SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS: Red Bull boss Christian Horner described his team’s form this season as “mind blowing” after Max Verstappen’s latest display of dominance at Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix.
Verstappen romped to his eighth consecutive victory and 10th of the season to maintain Red Bull’s total grip on Formula One after 12 of 22 races.
Asked about the prospects of completing an unbeaten season, Horner said: “I’m not going to project that far ahead. We’ll come back after the break and try to keep this amazing momentum going.”
Formula One will shut down for three weeks and return at the end of August with Verstappen’s home Dutch Grand Prix, where he will seek to equal former Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel’s 2013 record of nine straight wins.
Verstappen’s 45th career victory lifted him 125 points clear of teammate Sergio Perez in the title race while in the constructors championship, Red Bull lead with 503 points to Mercedes on 247.
On Sunday, Perez was second — Red Bull’s fifth one-two of the season — and he has a 40-point lead over Fernando Alonso in the standings.
Horner praised the team for their work in winning all 12 races this year.
“It’s all about team-work and everyone doing their bit,” he said.
“It’s what the team has done in the first part of this year and it’s why we remain unbeaten so far. It’s mind blowing!
“We need to keep this level going, but right now everyone deserves a well-deserved break.”
Verstappen said his latest demonstration of dominance “was really enjoyable” especially as he had started sixth on the grid.
“It’s a new spot, that’s for sure — P6. I knew that we had a great car. It was just about surviving turn one. We made all the right moves.”
Such was Verstappen’s superiority he had time to tease his race engineer over the team radio.
As Gianpiero Lambiase warned him about degradation and to conserve his tires he joked that he might go faster instead — and take an extra pit-stop to give the team more pit-stop practice.
Their banter came as the 25-year-old Dutchman carved his way to a crushing 22-second victory ahead of Perez to complete a hat-trick of Belgian wins.
Told earlier in the race to “follow my instructions, please, and respect them,” Verstappen was later told after pitting for fresh tires that “you used a lot of the tire on the out lap, Max. I’m not sure that was sensible.”
Verstappen took little notice but responded with a fastest lap.
“I’d ask you to use your head a bit more,” said his engineer to which he replied: “I could push on and have another stop, for pit-stop training.”
“Not this time,” said Lambiase curtly, emphasising a need for caution that the champion said he had respected.
“I did slow down,” protested Verstappen after the race.
Red Bull boss hails ‘mind blowing’ season as Max Verstappen cruises again in Belgium
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Red Bull boss hails ‘mind blowing’ season as Max Verstappen cruises again in Belgium
- Verstappen’s 45th career victory lifted him 125 points clear of teammate Sergio Perez
- Horner praised the team for their work in winning all 12 races this year
Barcelona pounces on Real Madrid stumble and regains lead of La Liga with a 3-0 win over Levante
- Barcelona moved one point ahead of Madrid, which had won eight in a row in the league before losing to Osasuna
MADRID: Barcelona took advantage of Real Madrid’s stumble and regained the Spanish league lead with a comfortable 3-0 win over relegation-threatened Levante on Sunday.
Marc Bernal, Frenkie de Jong and Fermín López scored a goal each as Barcelona ended a two-game losing streak to get back in front of rival Madrid, which lost 2-1 at Osasuna on Saturday.
Barcelona moved one point ahead of Madrid, which had won eight in a row in the league before losing to Osasuna.
Barcelona was coming off a 2-1 loss to Girona in the league and a 4-0 loss to Atletico Madrid in the first leg of the Copa del Rey semifinals.
“It was important to win and earn three points again,” Barcelona defender João Cancelo said. “Soccer gives you these opportunities to rebound and that’s what we did today, playing well again after two bad games.”
Barcelona had earned a clean sheet only once in its previous six games in all competitions.
Good start for Barcelona
Bernal scored from close range four minutes into the match at the Camp Nou Stadium. The 18-year-old Bernal had scored his first goal with the first team two rounds ago in a win over Mallorca.
“They had an early chance but my goal helped us settle and gain some confidence,” Bernal said.
De Jong added to the lead from inside the area in the 32nd and López sealed the victory with a beautiful long-range shot in the 81st, with the ball ricocheting off the post before going into the net.
Levante’s Australian goalkeeper Mathew Ryan kept Barcelona from adding the fourth with a pair of outstanding saves in a row in the final minutes, first off a header by Raphinha and then off a point-blank strike from López on the rebound.
It was the fourth straight defeat for Levante, which sits in 19th place. It is one point ahead of last-place Oviedo, which has a game in hand.
Levante has only one victory in its last eight matches.
Pedri entered the match in the 66th to make his return to action after an injury layoff.
Other results
Sevilla won 1-0 at 10-man Getafe for its second win in its last 10 matches in all competitions.
Djibril Sow scored a 64th-minute winner for the visitors. Getafe played a man down from the 26th after a straight red card for Djene Dakonam.
The result left Sevilla in 11th place, immediately above Getafe.
Third-place Villarreal, Barcelona’s next league opponent, can restore a three-point gap to fourth-place Atletico Madrid if it beats Valencia at home later Sunday. Atletico beat Espanyol 4-2 at home on Saturday.
