Africa-Press – South-Africa. Max Verstappen took victory in front of his adoring fans when he triumphed at his home race, the Dutch Grand Prix, on Sunday.
The Red Bull driver started the race on pole position, but early rain turned the race on its head, leaving the Dutchman with work to do as he had to close a 14-second gap to team-mate Sergio Perez – who by now now was leading the race.
However, it wasn’t long before the defending was at the front again and he led the disrupted race to the end.
“They didn’t make it easy for us with the weather, to make all the right calls,” the home hero said.
“I already had goosebumps when they were playing the anthem at the start. I’ll think about [the 10th win] next week; I just want to enjoy this one. The atmosphere is very special.”
It was Verstappen’s ninth consecutive win, tying Sebastian Vettel’s 2013 record.
Alonso back on the podium
Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso made the most of the challenging conditions to finish the race in second place. The Spaniard had a problematic first pitstop at the start of the race, but pulled it together to drag his AMR23 across the finish line for his first podium finish since Canada.
“It was a very intense race, with the wet conditions we were very, very fast,” Alonso said.
“The car was flying today, very competitive, easy to drive. In these conditions, you need a car you can trust, and I did trust it today. This is a very special race track. Happy for Max, congratulations to everyone.”
Alonso quipped that he fancied challenging Verstappen for the win but was afraid of not being allowed to leave the circuit by the 100 000 Dutch fans.
Pierre Gasly also found himself at the receiving end of brilliant driving in the tough conditions. Though he crossed the finish line in fourth place, a five-second penalty to Red Bull’s Sergio Perez demoted him from third, pushing the Alpine driver up the order.
Gasly exclaimed in the post-race interview: “What a race! It hasn’t been the easiest year, so to come back after the summer break, I’m super pleased for all the guys to get that P3. It was a very long race, very challenging, but greatly executed from all the guys.”
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