VERSTAPPEN RULES IN ENGLAND
MAX Verstappen re-established himself as a champion driver and entertainer of the future when he claimed a flawless and well-judged tactical victory for Red Bull at the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix.
A clever strategic choice by the team’s senior strategy engineer Hannah Schmitz, to start the race on hard compound tyres while most or their rivals opted for mediums, laid the foundations, but it was the Dutch tyro’s courage and speed that did the rest.
“Max was just chilling out at the beginning of the race, we had them covered today,” said team boss Christian Horner.
“Whatever they did, when they pitted, they could not pull away – Max was able to cover them.”
On a day of personal and family landmarks, the 22-year-old racer passed his father Jos as the Dutchman to have started most Formula One races and confirmed himself as the Netherland’s most successful driver.
The win in Northampton was his first win since the 2019 Brazilian Grand Prix, his first this year and the ninth of his career, lifting him up to second in the drivers’ title race 30 points behind six-time champion Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes.
“That was very satisfying for us,” said Verstappen.
“We could have won last week when they had tyre blowouts, but that would not have been the same, but today was very good because we beat them on pure pace.”