Reigning World Champion Max Verstappen was unstoppable once again on Sunday at the British Grand Prix, although his victory was far from “straightforward”.
It was another perfect weekend for the Dutchman, who claimed pole position, victory and the fastest lap in the race.
His eighth victory of 2023 saw him extend his lead in the Drivers’ Championship to a staggering 99 points over team-mate Sergio Perez, after just 10 races.
Verstappen’s win on Sunday certainly didn’t come easy though, as he lost the lead almost immediately to McLaren’s Lando Norris.
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Norris made a much better start as the lights went out which saw him lead into the opening corner, whilst Verstappen was forced to defend from Oscar Piastri.
Verstappen continued to defend second from Piastri throughout the opening lap, until he built a small gap to the rookie driver.
Once that happened, the two-time World Champion began to catch Norris, before overtaking him after a few laps thanks to a dose of DRS.
When the 25-year-old moved into the lead he as usual began to build a gap of several seconds, something he lost in the closing stages following a late Safety Car.
Following an excellent restart though, Verstappen went on to win his sixth consecutive race of the season by just under four seconds.
His win saw him become just the fifth driver in the history of the sport to have claimed six wins in a row, something which has only been made possible thanks to Red Bull “working really well”.
“We are having a great time but today was not the most straightforward race,” Verstappen told Sky Sports F1.
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“I had a bad start with a lot of wheelspin, I had to pass Lando and then he came back into my DRS again because my tyres were a bit hot.
“But once we settled in I could eek out the gap and, at one point, it was nine seconds so we were looking quite strong again and then the Safety Car everyone was together to the end.
“Overall, it was a very positive weekend for us. It shows where we are as a team right now – everything is working really well. It’s difficult to be perfect, maybe today was a tougher day but we still won which was the most important.”