Max Verstappen's dominant display in Spain was a statement of intent from the Red Bull driver, who now sits 53 points clear of Sergio Perez in the drivers' championship. The Dutchman's fifth win of the season was one of his most impressive yet, leading from pole position and posting the fastest lap of the race.
With Mercedes slowly but surely clawing back some of the performance deficit that has plagued them in the early part of the season, Verstappen insists that Red Bull cannot afford to rest on their laurels.
"It's a good period, but we have to keep on working and trying to find more performance"
he said after his victory.
The Spanish Grand Prix proved that Red Bull is still the team to beat this season, with Sergio Perez who started eleventh securing fourth place behind Russell. However, Verstappen knows that it only takes one bad race or a stroke of bad luck for his rivals to catch up him in the standings.
Reflecting on his victory, Verstappen said: "I think it was important of course to try and keep the lead into Turn 1. I know it was quite tight [with Carlos Sainz], but actually we had a good start". He continued, "We just did the amount of laps we had to do on that tyre and then we pitted again for the soft, and that actually felt a lot nicer to drive."
Despite the strong showing from Red Bull, Verstappen welcomes the challenge from Mercedes and hopes that more teams can join the fight at the top. "Yeah, I think it's great for the sport in general right, if you have more teams fighting up front," he said.
Red Bull's dominance this season has meant that Mercedes has had to play catch-up for much of the year. However, the German team is showing signs of resurgence.
Looking ahead to Canada, Verstappen is confident that Red Bull can continue their strong form but admits that it will be a challenging race. The Dutchman has one win in Canada but will be hoping to extend his championship lead even further.
In conclusion, Verstappen's victory at the Spanish Grand Prix was yet another display of his dominance this season. However, the Red Bull driver knows that he cannot afford to rest on his laurels as Mercedes slowly closes the gap. With Canadian Grand Prix looming, Verstappen and Red Bull will be hoping to continue their winning ways while keeping an eye on their rivals' progress.
