VERSTAPPEN

came when Lance Stroll’s crash brought out the safety car. Verstappen came into the pits for a tire change and after the restart easily passed Lando Norris – who hadn’t stopped – to retake the lead.

Perez had a five-second penalty because Red Bull released him from a pit stop into the path of another car, but that didn’t matter since he finished far ahead of Leclerc.

Verstappen has won nine races in a row going back to last season, and 19 of the last 20 races in total. The next race in Australia on March 24 offers him the chance to match his own record of 10 consecutive wins, set last year.

Saturday’s race was the 100th podium finish of Verstappen’s career and his 56th win, a signal of just how dominant his recent title-winning seasons with Red Bull have been.

Bearman was seventh for Ferrari, one day after the

British driver was called up as an emergency replacement for Carlos Sainz Jr., who needed an operation to treat appendicitis.

Oscar Piastri took fourth for Mclaren, with Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso fifth and George Russell sixth for Mercedes.

Behind Bearman, Mclaren’s Lando Norris held off Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton in a fight for eighth place. Nico Hulkenberg was 10th for Haas’ first point in F1 since the Singapore Grand Prix in September.

Verstappen’s second win of the season followed speculation over his future at Red Bull.

Verstappen had suggested Friday that he might reconsider his relationship with the team if his mentor Helmut Marko were to leave Red Bull, but Marko told German broadcaster Sky Sport on Saturday that he was staying.

“I always said that, what is most important is that we work together as a team and that everyone keeps the peace,” Verstappen said after the race.