Max Verstappen was provided with the ultimate test of what is now a record-equalling race-winning streak, yet again managed to take it all in his stride.
Verstappen made light work of the wet-dry-wet conditions throughout his home Dutch Grand Prix to take the chequered flag for the ninth consecutive race, matching the feat achieved by former Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel 10 years ago.
The Dutchman made it look easy yet he concedes there were undeniable moments of consternation en route that threatened to end his remarkable run of success as he strides toward a third successive F1 title.
“It was probably one of the more difficult races to win,” said Verstappen, who now has 46 overall to his name.
“Nine in a row was something I never even thought about, so yeah, very happy with that, but in general, very happy to win here in front of my own crowd.”
In terms of eulogising over a remarkable feat when you consider this is the 74th season in F1’s history, and yet only two drivers have managed to win nine in a row, that was as good as it got from Verstappen.
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The 25-year-old at least recognised the test provided by the race as he could have slid off at any time when the rains came at the start and end of the 72-lap event at Zandvoort.
Suggested to Verstappen that the race was the ultimate example of how hard it can be to keep a winning streak going, he replied: “Yeah, absolutely, I mean, even if you have the best…
“I think there have been more dominant cars in the past than we have at the moment, and they haven’t been able to do so, to win nine in a row, whatever, the consecutive wins we have as a team.
“So it is hard, and especially like this race, it’s easy to make a wrong call, or even drop it yourself in the gravel or whatever. It’s never that straightforward, unfortunately.”
Despite the cool persona off the track and behind the wheel, there were moments of anxiety for Verstappen that tested his resolve.
After starting from pole, and with light rain just beginning to fall when the five red lights disappeared, by the end of the first lap it had rapidly intensified.
Verstappen opted to remain out, yet a number of drivers behind – including team-mate Sergio Perez – pitted for inters, leaving him almost 15 seconds adrift of the Mexican in the shake-up.
After reclaiming the lead, Verstappen was cruising to victory when torrential rain fell late on, sparking a red flag with seven laps remaining, and a 46-minute delay.
From a rolling start, Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso briefly threatened, only for Verstappen to keep the two-time champion at bay and go on to win by 3.744s.
“The first laps on the slicks were quite stressful,” said Verstappen.
“You don’t want to immediately go off the track, and also knowing how much grip there is still out there on the tyres, with the amount of water coming down, was not easy.
“With the final restart, with seven laps ago, I knew that my first lap the whole weekend had not been the best with warm-up, so I knew that I had to survive that first lap.
“Fernando pushed very hard behind, and I could see him close in my mirrors, but once I had the temperature in my tyres, it was all well balanced again.”
Verstappen can now set a new record by winning Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix for a 10th straight victory.
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