Max Verstappen has been in dominant form in 2023, as he continues to hunt down his third consecutive F1 crown.
The Dutchman secured a third victory at his home race, which was also his ninth consecutive win.
This saw him match four-time World Champion Sebastian Vettel’s record from 2013, a record which Verstappen could eclipse next weekend at the Italian Grand Prix.
Verstappen is rapidly closing in on his third consecutive Drivers’ Championship, which he’ll likely seal in September.
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The opening day at his home Grand Prix wasn’t completely plain sailing though, as he did take a trip through the gravel at Turn 10.
No damage was done, with him having labelled the opening day as “excellent”.
He admitted that a few things were trialled in FP2, but that the car felt better in FP1.
Verstappen was overall very happy with the car everywhere, other than a “few corners”.
“It was an excellent day,” Verstappen told the media.
“We tried some things on the car and FP2 was a little bit trickier [than FP1].
“In general, it was kind of hard to do a trouble-free lap because there were always cars, but it was fine. There are definitely things we want to improve, but even during the long runs we had fine speed.
“There were just a few corners where I wasn’t very happy with the balance.
“It’s about fixing that. The car otherwise has a lot of potential to have a good day. We need to start improving a few things and then we’ll be back up front.”
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Max Verstappen is now turning his attention to the upcoming 2023 Italian GP, as he looks to take victory at Ferrari’s home race.
Red Bull go to Monza as the clear favourites, as their car has excelled at high-speed circuits this year.
And, with Verstappen being in the form of his life, it’s hard to imagine he won’t record another victory this weekend.