Global EditionASIA 中文雙語Fran?ais
    Sports
    Home / Sports / Motor news

    Verstappen's like royalty as Dutch king watches home win

    Updated: 2021-09-06 10:29
    Share
    Share - WeChat
    Red Bull's Max Verstappen celebrates with Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton on the podium with champagne after winning the race of Dutch Grand Prix, Circuit Zandvoort, Zandvoort, Netherlands, September 5, 2021. [Photo/Agencies]

    ZANDVOORT, Netherlands — Wearing the Dutch national flag like a cape, Max Verstappen felt like royalty as he stood atop the podium at his home race.

    He treated his fans — including King Willem-Alexander — to a superb win at the Netherlands Grand Prix on Sunday to wrestle back the lead from Lewis Hamilton, who finished second ahead of Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas.

    "Incredible feeling, of course, to win in front of the fans, because the king was watching with the royal family," Verstappen said. "Just an amazing day." After 13 races of a thrilling Formula One title fight, the Red Bull driver is three points ahead of Hamilton, who seeks a record eighth F1 title to move one ahead of Michael Schumacher and stand alone among F1 greats.

    Verstappen is chasing his first F1 crown and will take some stopping, considering he leads Hamilton 7-4 for wins and 7-3 in pole positions.

    The only thing missing from Verstappen's 17th career win was a bonus point for fastest lap, which went to Hamilton.

    Verstappen's winning margin of 21 seconds over Hamilton was exaggerated because the British driver had to pit again to wrestle back that point from Bottas. A rare blip by Mercedes saw Bottas told to abort his bid for fastest lap, but it was too late and forced Hamilton to retrieve it.

    After the race, a jubilant Verstappen grabbed a Dutch flag and lifted it high toward his adoring supporters as they celebrated together. "The expectations were high and it's never easy to fulfil that," Verstappen said. "But I'm so happy to win here and to take the lead as well in the championship. It's just an amazing day with the whole crowd." Verstappen's devoted home fans turned the stands by the seaside town into an orange sea of bodies. Orange flares were lit, and feet were stamped as Verstappen turned to the crowd with a clenched fist after a clinical drive.

    AlphaTauri driver Pierre Gasly placed fourth ahead of Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and Alpine driver Fernando Alonso.

    Verstappen started from pole position for the sixth time in the past seven races, courtesy of a brilliant qualifying session.

    Hamilton and Bottas were just behind, but Verstappen zoomed clear of them on the speedy 4.3-kilometer (2.7-mile) Zandvoort with its high-banking corners.

    "The start was very important, I think we did that well," he said. "Mercedes tried to make it difficult for us, but we countered them all the time really well." Team principal Christian Horner called Verstappen's drive "epic" and hugged team engineers and mechanics in the paddock. With Red Bull having more pace, Mercedes exerted pressure with strategy.

    Hamilton changed tires on Lap 21, with Red Bull covering that move by bringing Verstappen in straight away. He came out about 2 seconds ahead of Hamilton, leaving Bottas in the lead.

    "It's going to be critical to catch and pass (Bottas)," the Red Bull team told Verstappen on the radio.

    They roared when Verstappen overtook Bottas on Lap 31, with Hamilton passing Bottas to move 1.5 seconds behind Verstappen at the halfway point.

    Mercedes brought Hamilton in for a second tire change on Lap 40 in a bid to undercut Red Bull. It didn't work, as Red Bull's slick stop one lap later put Verstappen 3 seconds ahead.

    "Doesn't seem to be an advantage, (Red Bull) called our bluff," a frustrated Hamilton said. "They're just so fast." Hamilton disagreed with a team order on Lap 55 to preserve the tires rather than risk damaging them by chasing too hard.

    "What, and don't race?" asked Hamilton, who got the go-ahead to continue.

    But he couldn't get close enough to attack Verstappen, who coasted home to rapturous celebrations from his Orange Army.

    He will look to carry his momentum into the Italian GP at Monza next weekend, where Hamilton again seeks a record-extending 100th win after being thwarted for three races since winning the British GP.

    The seven-time F1 champion was in a gracious mood.

    "What a race, what a crowd. It's been an amazing weekend," said Hamilton, who was applauded having been jeered by Vertappen's fans in previous races. "Max did an incredible job so a huge congratulations to him. I gave it absolutely everything."

    He leaves the Zandvoort track with fond memories.

    "The last lap was one of the best parts of the race for me," Hamilton added. "This is now one of my favorite tracks." Even better than Silverstone? "I mean, the British one is naturally my favorite," Hamilton said. "Where I think this track is probably better than Silverstone is that at Silverstone the grandstands are so far away. You need binoculars, but here they are right on the track." 

    Most Popular

    Highlights

    What's Hot
    Top
    BACK TO THE TOP
    English
    Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
    License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

    Registration Number: 130349
    FOLLOW US
    最近最新免费中文字幕高清| 亚洲AV日韩AV永久无码绿巨人| 亚洲va无码va在线va天堂| 国产又爽又黄无码无遮挡在线观看| 最新中文字幕在线观看| 久久中文字幕无码专区| 亚洲AV无码一区二区乱孑伦AS| 最近免费中文字幕MV在线视频3| 国产三级无码内射在线看| 中文无码久久精品| 亚洲日韩乱码中文无码蜜桃臀网站| 午夜福利av无码一区二区| 中文无码精品一区二区三区| 久久无码中文字幕东京热| 国产a级理论片无码老男人| 一本无码中文字幕在线观| 色综合久久中文字幕综合网| 亚洲高清无码在线观看| 变态SM天堂无码专区| 日韩精品真人荷官无码| 无码人妻品一区二区三区精99| 无码夫の前で人妻を侵犯| 在线观看中文字幕| 无码中文人妻视频2019| 亚洲乱亚洲乱少妇无码| 日韩视频无码日韩视频又2021| 日韩AV片无码一区二区不卡电影| 曰韩人妻无码一区二区三区综合部 | 亚洲熟妇无码八V在线播放| HEYZO无码综合国产精品| 久久精品国产亚洲AV无码娇色| 亚洲va无码手机在线电影| 亚洲VA中文字幕无码毛片| 亚洲av成人无码久久精品| 无码人妻一区二区三区免费看 | 一夲道DVD高清无码| 亚洲国产日韩欧美在线a乱码日本中文字幕高清 | 免费无码一区二区三区蜜桃| 久久久久亚洲精品中文字幕 | 久久精品aⅴ无码中文字字幕重口| 亚洲精品一级无码鲁丝片|