'Flying Verstappen on another planet'

SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS • The Belgian Grand Prix is like a second home for Max Verstappen, who is Dutch but was born in Belgium.

There had been speculation the race could be axed but organisers yesterday confirmed it will remain on next year's Formula One calendar after an agreement regarding a one-year extension was reached.

Verstappen gave the largely supportive crowd at Spa-Francorchamps more cheer as he yesterday stormed from 14th on the grid to convincingly win his ninth grand prix of the season and 29th of his career.

The world champion also secured a bonus point for the fastest lap as he scorched through the field to cruise to victory ahead of Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez with Ferrari's Carlos Sainz, who started on pole, third.

Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, who has yet to win this year, retired on the opening lap after his Mercedes collided with Fernando Alonso's Alpine.

Verstappen now has an utterly commanding 93-point lead over nearest challenger Perez, with eight races remaining and he can give the Oranje army even more cause for celebration as F1 heads to Zandvoort for his home Dutch Grand Prix this weekend.

The 24-year-old said: "Of course, I am going to enjoy today and then we'll see what we can do (in the Netherlands).

"It was quite a hectic first lap to try and stay out of trouble. So many things were happening in front of me, picked the right places to pass people, looked after our tyres and that's how we made our way forward and once we were in the lead, it was all about managing everything but this whole weekend has been incredible."

On starting 14th to cruising to another win on top of recording the fastest lap and being named driver of the day, he said: "It's been a weekend I couldn't have imagined before, but I think we want more of them and we'll keep working hard."

Not only was it a joyous day for his fans, but Red Bull also revelled in Perez's runners-up finish, which propelled him into second in the championship standings and pushed Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, who finished sixth, down to third.

The Mexican said: "I really hoped for more, today was a good opportunity. Max was flying and on another planet, he was untouchable, but it was a strong result for the team and that was important."

F1's month-long break appears to have done nothing for Ferrari as the team's woes carried on where they left off.

On their flagging title hopes, a frustrated Sainz said: "Yeah, unfortunately the race was harder than expected. We got a good start and a good restart but the pace wasn't there.

"For some reason, our package wasn't quite there this weekend. But we got podium and we'll take it. The first two laps were strong then we went into tyre degradation straight after.

"Unfortunately, we couldn't put on a stronger fight and had to survive. We have to learn why we aren't as competitive."

Sainz added that "Zandvoort should be a good track for us" and they will try to win the Dutch GP.

It was even more vexing for Mercedes, with team boss Toto Wolff lamenting: "I don't think you can be satisfied if you see Verstappen being in a league of his own.

"We need to really find out how we can improve our car, the gap is just too big."

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

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BELGIAN GRAND PRIX

RESULTS

1 Max Verstappen (Ned) Red Bull 1hr 25min 52.894sec *fastest lap

2 Sergio Perez (Mex) Red Bull +17.841sec

3 Carlos Sainz (Esp) Ferrari +26.886

4 George Russell (Gbr) Mercedes +29.140

5 Fernando Alonso (Esp) Alpine +73.256

6 Charles Leclerc (Mon) Ferrari +74.936

7 Esteban Ocon (Fra) Alpine +75.640

8 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Aston Martin +78.107

9 Pierre Gasly (Fra) AlphaTauri +92.181

10 Alexander Albon (Tha) Williams +101.900

DNF Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) Mercedes

1 Verstappen 284 pts

2 Perez 191

3 Leclerc 186

1 Red Bull 475 pts

2 Ferrari 357

3 Mercedes 316