In 1979, the mercurial Gilles Villeneuve demonstrated a desire and passion for racing that had become instantly installed in motor racing history.
Having spun at the first turn, as a result of a puncture, the Canadian refused to give up. In the next lap he rip-roared through the Zandvoort circuit’s turns and arrived back at the pit lane in a disintegrating Ferrari.
His right-front tyre was up in the air, and his left-rear had been left behind at the 'Tarzan' turn.
In a championship fight with teammate Jody Scheckter, he could not afford to drop points but did so as he would not re-enter the track.
Initially, he was furious: he was unaware that the speed in which he rocketed back to the pits helped to destroy the rear of the car, leaving his suspension hanging by a thread.
Villeneuve’s wanton and insatiable thirst for speed, in a racing car, stands alone in grand prix history. Although he did not win a championship that his majesty should have made a formality, he re-wrote what was possible; he set the blueprint for commitment that, in many ways, could not be possible in the 2020s era.
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Racing fans, young and old, revel at this sort of attitude by drivers. They champion the gaps they spot, and the places they seize. They gasp in amazement when the limit is pushed, where grip is a lottery rather than an expectation.
But what was demonstrated during Sunday’s Dutch Grand Prix was what commitment and creativity can still yield in Formula 1.
On the first lap, Max Verstappen turned into Zandvoort’s second turn, aiming to pass Lando Norris. But he ran out wide, onto some dust, and the rear of the car danced away from him.
LAP 32/72
— Formula 1 (@F1) August 31, 2025
Full commitment from Charles! 😵
Leclerc banging wheels with Russell in the battle for P5! #F1 #DutchGP pic.twitter.com/fEjfutxW5j
Remarkably Verstappen regained control, despite dipping a wheel onto the off-track dirt, and turned into the banked third turn without issue. Even more remarkable though was that he had completed the move on Norris.
It was eye-bleedingly brilliant and personified everything brilliant about Verstappen. The odds were against him, yet he swept through the limits of grip just to grab second in the race.
A blink of an eye later, Charles Leclerc utilised the banked turn to crisply stand on the throttle and motion past George Russell, who accelerated away from the turn just a fraction later than the Ferrari driver; but it was enough to allow the red car through.
Later in the race, at a virtual safety car restart, Leclerc muscled his way past the Silver Arrow again. Although on the verge of the regulations, he spotted the tiniest possible gap between the off-track gravel and the Mercedes.
LAP 32/72
— Formula 1 (@F1) August 31, 2025
Full commitment from Charles! 😵
Leclerc banging wheels with Russell in the battle for P5! #F1 #DutchGP pic.twitter.com/fEjfutxW5j
With force, he ensured that the gap remained; but it was another improbable move crafted by the impulse of a stallion of a driver.
But it is not the first time that these two drivers have wowed fans. Their level of driving in 2024, to strangle victories away from McLaren and cause them more problems than there should have been, was a legacy of their foresight and feel for a racing car.
Their wheel-to-wheel battles at the beginning of these regulations, in 2022, were also stunning. Their telepathic understanding for the limit, and between each other, may occasionally cross the line. However, the sport’s spectacle is a richer place for their art, which often conjures excitement.
Although the Dutch Grand Prix will be remembered for Hadjar’s stunning podium and Norris’ dejecting DNF, the actual contents of the race were elevated because of the ballsy excitement that two of its most thrilling, and arguably best, drivers brought to the show.