Verstappen eases to victory in Barcelona
MAX Verstappen recorded a dominant victory at the Spanish Grand Prix as Lewis Hamilton and George Russell finished second and third for Mercedes.
Verstappen led all 66 laps at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya to record his fifth win from the opening seven rounds and extend his championship lead.
Hamilton started fourth but finished runner-up, team-mate Russell completing the podium places on a strong afternoon for the Silver Arrows.
Sergio Perez secured fourth spot after moving ahead of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz with a dozen laps remaining.
Verstappen’s title lead over his Red Bull team-mate now stands at 53 points with a week off before the next round in Canada on June 18.
A day on from crushing his opposition to take pole, Verstappen held off the advances off Sainz on the long run to the opening corner and from there, his 40th career victory, which takes him just one shy of Ayrton Senna’s career tally, never looked in doubt.
Red Bull have won all seven rounds this year and 17 of the last 18 races contested and their stranglehold on the sport shows few signs of easing.
Mercedes have endured a turbulent season in their pursuit of Red Bull.
However, the Brackley team will take significant pleasure from their performance here.
After the race Hamilton vowed to continue in Formula One for as long as he can to challenge Verstappen for the world championship again.
The seven-time world champion’s contract expires at the end of the year but the 38-year-old revealed last night he is meeting Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff today to thrash out a new deal.
“I want to keep going for as long as I can,” said Hamilton, sitting alongside Verstappen.
“I want to be where he (Verstappen) is, or racing him at least, and I am super-focused on getting to that point.
“There is a long way to go but