Verstappen's blistering pace, Russell lifts Mercedes - Talking points from Dutch GP

Red Bull's Formula 1 champion, Max Verstappen, secured his second consecutive Dutch Grand Prix win in as many years. Though the win looked under threat from Mercedes-AMG, Verstappen managed to claw it back and give his home crowd something to cheer over.

Behind him was Mercedes-AMG's George Russell and Charles Leclerc for Ferrari.

Verstappen strolling to more gold

Verstappen didn't have the best race weekends, but he quickly got it together to start the Grand Prix from the front. In the race, he managed the first stint and kept all challengers at bay. Even when a late safety car was deployed to allow marshals to remove Valtteri Bottas' stricken Alfa Romeo, Verstappen did what he had to do when a possible win came under threat.

Still, only a fool would discount Red Bull's 2022 F1 car, the RB18, as Verstappen lunged at Lewis Hamilton at the race restart and passed the Mercedes man into the first corner.

READ: WRAP | Max Verstappen delights home crowd with Dutch Grand Prix win

Zandvoort wasn't meant to be a track that suited Red Bull too much, but Verstappen turned it into a favourable one.

"Not a straightforward race. We had to push the whole race," Verstappen said. "VSC (Virtual Safety Car), Safety Car, making the right calls, it worked out really well. I had a good run on the restart. I had a bit more top speed to attack into Turn 1. We timed it really well out of the last corner. The draft was really strong."

Verstappen now leads the 2022 Drivers' championship on 310 points, with Leclerc and Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez tied on 201.

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2021 ??2022 ??Double #DutchGP victories for @Max33Verstappen #F1 pic.twitter.com/FtRPuaRfOc

Torrid