Max Verstappen has survived a rain-affected Dutch Grand Prix, winning in front of a passionate home crowd for the third straight year.

The pack grandstands with fans dressed in orange cheered Verstappen's record-equalling ninth consecutive win in Formula 1.

Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso continued his impressive season finishing second ahead of Alpine's Pierre Gasly, who was promoted to third after Sergio Perez was handed a five-second penalty for speeding in the pitlane.

Despite starting on pole, Verstappen's win was never guaranteed with a burst of rain at the start and end of the race causing havoc, the latter leading to a stoppage of more than 40 minutes.

But with chaos around him, Verstappen never flinched and extended his lead in the drivers' championship to 138 points.

After equalling the record for consecutive wins, Verstappen said he wanted to enjoy Sunday’s victory in front of his home fans. 

“I'll think about [the 10th win] next week, I just want to enjoy this one. The atmosphere is very special,” he said. 

Verstappen's win is his ninth consecutive grand prix victory, equalling the record set by Sebastian Vettel in 2013.

He can take the record outright next weekend at the Italian Grand Prix.

Lap 1 rain mixes up the grid

Rain on the opening lap threw the race into chaos, with a handful of drivers taking a risk and pitting for intermediate tyres.

As Verstappen and other leaders carried on for a second lap on dry tyres, his teammate Sergio Perez dived into the pits as the rain came down harder.

The decision to go onto the intermediate tyres was the right call, as most other drivers came into the pits at the end of the second lap, meanwhile, Perez flew to the lead of the race.

Perez's lead over Verstappen was as much as 14 seconds at one point, with the Dutchman sitting in fifth after pitting for the intermediate tyres.

But Verstappen quickly got himself up to second, then started mowing down his teammate.

When it was time to switch to dry tyres, Red Bull chose to pit Verstappen — who was more than two seconds behind Perez — before the leader.

That decision allowed Verstappen to breeze past Perez once the Mexican came out with his new tyres one lap later.

A safety car on lap 16 following a crash by Logan Sargent neutralised the race and allowed the drivers to settle into a more usual pattern.

When racing started again Verstappen put his foot down and started to build a gap to Perez.

The Dutchman put together multiple fastest laps, while Perez built a small gap to Fernando Alonso in third.

Zhou crash stops race and creates sprint finish

Rain started falling again with 11 laps to go, with Perez again one of the first to race into the pits.

By the end of the next lap, all drivers had pitted for intermediate tyres except for Alpine's Esteban Ocon, who had the full wet tyres.

The rain continued to pour, forcing Red Bull to pit Verstappen for the full wet tyres, while some started to slide off the track.

Perez was the first to go off track, losing second place to Alonso, before Alfa Romeo's Zhou Guanyu slammed into the barriers forcing a red flag to stop the race with eight laps to go.

After more than 40 minutes in the pitlane, the race resumed with two laps behind the safety car, then a six-lap sprint to the finish.

Verstappen did not put a foot wrong with Alonso on his tail, sending the sea of orange into a frenzy. 

Perez crossed the line third but was demoted to fourth with a five-second penalty for speeding in the pitlane.