Dutch Max Verstappen (Red Bull), outstanding leader of the season Formula 1 World Cupfaces the outcome of a championship that will confirm his success—except for a supreme misfortune. third championship in a row and that continues this weekend in front of his enthusiastic fans. At the Zandvoort circuit, home of the Dutch Grand Prix.
25-year-old Verstappen won ten of the first twelve racesHe rules the World Cup with 314 points; He is 125 points more than Mexican Sergio Pérez, the winner of the other two in Saudi Arabia and Azerbaijan. double world champion Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin), the oldest on the grid and a huge sensation in the first half of the season, third 165 points behind ‘Mad Max’ in the competition; and fellow Spaniard Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) was seventh, 222nd behind his first partner in F1: when they both made their debut with Toro Rosso (now Alpha Tauri) in 2015.
Just two things remain to be clarified regarding the final ten races of the season, bearing in mind that no one doubts that both Verstappen and the Austrian team, which was an outstanding leader in the Constructors’ World Championship, will repeat last year’s ‘double’. course: the progression that will allow the Dutch star to be declared a mathematical champion; And Will Red Bull be able to win all the races? off-season.
Verstappen will continue to improve his outstanding record set new records in first grade. Among them is his own number of wins in the same season, which he set at fifteen last season. Netherlands’ new sports icon with 45 wins Just six of France’s Alain Prost’s fourth all-time F1 victory record and eight of the third are in the hands of another quad world champion, German Sebastian Vettel. Two records you can improve if you keep the cadence; At the World Cup, scheduled for 22 races and culminating in Abu Dhabi on the last weekend of November.
after summer vacation
The championship began its recess after filming at Spa-Francorchamps, the longest track (7,004 metres), home of the Belgian Grand Prix, where it was once again confirmed. The winner of this competition has a name. And it will continue in the second shortest period on the calendar after Monaco.
Zandvoort is 4,259 meters long and has 14 corners (four on the left) and one of the fastest laps. high downforce: The third-highest track in the World Cup has been surpassed only by the iconic track of Hungaroring and Monte Carlo streets.
Asphalt is very abrasive and will therefore be run on dry roads with tires from the hardest rubber range: C1 (hard, recognized by the white stripe), C2 (medium, yellow stripe) and C3 (soft, red). On the track where overtaking is difficult; in which Saturday’s ranking is vital The Dutch superfighter will try to win again after doing so for the past two years: in two races previously held since the last time the Grand Prix was won back in 1985. The triumph of the legendary Niki Lauda, who has won three World Cups for Austria and surpassed only Scottish Jim Clark in three of his Dutch wins. He holds the historical record with four victories at Zandvoort.
MoreoverEnjoying a second youth at 42 The name, which once again caused great surprise by taking the podium in six of the first eight races of the year, will continue to follow the long-awaited ’33’ victory. The Asturian double world champion will not stop fighting for second place, with two spectacular second places in Monaco and Canada this year, and a respectable fifth place in Spa in the last race.
Asturian genius Forty points from ‘Czech’He said during a break in his hometown of Mexico that ‘Mad Max needs to be on the lookout for any failures to increase his number of wins (six) in F1. But behind seven-time British world champion Lewis Hamilton is just one (149-148) and he hopes to finish second in the Constructors’ World Championship for Mercedes with 247 points, 51 points more than Alonso’s Aston Martin. Both of the 503 units Red Bull owns are a long way off.
Behind F1 ‘record man’ Sir Lewis with 103 wins and 104 pole positions, Sainz’s Ferrari teammate Monegasque Charles Leclerc is fifth with 99 points: the same as the other Mercedes, British George Russell (last year’s Zandvoort’s). the second, in front of the pilot from the Côte d’Azur). And he has a seven advantage over the Madrid driver who has one victory and fifteen podiums in F1 and is still trying to take first place on the course.
Carlos will give his SF-23 to Israeli tester Robert Shwartzman during first free practiceIt will begin this Friday and will be completed on Saturday, hours before the decisive qualifying session; Who will determine the starting order for Sunday’s race? 72 tours are planned to complete the 306.5-kilometer route.