Nothing is too good for his “Orange army”, and Max Verstappen spoiled it again on Sunday, at Zandvoort. More than last year. Author of the pole position-victory double at the 2021 Dutch Grand Prix, the Red Bull driver added the fastest lap to his Sunday, signing his fifth career “Hat trick”. And for the first time four victories in a row, in line with its successes in France, Hungary and Belgium. At this price, “Super Max” obviously continues to crush the world championship, since it now has 109 points lead at the top of the general classification, ahead of Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) and his teammate Sergio Pérez. With this 29th victory in Formula 1, his tenth of the season, he is also on track to deliver an almost perfect copy, only three units from the annual record shared by Michael Schumacher (2004) and Sebastian Vettel (2013). Netherlands “Super Max” imperial at home, regrets for Hamilton3 HOURS AGOParis tiresYou would think that this was another walk for him on the shores of the North Sea, but it was not. On two stops, he was long under threat from Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), on one stop. Until events rush onto the track. First, Yuki Tsunoda’s (AlphaTauri) pit stop on lap 48 of the 72 laps prompted the peloton to slow down in sector 1 under virtual safety car regime, and change tires. What he did, taking “hard” tires with little grip, not provided for in his race plan. Then, the retirement of Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo), on engine failure on the 56th lap, caused a total neutralization with the safety car, and triggered another wave of pit stops. This is where the team took the risk of calling him a third time to his garage to take some “tender”. Unlike the Briton, who paid for his mistake by losing his place on the podium.”It was not an easy race”Back in action, the reigning world champion had no trouble overtaking the Mercedes n°44 in “medium” used. Incredibly, the seven-time world champion even offered him his place as leader on a silver platter by relaunching the race before banking. With the DRS it was more than enough for the idol of the crowd. “It was not an easy race but we had to attack, of course, with a safety car, a safety car virtual security, by making the right choices, he explained on arrival, at the microphone of former Red Bull driver David Coulthard. It’s always a bit of a question mark but it worked very well Once back on the ‘soft’ tyres, we found a good rhythm.” But he insisted on this: “We wouldn’t have won if we hadn’t stopped (a third time).” “I had to work even harder”The little extra action that delighted his audience is obviously his decisive overtaking, unstoppable on Lewis Hamilton, on the 60th lap. And above all surgical: he had no right to pass the Englishman before the timing line, and he did it just after. “We managed the timing of this last turn in banking very well, he underlined. I prepared very well and we took the lead.” which in its beginnings placed all its victories on the same level. “It’s amazing to win again here, he confessed. It’s always special to win at home. This year I had to work even more. Thank you all for coming. I’m proud to be Dutch!” “It’s a big result for Max at home, agreed Christian Horner, general manager of RBR. It was an exciting race, not easy strategically speaking, to go from two to three stops, which worked. It’s a great result. There was a lot of pressure on the team and Max. We managed.” of his fifth Constructors’ World Championship title. The Milton Keynes team have 505 points, 121 more than Ferrari. That’s more than the value of five doubles, seven rounds from the end of the season…Belgian Grand PrixIs Leclerc too nice?08/25/2022 At 7:40 p.m. I had a very good team for strategy”08/11/2022 At 1:33 PM