'We had another strong weekend and that's what I like to see for myself in the weekend and hopefully we keep that up for the year.' A fillip for Mercedes Lewis Hamilton celebrated his 193rd career podiumīehind Verstappen, Mercedes had a strong race to take the final two podium positions. 'I knew the start was going to be a bit tricky going into Turn One but luckily nothing happened. 'We had quite a lot of different tyre strategies today. 'It's a big pleasure to drive with a car like this and it showed again today,' said Verstappen. Verstappen's only concern was that he was given a black-and-white flag for exceeding track limits three times.Īfter that, he was warned not to risk going for the point for fastest lap, but he did it anyway - with success, of course. They fitted the hard at his first stop and Verstappen could have gone to the end on that, but he decided he did not like it and swapped to the soft for a short final stint. That gave them the option of either a one-stop or a two-stop strategy. Red Bull chose the medium tyre for both cars for the start unlike the soft on most of the other cars.

He faced a brief threat from Sainz, who made a better start and was side-by-side heading to the first corner, but the Spaniard thought better of a challenge on the outside and conceded the position.įrom that moment on, Verstappen was untouchable. Verstappen had looked unbeatable from his first lap in Friday practice and proved to be exactly that in the race. Verstappen imperious again Red Bull cars have led every lap of the last three grands prix 'Hamilton eyes 2024 with Verstappen out of reach'.Russell faced a charge from Perez in the closing laps but held on for his first podium finish of the year.Ĭarlos Sainz slipped from second on the grid to fifth at the finish in the upgraded Ferrari, losing fourth to Perez in the closing stages.įernando Alonso charged up from 10th place after his final pit stop to pass three drivers to take seventh at the flag.Īlonso could have also passed Aston Martin team-mate Lance Stroll for sixth, but backed off and held position behind the Canadian, even going on to the radio to tell the team to let Stroll know there was 'no risk' that he would try to overtake him. Verstappen was followed home by Lewis Hamilton and George Russell on an encouraging day for Mercedes.

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