‘Lonely’ Verstappen claims fourth place

The Dutchman saw off the early threat from McLaren’s Carlos Sainz Jnr in the opening laps to ease away in fourth spot, chasing Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.

But while he was unable to challenge the Monagasque in front, he kept Sebastian Vettel in the other Ferrari at arms length to race on his own for the majority of the 53 laps.

“The race was a bit lonely at times but it wasn’t boring as I had Charles in sight which was good motivation to keep trying to match his lap times,” Verstappen said.

It was a tough home race weekend for Pierre Gasly though, who dropped from ninth on the grid to finish 11th in the other