Max Verstappen believes that his Styrian Grand Prix victory was the most dominant of his Formula 1 career, with the Dutchman extending his lead over Lewis Hamilton at the top of the drivers’ championship to 18 points.
Verstappen led from start to finish at the Red Bull Ring after taking a dominant pole position on Saturday, pulling out a large gap to Lewis Hamilton early on and never looking back.
Hamilton and Mercedes had looked to hold a slight pace advantage in the early races, but Red Bull have hit back with a vengeance in recent weeks, winning the last four Grands Prix in a row.
The Milton Keynes outfit are now 40 points ahead of Mercedes in the constructors’ championship.
Asked whether this was the most dominant victory of his Formula 1 career, Verstappen said: “Well clearly, given the gap, yes, but the also balance of the car was the best so far this season.
“It was of course important to have a good start, then I think the first stint was about managing the tyres, and I could see that the pace was quite strong while looking after tyres. It has been sometimes a bit different in previous races so I think we worked hard to make that better, and today that was very good.”
Verstappen was clearly enjoying himself behind the wheel and described his RB16B as a “super nice” car to drive.
“I think as soon as we stopped to go onto the hards, that was a really enjoyable stint just to drive,” he added.
“Of course we had to go through a bit of traffic with like 12 cars I think in a row, but we cleared them and I could keep my pace quite consistent to the end. The car was super nice to drive, which, you know, is not always the case, but today I was really enjoying it.”