'Untouchable' Verstappen cruises in Belgium to tighten grip on second title

World champion Max Verstappen blew away his rivals with a commanding performance at the Belgian Grand Prix on Sunday to take a significant step towards a second successive drivers' title as Red Bull celebrated a 1-2 with Sergio Perez finishing a remote runner-up.

The 24-year-old Dutchman, who started from 14th on the grid, scorched through the field with devastating pace and elan to deliver crushing proof of his and Red Bull's superiority.

"It's been a weekend that I couldn't have imagined before," said Verstappen, who pulled 93 points clear of Perez in the drivers' standings.

Among those blown away by Verstappen's stunning show of superiority was his teammate.

"Max was flying – he was on another planet. He was untouchable," said Perez.

Verstappen has now won nine of this season's 14 races - this was the 29th of his career and completed a hat-trick of summer victories in Europe.

In front of a packed crowd at the spectacular Spa-Francorchamps circuit, including many fans from the nearby Netherlands, Verstappen came home 17.841 seconds clear of the pack with race pole-sitter Carlos Sainz finishing third for Ferrari.

Charles Leclerc, Verstappen's nearest challenger going into the race, struggled in the other Ferrari after starting 15th.

He was handed a five-second penalty for speeding in the pitlane and had to battle past Alpine's Fernando Alonso on the last lap to snatch sixth behind the Mercedes of George Russell and Fernando Alonso.

Lewis Hamilton retired on the opening lap after his Mercedes collided with Alonso's car.

Verstappen was one of eight drivers to be relegated down the grid after taking new power-unit or gearbox components.

In spite of being quickest in qualifying he started 14th but quickly carved his way through the