ZANDVOORT, Netherlands: World champion Max Verstappen won a fourth straight race at his home Dutch Grand Prix with Mercedes’ George Russell in second at Zandvoort on Sunday.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc took third with Lewis Hamilton in the other Mercedes fourth.
“I’m proud to be Dutch,” said Verstappen as he took another relentless step toward a second successive world title.
“It was not a straightfoward race. It is incredible to win here again, it is always special to win your home race,” added Verstappen, cheered on by the massed ranks of his ‘orange army’.
The world champion, in the best form of his career, stretched his lead in the drivers’ standings to 109 points after this 15th round of the 22-race season.
Leclerc and Sergio Perez, his Red Bull teammate who came in fifth, lead the chasing pack level on 201 points.
Verstappen, who also bagged the point for fastest lap, can take another step toward the 2022 Formula One crown at Monza next weekend.
It was not all plain sailing for the home hero who had started from pole as he had to retain all his composure to overtake Hamilton in a dramatic late safety car restart.
Verstappen wins fourth race in a row at Dutch Grand Prix
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Verstappen wins fourth race in a row at Dutch Grand Prix
- ‘I’m proud to be Dutch,’ said Verstappen as he took another relentless step toward a second sucessive world title
Alonso fears more pain in China with struggling Aston Martin
- Fernando Alonso said Thursday he expects another difficult weekend wrestling with his new Aston Martin at the Chinese Grand Prix after failing to finish the season-opener in Australia
SHANGHAI: Fernando Alonso said Thursday he expects another difficult weekend wrestling with his new Aston Martin at the Chinese Grand Prix after failing to finish the season-opener in Australia.
Silverstone-based Aston Martin endured a horror start after serious issues with their Honda power unit and a lack of spare parts.
Two-time world champion Alonso and teammate Lance Stroll had to endure extreme vibration in the chassis caused by the power unit, which was feared could cause the drivers permanent nerve damage.
“The situation unfortunately didn’t change within four or five days since Melbourne, so it will be a difficult weekend,” Alonso told reporters at the Shanghai International Circuit.
“We’ll limit the laps in one or two sessions as we are short on parts. We need laps, to find the window on the chassis side.
“I’ll be happy if we leave China with a more or less normal practice, more or less normal qualifying.”
The Spaniard could not put a timeframe on when improvements might come.
“What can I do within the team? Work harder, help Honda as much as I can,” said Alonso.
“We can allocate resources to help Honda with the power unit. We are one team, it is a bumpy start that I hope won’t last too long.
“We are pushing, we have very talented people in the team, so I hope within a couple of grands prix, we can have a normal weekend.
“To be competitive will take more time. Once we fix the reliability, we will be behind on power and things.”
The 44-year-old veteran has been in Formula One for more than two decades and has driven vastly different iterations of cars from the old V10 petrol engines through to the current complex hybrid configuration.
Despite the issues he said was embracing the challenge of the new cars enthusiastically in what could be his final season on the grid.
His Aston Martin contract expires at the end of 2026.
“Do we enjoy driving these cars? Yes, because we love racing,” Alonso said.
“I do four or five 24-hour races because I love racing and I love driving. So if you jump into an F1 car, you enjoy going fast.
“But it is a challenge, a different challenge.
“I was super lucky to race in (the last) era and I feel lucky to race in both.”
