F1 News
Verstappen on 9 consecutive wins: 'Dutch GP one of most difficult wins'
Max Verstappen says the Dutch Grand Prix was one of the most difficult wins in his streak of nine victories. The Dutchman controlled the race, but two heavy rain showers caused stress. The Red Bull driver equalled Sebastian Vettel's record of nine consecutive wins in Formula 1.
Stressful race
Everyone predicted it would be an easy race for Verstappen given his performance in the long runs on Friday. He beat Lando Norris going into turn one, but that wasn't his only challenge during the race. He even had to make some overtakes in the early stages of the race and battle tricky conditions. Verstappen explained the most stressful parts.
"I think the first laps on the slicks were quite stressful. You don't want to immediately go off the track. And also, knowing how much grip there is still out there on the tyres with the amount of water coming down was not easy. And of course, the final restart with seven laps to go, or six laps to go, I knew that I had not been the best with warm-up, so I knew that I had to survive, let's say that first lap. Fernando was pushing very hard behind. I could see him closely in my mirrors. But once I had the temperature in my tyres, it was all well-balanced again," Verstappen said.
"It was probably one of the more difficult races to win again. Nine in a row is something I never even thought about and I'm very happy with that," Verstappen added.
Verstappen now has a 138 point lead in the World Championship, and has one hand on the 2023 F1 World Championship trophy with nine rounds remaining in the season.