Verstappen threatened all records after his exhibition in Barcelona

the dutch Max Verstappen (Red Bull) did it again. On Sunday he showed himself again, by winning, in an insulting way, the Spanish Grand Prixat the Barcelona circuit of Montmeló (Barcelona).

Where, apart from leading all the time tables except one -in Q2, the second round of qualification-, he completed a ‘Grand Chelem’: by scoring victory starting from pole position, leading from start to finish and setting the fastest lap in the race.

Confirming his lack of interest in the sport, the Dutchman signed off perfectly with his superlative performance on Sunday in Montmeló. Ride the best car on the grid. What everyone refers to as “from another league”.

Designed by one of the greatest geniuses in the entire history of F1: the Englishman Adrian Newey; who in his time also conceived a successful single-seater in which the German Sebastian Vettel led the other glorious journey of the Austrian team, with four World Cup doubles between 2010 and 2013.

Verstappen, 25, took his fifth victory on the course, his fortieth in F1 and his third at the Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona, where seven years ago -in his first race with Red Bull- he became the youngest winner in the history of the premier class and where he also won last year. Presented, officially, his candidacy for the third title in a row.

This Thursday, at the official press conference of the FIA​​​​(International Automobile Federation), he was directly asked if he saw Red Bull winning all the races of the season (the two he did not win, his partner wrote, the Mexican Sergio Pérez).

“So far it seems possible. But this is quite unlikely, because things can always happen. There were dropouts and other types of setbacks”, he admitted, before he was fastest in the three free practice sessions.

On Saturday he signed his twenty-fourth pole position -the fourth this year and the first in Catalonia-, equal to two myths, the Austrian Niki Lauda and the Brazilian Nelson Piquet, both triple world champions. In whose ranks few doubt it will be found this year.

Their superiority, at this moment, was so great that only external agents could prevent their success.. And since it didn’t rain, and there were no accidents that resulted in red flags or safety vehicles, the Dutch soldiered on. At a very high speed. How he liked it. Enjoying every step of the last two of the Circuit’s 14 curves.

During the race he exceeded the limits of the track several times, so besides the black and white flag was shownAfter the last quarter of the journey, its engineers suggested that there was no need to risk trying to get the extra points awarded by the fastest lap, which was almost a sure victory.

It was at that moment when Verstappen went into ‘Mad Max’ mode. He ignored the advice; He offered a bowl and a half to those who gave a cup and, with five to spare, he set the fastest lap in a race he led from start to finish.

The majority of the more than 125,000 fans who crammed into Montmeló wanted, for the first time, Fernando Alonso’s ’33’ -feeling good at the start of the season, with five podiums in his first seven races with Aston Martin- but the double world champion from Asturias damaged the floor of his car in the first round (Q1) of qualifying on Saturday, which , he explained himself to EFE, became “the Achilles’ heel for the rest of the weekend”.

Then it gained strength to bet, at least, on the sixteenth podium for Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) from Madrid, the one that came closest on Saturday during the new idol of the Netherlands: in four tenths.

But ’33’ never came, neither did ’16’. Verstappen dragged and sang the forty, dominating ahead of the resurgent Mercedes, which finished second and third thanks to seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton -who climbed the podium for the eleventh time in Barcelona- and his countryman George Russell, who finished second and third. , respectively. Second place in the Constructors’ World Championship was secured from Aston Martin, which is still the revelation team of the season.

Verstappen -who now leads with 170 points, 53 more than ‘Checo’ and 71 ahead of Alonso- raised the historic record of wins to fifteen last year in the same season in F1. And in his condition as a super-predator, apart from going for the third title in a row, he will look for his own record, to have fifteen chances: the fifteen races left for the closing of Abu Dhabi, the last weekend of November. Where, if things do not change, the final test of the new Formula ‘Mad Max’ will be held.