From dominating qualifying to controlling the race, Max Verstappen was simply untouchable. The Dutchman brought home a “Grand Slam” — win, pole, fastest lap, and all laps led — for his 67th career victory and 4th of this season, MySportDab Reports
Piastri was the ominous shadow behind Verstappen’s celebration, as the young Australian driver suffered a calamitous accident at Turn 5 in the opening lap that immediately stopped his race and reduced his championship lead to 25 points.
Starting ninth after a qualifying crash, Piastri made a poor getaway by jumping the lights and grazing the wall at Turn 5, thus ending his record run of 34 consecutive points finishes.
McLaren’s ambition to secure the constructors’ title by breaking the record of rounds with eleven left was seriously compromised by what happened. Moreover, they have now postponed their celebrating until the Singapore GP, on October 5.
Behind Verstappen and the suffering George Russell, Mercedes-leader, finally, had to use all his strength to go through, and dragged his car to a second place despite being unwell. Carlos Sainz, on the other side, was able to celebrate the first Williams podium of the year with a third place finish, “It’s even better than my very first podium,” said the smiling Spaniard on the podium.
The stars of tomorrow illuminated the distant part of the field just as brightly; for instance, Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli bounced back from a disaster weekend in Monza and took fourth, while Liam Lawson from Racing Bulls reached his career-best fifth.
Yuki Tsunoda was sixth for Red Bull, in front of Norris, who was impacted by yet another slow pitstop, while the Ferrari pair of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc came seventh and eighth respectively. As for French rookie Isack Hadjar, he completed the top 10 for Racing Bulls by finishing in tenth place.
In the case of Verstappen, the victory did not only prolong the positive energy of Red Bull but also maintained his slim championship fight. “The clean air, powerful pace, everything seemed very simple – this weekend was just fantastic, “he said.
