formula 1
World champion Verstappen dominates competition in Barcelona
Max Verstappen starts the Spanish Grand Prix with a best time in qualifying. photo
© Hasan Bratic/dpa
Max Verstappen does not allow tension to arise in Formula 1. The world champion dominates practice ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix. The next victory seems only a matter of form.
World champion Max Verstappen doesn’t give the competition a chance on the way to his third Formula 1 title in Barcelona either.
On Friday before the Spanish Grand Prix, the World Championship leader set the best time in practice and relegated the experienced Fernando Alonso in the Aston Martin to second place with a lead of 0.170 seconds in his Red Bull. Verstappen only needed 1:13.907 seconds for his fastest lap on the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. The Rhinelander Nico Hülkenberg was surprisingly only 0.270 seconds behind the four-time winner of the season, Verstappen, in third place in the Haas racing car.
Verstappen without weakness
The 25-year-old Dutchman showed no weakness at the start in Catalonia. Five days after his victory in Monaco, the two-time champion left no doubt that he could also win on Sunday (3 p.m. / Sky). He had already done so in the previous year and in 2016. Seven years ago he had triumphed in his first start for Red Bull in Spain – and that at the age of just 18 years and 228 days. In the five years between his victories, Lewis Hamilton always ended up at the front in the Mercedes.
“A Formula 1 car comes to life here,” said Verstappen about the course on the outskirts of the Spanish metropolis. After the street circuit in Monaco, it’s back to a real racetrack where a lot of engine power is required. It doesn’t seem possible for the competition to put Red Bull under serious pressure again. Ferrari or Mercedes came to the seventh round of the season with technical improvements. “Apparently we can do that,” Verstappen replied on Thursday, looking ahead to the question of whether his racing team could win all 22 World Championship races.
However, Verstappen restricted: “But it is very unlikely because something can always go wrong. There will also be routes where not everything fits.” At first glance, however, this may not be the case in Spain. According to Verstappen, Red Bull did not bring any technical upgrades to the Grand Prix in Fernando Alonso’s home country. The 41-year-old, third in the World Championship, is the surprise driver of the season.
Home game for Alonso
“So far we have achieved many third places and a second place in Monaco. What we still need is a win,” says Alonso. More than 100,000 fans will probably be there at the Grand Prix, most of them will be cheering for the two-time world champion. Ten years ago, the national hero from Asturias was at the top of the podium in the same place for the last time, when he drove his Ferrari to an acclaimed triumph.
Before this year’s edition, Verstappen leads quite comfortably in the world championship standings with a 39-point lead over Perez, twelve more points behind Alonso in the Aston Martin. In training, the veteran made it way up again. The only remaining German in the field, 35-year-old Nico Hülkenberg, also showed a very strong lap in the recently weak Haas.
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