- Verstappen Dominates F1 Season with Eighth Consecutive Victory
- Red Bull’s Magical Race: Unmatched Performance by Verstappen
- Verstappen’s Playful Banter Adds to F1 Domination
Many in the Formula One paddock will breathe a sigh of relief as the sport enters its summer hiatus. A brief reprieve from Max Verstappen’s season, which has rapidly devolved into a rout.
With this victory, it appears that the world champion is no longer even contemplating the competition and is instead almost amusing himself with it.
The Dutchman won the race after starting in sixth place. On lap 17 of 44, he seized the lead from his Red Bull teammate Sergio Pérez and was untouchable thereafter.
His winning margin was 22,3 seconds, a remarkable advantage given that Pérez is driving the same car. In this Red Bull, Verstappen is merely in a class of his own this season.
In the final third, he demonstrated the ease with which he controlled the race and the entire season, as he now leads Pérez by a colossal 125 points.
He was so unconcerned as he raced around one of the most difficult circuits in the world that he was able to engage in some playful banter with the team.
When his engineer Gianpiero Lambiase, also known as “GP,” urged him to be careful with his tires during the final leg of the race, his response was tinged with humor. “I could also proceed and make a second halt. A small amount of pitstop instruction, he said.
A humorous message that would have been felt as a sharp, painful wound by all of his competitors, who are trailing in his wake with no realistic chance of catching up this season.
Even Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff had to acknowledge that the 25-year-old had earned the right to be delighted with himself.
Wolff said, “He has every reason to be a bit cheeky.” “There is nothing else to say, he’s just going around in circles regarding everyone else’s merit. As irritating as it is, that is just about everything.” The relationship between Verstappen and GP has been front and center throughout the entire weekend. During qualifying, they had an argument in which Verstappen swore aggressively at his friend.
Then, during the race, an early exchange before Verstappen assuming the lead was also abrasive.
In response to Lambiase’s request for his opinion on the pit strategy given the impending rain, a frustrated Verstappen replied, “I can’t see the weather radar”
It quickly became irrelevant. By the end of the first circuit, he had moved up to fourth, easily passed Lewis Hamilton for third on lap six, and Charles Leclerc for second on lap nine, as if the Ferrari belonged to a different car class.
Even so, the team sent him into the pits, and by lap 17, Pérez’s new tires had worn out. Once again in the driver’s seat, the mood in the cockpit improved.
This season’s statistics now, to an extent, convey their own story. This was his eighth consecutive victory, trailing only Sebastian Vettel’s 2013 record of nine consecutive victories. When competition resumes at Verstappen’s home race in the Netherlands at the end of August, he may be able to match Vettel.
Red Bull holds the record for most consecutive victories in a single season with 10 victories out of 12 contests. As repetitive as the facts have become, they are as relentless as Verstappen’s performances and, in their way, just as exhausting. Yet it is impossible not to appreciate them for delivering such flawless form.
Christian Horner, the team principal for Red Bull, referred to it as a “magical race,” which it undoubtedly was for the team, but was hardly enthralling for the neutral spectator. Verstappen is so proficient, executing with such precision, that his dominance and the fact that he is unchallenged even by his colleague create a draining sense of predictability from the moment he takes the lead.
The most recent two contests have been, at best, exhausting affairs. Afterward, it was revealed that Verstappen confessed he had deflated his tires as requested.
“Yes, I did slow down a bit,” he acknowledged. This track requires constant attention to the tires, so that’s what we did until the end. Had he not done so, his advantage would have been enormous.
His proposed pit-stop joke was merely an amusing addition to the pleasure of an afternoon stroll through the Ardennes. “I’m aware that the team dislikes making additional stops,” he said with an expansive grin.
“I like to mention it so that they may become slightly anxious.” The fact that he and the team feel so at ease and assured demonstrates how proficient they are.
Behind him, the pursuing pack was present as usual, albeit engaged in their conflicts.
Leclerc finished third, Hamilton finished fourth for Mercedes, and Fernando Alonso finished fifth for Aston Martin. None of them appeared particularly enthusiastic about their results. Perhaps it’s time for a vacation, having endured 12 meetings and having 10 more scheduled.
If nothing else, it is an opportunity to contemplate something other than the rear of Verstappen’s car vanishing into the middle distance, accompanied by the indistinct sound of laughter emanating from the cockpit.
George Russell placed sixth for Mercedes, Lando Norris placed seventh for McLaren, Esteban Ocon placed eighth for Alpine, Lance Stroll placed ninth for Aston Martin, and Yuki Tsunoda placed tenth for AlphaTauri.
