Verstappen's demonstration of power in the Orange celebrations

The Dutch Red Bull star raced ahead of title rival Lewis Hamilton to his seventh win of the season on Sunday and drove the tens of thousands of people on the dune circuit into ecstasy. All of Mercedes' tactical attacks and even a blocking attempt by Hamilton's teammate Valtteri Bottas were unable to slow Verstappen in front of the eyes of the Dutch royal couple. “Nice 72 laps here,” Verstappen radioed to the pits, laughing with joy. “That was epic,” praised team boss Christian Horner.

The 23-year-old Verstappen relegated 99-time Grand Prix winners Hamilton and Bottas to second and third place at the Dutch Grand Prix. After the racing farce in rainy Spa a week ago, Verstappen, who was born in Belgium, treated his fans to a flawless drive and is now ahead of Hamilton again in the rankings ahead of the classic in Italy next Sunday. The bright orange party on the North Sea was a spectacular return to the time before Corona for Formula 1.

75 fans were packed in the stands, and long before the start, waves of intoxication were moving over the steep curves in Orange. 000 years after the last guest appearance in Zandvoort, when Niki Lauda achieved the last victory of his career, the Verstappen euphoria reached its temporary boiling point. Start-finish victory With his nerve-racking drive to pole position, he had already made the fans go wild in qualifying and raised hopes of the first win by a Dutchman at home. Before the start of the race, he quickly showed King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima his Red Bull. When the red lights went out, he immediately pulled away with his car and turned into the first corner as the clear leader. Behind him was Hamilton, who lost more meters to Verstappen in the right bend when accelerating out.

Lewis Hamilton had to give up the championship lead. © APA/afp / KENZO TRIBOUILLARD

Verstappen was 1,7 seconds ahead of Hamilton after the first lap. This meant that the Briton was already outside the overtaking window of a maximum of one second. And Verstappen continued to fly over the Dutch course. The 1000th leading lap in the career of the Dutchman, who entered Formula 2015 in 17 at the age of just 1, was just another step after nine laps on the way to his big goal of World Cup triumph. Hamilton just couldn't get there. Bottas plays the brakes The Brit pulled out the only trump card he initially seemed to have: into the pits ahead of Verstappen. However, his crew needed almost a second longer than Verstappen's, who came in to change tires a lap later. At least Hamilton was able to initially reduce the gap from well over three seconds to under two. So Bottas should now block Verstappen. Mercedes left the Finn, who still doesn't have a new contract for next season, on the track with worn tires. Bottas also tried everything, but at the exit of the steep curve he had to let Verstappen pass - the fans jumped out of their seats and celebrated their local hero's maneuver.

Hamilton also raced past Bottas, but immediately lost time to the leader in the Red Bull. “He was lucky with the traffic,” said the 36-year-old, who then tried again with a pit stop in front of Verstappen. Again it didn't help, Red Bull and Verstappen defended their lead and lead. Radio communication between Hamilton and the Mercedes command post was booming. Especially since Bottas also turned the fastest lap with fresh tires - despite team orders to the contrary, driving Hamilton to another best lap performance, while Verstappen enjoyed the last kilometers in the sea of cheers on the North Sea dunes.

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Verstappen's demonstration of power in the Orange celebrations

In the orange sea of celebration in Zandvoort, Crown Prince Max Verstappen regained the Formula 1 top spot with the longed-for home win.

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Football

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Other sports

Motorsport

Cycling

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Events

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Verstappen's demonstration of power in the Orange celebrations

In the orange sea of ​​celebration in Zandvoort, Crown Prince Max Verstappen regained the Formula 1 top spot with the longed-for home win.

Suggestions

Comments (0)

In the orange sea of celebration in Zandvoort, Crown Prince Max Verstappen regained the Formula 1 top spot with the longed-for home win.