MAX GIVES THE HOME FANS WHAT THEY WANTED
Max Verstappen did not have the first Dutch Grand Prix held for 36 years won by the end of lap one. But his untouchable performance during those opening 2.65 miles at Zandvoort proved to Mercedes that only a roll of the strategic dice would offer a chance of vanquishing the imperious Red Bull star.
After briefly bogging down at the initial getaway, 10-time polesitter Verstappen short-shifted to third and hogged the middle line into the first turn, Tarzan. His front-row rival Lewis Hamilton opted for a wide angle and that gave the leader breathing space of 1.2 seconds into the second sector. Come the end of lap one of 72, he was 1.734s to the good aboard what had been demonstrably the fastest car all weekend.
“[Max] was a rocket off the start,” said Hamilton. “He was gone. There was literally nothing we could do to answer that. They’ve made a big step forward this year with their engine. We saw last year, they weren’t the greatest with their starts. They have improved, their whole power unit is massively better on all aspects. Naturally, the driveability and the starts… they’re the quickest starters this year.”
From FP2 on, the W12 had shown itself to
