Verstappen’s Belgian brilliance puts him on the brink of another record

Max Verstappen goes into F1’s summer break just one win away from equaling yet another record after his dominance in Belgium saw the Dutchman further extend his lead in the championship standings.

The 25-year-old proved untouchable once again, this time at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit to dominate both Saturday’s sprint and Sunday’s Grand Prix to extend his lead in the championship to 125-points over his Red Bull Racing team-mate Sergio Perez.

Verstappen’s eighth straight win also leaves him within one victory of another F1 record - that of Sebastian Vettel, who won nine races in a row at the end of 2013 to win his fourth consecutive title with Red Bull. He could equal the record at his home race - the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort - next time out.

After winning 10 of 12 races this season, Verstappen said: “The first half of the season has been much better than anyone would have ever dreamt of, how we are performing as a team and winning so many races in a row is incredible.

“We’re definitely enjoying the moment but we also want to keep this momentum and level for a long time, so hopefully after the summer break we’re strong again in Zandvoort.”

Perez led the early stages of the race in Belgium before Verstappen breezed past after the first round of pit-stops, came home a comfortable second place for the team, claiming their fifth 1-2 finish of the season.

He said: “We have the summer break to make sure we stay on top of things and have some time to reset. Max did a tremendous job and it overall was a great team result.

“I am looking forward to the summer break and going into the second half of the season to come back even stronger.”