Red Bull and Max Verstappen presented a tactical masterclass to Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Mercedes Bottas on Sunday in dazzling to beat any of the Silver Arrows cars to claim victory at the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix.
It’s the first time this season that someone other than Hamilton or Bottas took the most sensible place on the podium and allowed Verstappen to close the gap over Bottas, second place, just six numbers with his ninth F1 win.
“We did everything perfectly today,” he said. “Thank you.”
His team leader Christian Horner responded with a joke: “It’s great. Fully disinfected.”
Verstappen owes his victory to his team’s resolve to start the race with hard-wing tyres, while his main rivals leave the media grid, the two Mercedes men have trouble controlling tire wear during the race.
Verstappen won 11,326 seconds ahead of the leader of the drivers’ standings and six-time champion Hamilton, who beat his mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas in the final. The third Finnish.
‘I didn’t see it coming, but after the first relay, it looked like we were fine with the tires. I had no problems with the tires, a wonderful day for us, ” said the Dutch star.
Hamilton said: “It was a huge challenge, but congratulations to Red Bull. It was unforeseen to have blisters as hard as that.”
Bottas, which started from pole, said: “Very frustrating for me, start from pole and complete 3rdArray. It’s not ideal and I think as a team we sleep in certain aspects of the race. My strategy is far from ideal.”
Hamilton’s podium means he matched Michael Schumacher’s career record of 155 podiums. It is also his 38th consecutive points record.
Charles Leclerc came fourth after an education consultation for Ferrari striker Alex Albon at the time Red Bull, Lance Stroll and his Racing Point teammate Nico Hulkenberg.
In a race that saw many battles and overtaking, Hamilton (second) and Stroll (sixth) ended up in the same position they had begun.
1. Max Verstappen, Netherlands, Red Bull2. Lewis Hamilton, Great Britain, Mercedes3. Valtteri Bottas, Finland, Mercedes 4. Charles Leclerc, Monaco, Ferrari5. Alexander Albon, Thailand, Red Bull 6. Lance Stroll, Canada, Racing Point 7. Nico Hulkenberg, Germany, Racing Point 8. Esteban Ocon, France, Renault 9. Lando Norris, Great Britain, McLaren Renault 10. Daniil Kvyat, Russia, Toro Rosso 11. Pierre Gasly, France, Toro Rosso 12. Sebastian Vettel, Germany, Ferrari13. Carlos Sainz Jr, Spain, McLaren 14. Daniel Ricciardo, Australia, Renault 15. Kimi Raikkonen, Finland, Alfa Romeo 16. Romain Grosjean, France, Haas17. Antonio Giovinazzi, Italy, Alfa Romeo18. George Russell, Great Britain, Williams 19. Nicholas Latifi, Canada, Williams 20. Kevin Magnussen, Denmark, Haas
1. Lewis Hamilton, Great Britain, Mercedes, 88 points2. Valtteri Bottas, Finland, Mercedes, 583. Max Verstappen, Netherlands, Red Bull, 524. Lando Norris, Great Britain, McLaren, 365. Charles Leclerc, Monaco, Ferrari, 336. Alexander Albon, Thailand, Red Bull, 267. Sergio Perez , Mexico, Racing Point, 228. Lance Stroll, Canada, Racing Point, 209. Daniel Ricciardo, Australia, Renault, 2010. Carlos Sainz Jr, Spain, McLaren, 15
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