Max Verstappen is now within one race from another Formula One record after winning his eighth race in a row at the Belgian Grand Prix on Sunday.
Verstappen came from sixth on the grid at Spa-Francorchamps to finish over 22 seconds ahead of his Red Bull teammate Sergio Pérez in second and over 32 seconds ahead of third-placed Charles Leclerc.
The dominant victory was his 10th of the season and his eighth in a row. The record for the most consecutive race wins is held by Sebastian Vettel with nine.
Staggeringly, it is the 13th straight win for Red Bull, dating back to last season, and 12th in a row this year, the first team in the sport’s history to win the first 12 races of the season.
“It’s a new spot (winning from) P6. I knew that we had a great car and it was just about surviving Turn One. I could see it getting really tight so I was just going to stay out of that and it worked out,” he said afterwards on Sky Sports.
“From there onwards we made the right overtakes and moves. I got a bit stuck in a DRS train at the start but once that cleared I could do my own pace. Again, really enjoyable.”
The Dutch driver continued to show why he’s the runaway drivers’ championship leader – Sunday’s win extended his lead to 125 points – passing his opposition at will during the race.
At one point during the race, Verstappen felt so comfortable that he even suggested he do a pit stop practice.
“I could also push on and do another stop – a bit of pit stop practice,” Verstappen could be heard saying to his team on their radio.
The response was emphatic. “No. Not this time.”
