ZANDVOORT: Red Bull’s driver Max Verstappen sailed to a comfortable victory in the Dutch Grand Prix 2022 to extend his championship lead in the ongoing Formula 1 2022 season.
Following a late safety-car period, the Red Bull driver overtook Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes to win his 10th of 15 races this year, increasing his championship lead to 109 points.
Mercedes’ negligence to replace Hamilton’s tyres during the caution period left him furious. Due to his vulnerability, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and teammate George Russell were able to overtake him and claim the remaining podium spots after the restart.
Hamilton, however, managed to hold on to fourth ahead of Red Bull’s Sergio Perez, Fernando Alonso’s Alpine and Lando Norris’ McLaren. Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, who finished fifth, was later demoted to the eighth courtesy of a five-second penalty for an unsafe pit stop release.
Verstappen was off to a flawless start, cutting through from his 17th pole position to take the lead into the first circuit. Leclerc and Sainz were right behind him, and Sainz managed to stave off a hard charge from Hamilton.
In a race marred by incidents, the 24-year-old Dutchman made the most of his team’s cool judgement to finish 4.071 seconds ahead of Mercedes’ Russell.
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