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Max Verstappen wins Formula 1 race in Netherlands

Owrestling clouds rise above the grandstands. In the Netherlands, when Formula 1 has reached its goal, that’s a smoke signal from the fans: We have a champion! Max Verstappen. After his tenth victory in the 15th Formula 1 race of the season, there is hardly any doubt about that.

Because Verstappen left the by no means surprisingly quick George Russell (Mercedes) behind in the Red Bull for the fourth win in a row. His challenger Charles Leclerc was “only” third in the Ferrari and lost even more ground in the fight for the drivers’ title. His gap to the leader Verstappen grew to 109 points. There are still seven Grands Prix to go. “The gap is pretty big,” said Leclerc soberly, “we’re now looking at races.”

Finely worked out tactical program

The spectators, estimated at 70,000 in the fully occupied grandstands, had to wait. Not on Verstappen’s lead, who remained in the lead after starting from pole position, followed by Leclerc and the second Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz. But on what makes the hearts of the fans beat faster, overtaking maneuvers. A problem at Zandvoort. The routing offers only one opportunity for tricky attacks. A risk on Sunday, because the cars of the fastest, Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes seemed to be circling at eye level for a long time.

And so the engineering community had prepared a tactical program to move forward with the pit stop plans. Finely worked out down to the tenth of a second. It would probably have worked out well if people hadn’t been in and on the machine. That’s why the fans got their money’s worth even during the slowly looming decision about victory and defeat.

At least when looking into the pit lane, Formula 1 offered good entertainment. Above all Ferrari. Lap 16: Sainz, in third place, pits. 2.5 seconds is standard for changing tires. When all the tires are there. Ferrari is missing the left rear tire. 12.7 seconds elapsed before the Scuderia sent their second man back into the race.

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