Could Max Verstappen match Jim Clark as the winningest driver of the Dutch GP?

No driver has meshed with the Dutch Grand Prix quite like Jim Clark. The iconic British racer has won at Zandvoort four times.

But Max Verstappen will be hoping to match that record this weekend; the Dutch driver has won at Zandvoort during the race’s previous three outings.

Dominant Jim Clark and the Dutch GP

The Dutch Grand Prix is a postwar phenomenon; after World War II, several main roads around the town of Zandvoort were widened, then linked into a rough race circuit shape by the Royal Dutch Motorcycle Association.

In 1950, Zandvoort hosted its first Grand Prix, but in its first two years of existence, it was a non-Championship race. It wasn’t until 1952 that the Dutch GP counted toward the Championship.

Alberto Ascari from Ferrari won the first two races, followed by Juan Manuel Fangio, Stirling Moss, Jo Bonnier, Jack Brabham, Wolfgang von Trips, and Graham Hill.

But in 1963 came Jim Clark, the driver who would win in 1963, 1964, 1965, and 1967 — with a one-year gap where Jack Brabham took another win.

Perhaps it’s because Zandvoort was exactly where Jim Clark made his Formula 1 debut in 1960. The Lotus driver retired with transmission failure after the 42nd of 75 laps — but it very well may have imprinted itself in the young Clark’s mind.

In 1961, Clark finished third in the race. The race opened the 1962 season, which was Clark’s worst-ever finish at the track, but in 1963, the dominant Briton won the race by more than a full lap over second-placed Dan Gurney.

In 1964, Clark’s win at the Dutch GP launched him up two spots into second in the Drivers’ standings. The next year, Clark won yet again even though his boss Colin Chapman was arrested for punching a policeman!

His final win at the track came in 1967 — a race best known as being the debut of the Lotus 49 equipped with the iconic Ford Cosworth DFV engine.

Clark only qualified eighth in the new technology, but the British driver was frankly unstoppable on race day. He broke Juan Manuel Fangio’s record of the most fastest laps in a career — 24 — and in the process broke the record of wins held by any one team at Zandvoort. It was the first pole, fastest lap, podium, and win for the Ford Cosworth machinery.

The Dutch GP continued through 1985, when it lost its race contract. The company that ran the circuit went out of business and was even sold to a bungalow park developer.

Thankfully, the track was redesigned and reintroduced into F1 for the 2021 season.

More from nostalgic Formula 1:

👉 Top 10: The drivers with the highest win percentages in F1 history

👉 How a multiple-time World Champion almost quit for good before entering F1

>The track’s return to the Formula 1 calendar coincided with the emergence of the modern Dutch legend Max Verstappen.

Verstappen has won every single Grand Prix that Zandvoort has hosted since its return — becoming the only Dutch driver to win his home race in F1 history. In 2021, it became his seventh victory in his first Championship-winning season.

But one of the most compelling storylines coming into the 2024 Dutch Grand Prix is the possibility of a fourth Verstappen win. Will he be able to match Jim Clark’s record of four Zandvoort victories?

At the start of this season, it seemed like a no-brainer: Of course Verstappen is going to win! He’s the most dominant driver in 2024!

But Red Bull just hasn’t quite managed to stay on top of its RB20 counter-developments. Teams like McLaren and Mercedes have introduced upgrades that have transformed them into regular competitors for the win, and Red Bull has struggled to find upgrades that would counteract what the competition has done.

Will the summer break have helped Verstappen and Red Bull reorient themselves and find the mental form necessary for the win? We have yet to find out — but we could very well see Verstappen equal yet another record.

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