the Australian has put in a lot of work. Sadly, though, that work has not yielded the kind of results that you would expect from the Australian. For the 2023 F1 season, Ricciardo still does not officially have a seat on the grid. Haas F1 boss Guenther Steiner has publicly questioned whether Daniel Ricciardo is any good anymore.
Heading into the F1 Dutch GP, Ricciardo is in a precarious situation. He's in a team he will not be a part of next season. He's in a car that does not suit his driving, and to make things worse, he has a teammate that is arguably extracting every bit of performance possible from the car. Despite this, Ricciardo has to show that he still has what it takes to be a good F1 driver.
Heading to the Dutch GP, the driver will be hoping to fight the odds and put together a better performance in the race.
#3 Mick Schumacher (Haas F1)
In what was one of the worst kept secrets, Mick Schumacher will officially leave the Ferrari Driver Academy umbrella at the end of the season. This does answer why Haas was giving Antonio Giovinazzi a run in FP1. In all likelihood, the German is set to leave Haas at the end of the season. Either Ferrari places one of its drivers in the car, or Daniel Ricciardo gets that seat.
That said, Mick Schumacher has slowly but steadily found form this season. The races at Silverstone and Red Bull Ring are proof of that. Not only that, even at Spa, Mick was the faster Haas driver. He out-qualified Kevin Magnussen, and even in the race, he appeared to hold an advantage over him.
There are rumors of a move to AlphaTauri for Mick or a prospective move to Alpine. But for all that to materialize, Mick cannot afford to have a bad weekend or, worse, another shunt. He will need to keep things clean and continue to outperform Kevin Magnussen. There are certainly question marks over Mick Schumacher's future for the 2023 season. Heading into the Dutch GP, he will be hoping for a solid showing to keep his stock high for any prospective team.
