Anyone who was still hoping for an exciting title race after the Formula 1 summer break has been taught a lesson by Max Verstappen.
In Spa-Francorchamps on Sunday, the world champion raced playfully from 14th on the grid to victory and is already leading the overall standings by 93 points. The second title is only a matter of form for the Dutchman.
Max Verstappen is in a league of his own:
The Red Bull driver was “like from another planet” in Belgium, said the Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz. Verstappen was sometimes more than two seconds faster per lap than the fastest pursuers, that’s worlds in Formula 1. “It’s an ease with which he’s currently delivering these services, that’s unlikely,” said Red Bull adviser Helmut Marko at Sky. The Dutchman has already collected nine wins in 14 races. In this form, Verstappen could break the record of 13 wins of the season set by Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel in the remaining eight races.
Ferrari is at a loss:
The Scuderia was presented again in Spa. The distance to Red Bull shook drivers and those responsible. “We have to understand what we can improve for the next races,” lectured team boss Mattia Binotto. At first, none of the Reds was able to say exactly what that could be. After all, Red Bull had been superior in every respect. “I don’t think there will be a few miracles next week that we’re very close to Red Bull,” admitted Charles Leclerc, third in the World Cup, before continuing on to Zandvoort – for Verstappen’s home game.
Mick Schumacher runs out of chances:
The Haas driver urgently needs a few good arguments as to why his team or another racing team should give him a cockpit next year. It doesn’t help that his car was probably the slowest in the field despite a package of innovations in Belgium. And then the bottom of the 23-year-old was still glowing because his seat heated up a lot during the race due to a defect. “Good training for Singapore,” joked Schumacher, looking ahead to the sweat race in five weeks.
