Verstappen catches up with Viettel's record

After the race, Verstappen did not hide his pride when he caught up with the feat of his senior. "F1 races are always tough. In the past, there were cars that were stronger than our cars, but they couldn't win nine races in a row, especially with races like today, when you're so easy to get in. pit at the wrong time and dropped their own results, "said the defending champion.

Red Bull team leader Christian Horner also admired the latest feat of the home team star. "Vettel's record in 2013 - winning nine races in a row - is crazy. I never thought there would be a day when Red Bull would repeat that record with another driver. No one would have imagined this." he said.

Difficulty Verstappen mentioned as soon as the race started a few seconds with a shower of rain on the Zandvoort circuit. He lost the lead and fell to second behind teammate Sergio Perez because the Mexican driver returned to the pit early, switching to an intermediate tire. However, Verstappen soon passed in lap 13 and completely dominated the race until near the end.

Heavy rain with only 8 laps left caused the red flag to be raised and the race was halted for up to 45 minutes. But through all the difficulties, Verstappen was always in control, as the Dutch driver did all season - he never really gave opponents a chance to counterattack. Having finished first at the home race, Verstappen continued to widen the gap on the personal scoreboard to 138 points more than teammate Perez.

Alonso started in fifth, but quickly overcame Albon on the outside of Turn 2, before attacking with the inside lane of the Hugenholzbocht basin corner, to take Russell's third. The next round, with a similar attack, it was Norris' turn to be defeated and the Spanish veteran driver to take second place.

The rain became heavier in the first round, and Perez, who started seventh, quickly returned to the pit to switch to the intermediate tire at the end of the first round. None of the top drivers in terms of tire changes like Perez. Only Charles Leclerc - 9th starting Ferrari driver - also followed. Thanks to that, Perez soon got the first place.

Verstappen and Alonso continued to use dry tires, so it took a lot of time in round 2. When they reached the pit at the end of the round, they fell to fifth and seventh. The two racers leading the pit pulled the rear cars in droves to the technical area to switch to the intermediate tire, when the rain showed no signs of stopping soon.

After Verstappen finished changing the tires, Perez took the lead and ran 14 seconds ahead of his teammates. At this time, the talent of the Dutch racer began to be evident. Verstappen constantly accelerates and shortens the distance with teammates. By lap 10, the distance between the two Red Bull drivers was less than 5 seconds.

In the next round, thanks to the rain stopped, Verstappen returned to the pit to switch to tires for dry weather. Perez had to return to change tires one round after his teammates. When he returned, the Mexican driver was 3 seconds behind Verstappen. Alonso was slow to change tires and fell to third behind Perez. At this time, the situation of the race is considered to be arranged soon, although there are still many risks from the rain at the end of the race.

It rained heavily at the end of the race and Perez, who was running second behind Verstappen, lost his place to Alonso because he lost control and fell to the side of the road on Turn 1 after switching to an intermediate tire on lap 60. The downpour. The discharge caused the racers to rush to the pit, switching to special tires for heavy rain. A series of phases of losing control in the rain caused the red flag to be raised and then the organizers had to signal to stop the race, to ensure safety in round 65.

In the last seven laps, Perez was penalized 5 seconds for speeding when changing tyres. Therefore, he must try very hard not to fall behind Carlos Sainz - Ferrari driver successfully fended off an attack from Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes. Not using the DRS spoiler makes the Mercedes driver unable to attack Ferrari's car.

While Perez benefited from switching to an early tire change at the start of the race, the Mercedes drivers failed to adopt the opposite tactic. The German team delayed the switch to intermediate tyres, hoping to extend the time the tires were used for dry weather, and they only realized their mistake when it was too late.

Hamilton and teammate returned to a late tire change in laps 3 and 4, and both fell out of the top 10 as a result. After struggling for the rest of the race, Hamilton was able to climb to sixth and Russell in place. 8th, when the race restarts after being paused. But Russell fell behind due to a collision with Norris on Turn 11.

"The race was over before it actually started," complained Russel, the 25-year-old British driver. "I think the data we have on the weather is completely wrong. We thought the rain would only last for a few minutes but in reality it is clear that it will last much longer."

Mercedes team leader Toto Wolff admitted that the home team was not well prepared for the rainy situation at the beginning of the stage. "We stood by and waited too long, a completely wrong choice. And that's a pity because our car has a very good speed," he said.