There was great expectation and curiosity about the possibility that Red Bull could add another record in its short – but successful – history. With a race dominated from start to finish, Max Verstappen gave the team another milestone to be proud of, namely the record twelve consecutive victories, with a streak that began last season with success in Abu Dhabi.
To further enhance today’s result, it is also the seventh triumph in a row for the Dutchman, who also added the point for the fastest lap to the total, conquered by setting a time one and a half seconds faster than the competition.
“For a team, 12 wins in a row is truly incredible. What we’ve been through over the last few years is unbelievable. We hope to be able to maintain this momentum for a long time. And then working with this team is always very pleasant. Of course, it’s always good to look at what happened yesterday, for example, to keep pushing, to always want to do better, but then a day like today turns out to be simply perfect”, explained the two-time world champion, mentioning the difficulties encountered yesterday on the flying lap, where he suffered from a non-perfect balance with some choices devoted to the race.
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W14, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB19, Lando Norris, McLaren MCL60, Oscar Piastri, McLaren MCL60, Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-23, the rest of the grid at the start
Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
“Yes, I think qualifying this weekend was a bit difficult, but maybe it was good for today. So yes, the car was good on any compound, we could look after tire wear. And that’s why we managed to create such a large gap.”
After taking the lead at the start from Lewis Hamilton, the Dutchman managed by imposing a pace unassailable by his rivals, both in terms of consistency and competitiveness. An aspect that Verstappen wanted to underline, also because in the past he hadn’t always managed to get off the grid well: “Finally we got an excellent start. I am very satisfied. We worked a lot on this aspect to try to get a good grip. From then on I was able to do my race. And today the car was really, really fast.”
In the second stint, for example, only once did he complete a lap with a time higher than one minute and twenty-four, something that no opponent has been able to replicate. Verstappen now has an advantage of more than one hundred points in the standings over his team mate, Sergio Perez, who finished third.
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB19, Oscar Piastri, McLaren MCL60
Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
After a qualifying that had seen him conquer only ninth position, the Mexican was forced to make another comeback, this time completed with a podium that gives confidence. Perez started the race with the hardest compound ever in order to lengthen the first stint and create an offset on his closest rivals, in order to find himself as fresher tires at the right time. A performance which, also according to the Team Principal, can give confidence in view of the next rounds: “This performance certainly helps. From now on I will try to finish on the podium every weekend, we have to continue like this,” explained Perez.
Overtaking after overtaking, Perez returned to the podium area, also completing a tough and borderline maneuver on Oscar Piastri, however deemed correct by the marshals. At the end the Mexican tried to close the gap on Norris too, who however managed the lapping managing to pass under the checkered flag with an advantage of almost four seconds: “I’m happy. We came close to second place, but unfortunately I found a lot of lapped riders. The track off the ideal racing line was very dirty, so I picked up some rubber trying to overtake the lapped riders and lost time. Then I tried to recover, but it was too late. Overall, the strategy was good,” added the Red Bull driver.
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