Motor racing-Verstappen wins in Spain to continue Red Bull sweep

LONDON: Max Verstappen won the Spanish Grand Prix from pole position on Sunday to stretch his Formula One championship lead to 53 points and continue Red Bull’s sweep of the season with the team’s seventh success in as many races. Seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton was second for Mercedes, but a distant 24.090 seconds behind, with team mate George Russell completing the podium on a cloudy but dry afternoon at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya. Red Bull’s Sergio Perez, Verstappen’s closest rival in a season that looks sure to crown the dominant Dutch 25-year-old for a third time, finished fourth after fighting back from 11th at the start.

The win was Verstappen’s fifth of the season, third in a row, third in Spain and the double world champion’s 40th in Formula One. The man who took the first grand prix win of his career at the Spanish circuit in 2016 and also triumphed last year, secured the bonus point for fastest lap to cap a day of domination. “It’s a big pleasure to drive with a car like this.

I think it showed again today,” said Verstappen, who fended off Ferrari’s home hero Carlos Sainz at the start in the only challenge of an otherwise straightforward afternoon. “I had the harder compound so I knew the start would be a bit tricky. Going around the outside at Turn One is always quite difficult but luckily nothing happened.” Verstappen was also shown a black and white flag for exceeding track limits late in the race but the risk of a five second penalty was hardly going to trouble someone so far up the road from the rest.

“Well done Max, that was mega. Very well controlled, even though you went over the white lines a few times,” said team boss Christian Horner. McLaren’s Lando Norris, who started third on the