Max Verstappen was forced to start from 14th on the grid, which became 13th when Pierre Gasly was unable to leave the garage before the lights went out, as were many other drivers who received a change of grid penalty. engine. On the soft tyres, an incredible comeback quickly began.
After the safety car came out, the Dutchman moved up to seventh, after just five laps, and gradually climbed up to second, overtaking team-mate Sergio Pérez with relative ease.
The Red Bull driver moved into first place after leader Carlos Sainz pitted and, after Verstappen made his first stop on lap 16, managed to comfortably overtake Sainz to take the real lead on lap 18, which he no longer had. He released until the checkered flag, getting his ninth victory of the course with a difference of 17 seconds with Pérez.
Following the Belgian Grand Prix race, Verstappen said his car was “on rails” in what he called an incredible weekend.
“It was a pretty hectic first lap, it wasn’t easy staying out of trouble, there was so much going on in front of me,” he said.
“But once we managed to settle in after the safety car, the car really went on rails. I picked the right places to overtake the other drivers and we were also able to look after our tyres, that’s how we got on.”
“Then, once we took the lead, it was all a question of management. But in general this whole weekend has been incredible,” he added.
“Of course, it’s been a weekend that I couldn’t even imagine. But we want more, so we keep working hard,” said the Red Bull man .
Checo Pérez , who was overtaken by Verstappen in the first section of the race despite starting 11 places ahead of his teammate, acknowledged that the reigning world champion was “on another planet” this Sunday.
“I really expected more today. It was a good opportunity, but Max was flying. He was on another planet and he was unmatched,” admitted the Mexican.
“Especially the first stint was quite bad in terms of degradation. But even so, it’s a very good result for the team. I think we got a lot of points today, which is something important for everyone,” Pérez concluded.
Verstappen ‘s closest rival in the championship outside his own team, Charles Leclerc, who started one place behind him, could only manage sixth after another painful race for Ferrari.
That means the Dutchman will arrive at Zandvoort with a 93-point lead over Perez , with Leclerc dropping to third, five points behind the Mexican.
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