BARCELONA – Two-time Formula One champion Max Verstappen is relentless and he is not backing down after another “strong weekend” in his Red Bull at the Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday.

The Dutchman won in Barcelona from pole position to stretch his championship lead to 53 points and continue Red Bull’s sweep of the season.

He has now triumphed in five of seven races so far.

It was his third win in a row following victories in Monaco and Miami, and also his 40th in Formula One. The 25-year-old secured a bonus point for fastest lap as well.

“It’s a big pleasure to drive with a car like this. I think it showed again today,” said Verstappen.

“We had quite a lot of different strategies out there. For most of the race, we were on the right one but a win here, it’s incredible.

“I had the harder compound so I knew the start would be a bit tricky. Going around the outside at Turn 1 is always quite difficult but luckily nothing happened.

“We had another strong weekend and that’s what I like to see from myself and the team, so hopefully we can keep that up throughout the year.”

Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton finished a distant second – more than 24 seconds behind – for Mercedes with teammate George Russell completing the podium on a cloudy but dry afternoon at the Circuit de Catalunya.

Red Bull’s Sergio Perez, Verstappen’s closest championship rival who has won the other two races this season, finished fourth after starting 11th.

“What a result for our team,” said Hamilton.

“We definitely didn’t expect to have the result we had today, so I just really want to take my hat off to my team and say a big, big thank you to everyone back at the factory for continuing to push and bring us a little bit closer to the Bulls.

“They are still a bit ahead, but we’ll keep chasing them down. This is an amazing result and George did a great job as well.

“I think they are a little bit too quick at the moment, but we are working at it, one step at a time.”

Mercedes brought major upgrades to their car in Monaco the previous weekend, including a new floor, sidepods and suspension.

However, the windy street circuit at Monte Carlo meant that any development and data could be better analysed only in Barcelona and, thankfully for them, it all worked out well.

“A little bit surprised for sure. Kudos to the team for giving me a great car today,” added Russell.

“That was a fun race for us. Hopefully a sign of things to come for us and the team.”

Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz was fifth ahead of the Aston Martin pair of Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso. Alpine’s Esteban Ocon, Zhou Guanyu of Alfa Romeo and Ocon’s teammate Pierre Gasly rounded out the top 10.

As it stands, Red Bull are on track to win every race in the season, although Verstappen had said that it is unlikely that they can achieve that feat because unforeseen circumstances like a retirement can occur.

No team have managed a clean sweep of a season.

McLaren, with Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna, won all but one race in 1988 but Austrian Gerhard Berger denied them the 100 per cent record with victory at Monza for Ferrari.

But former British driver Martin Brundle, now a pundit at Sky Sports, believes that the sky is the limit for Red Bull and especially for Verstappen.

He said: “I remember saying this when Michael Schumacher dominated, Lewis Hamilton dominating, Sebastian Vettel dominating. You have got to enjoy the excellence of it, the brilliance.

“You are witnessing great sportsfolk delivering incredible performances.” REUTERS, AFP