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Marvelous Max Verstappen continues march towards title with Spa victory

Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing is racing during the F1 Grand Prix of Belgium at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps

Max Verstappen crossed the line in splendid isolation on Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix, extending his lead at the top of the drivers' standings.

Max Verstappen remains untouchable...
The double world champion started sixth but took the lead at Spa Francorchamps on lap 17 of 44 before taking the chequered flag 22.3 seconds clear of his forlorn Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez.
Verstappen's triumph was his eighth in a row - one shy of Sebastian Vettel's record - and 10th from the 12 rounds so far.
He leads Perez by a mammoth 125 points in the standings - the equivalent of five victories - heading into Formula One's summer break.
Pole-sitter Charles Leclerc took the final spot on the podium with Lewis Hamilton, who denied Verstappen a bonus point by setting the fastest lap, fourth.
Fernando Alonso finished fifth for Aston Martin, one place ahead of George Russell with Lando Norris seventh.
Verstappen qualified fastest on Friday evening but was demoted five places following a gearbox change.
The Dutch driver was up from sixth to fourth at the end of the first lap while Perez blasted past Leclerc on the Kemmel Straight to take the lead.
Oscar Piastri finished runner-up in Saturday's 11-lap sprint race, but the Australian rookie's Grand Prix lasted less than a lap after he collided with Carlos Sainz at the opening corner. Sainz turned into Piastri at La Source leaving the McLaren man with race-ending damage.
Back up front and Verstappen was on the move. On lap six he breezed past Hamilton at 210mph along the Kemmel Straight. Three laps later, Leclerc became his next victim, after he outbraked the Monegasque man with a fine move around the outside of Les Combes.
Perez was now three seconds up the road. In came Perez for new rubber on lap 12 but Verstappen wanted Red Bull to double-stack in order not to lose any time to his team-mate on fresher tyres.
"So don't forget Max, use your head please," said Verstappen's race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase.
"Are we both doing it or what?" replied Verstappen.
"You just follow my instruction," came Lambiase's response.
"No, I want to know both cars do it," Verstappen fired back.
"Max, please follow my instruction and trust it, thank you," said Lambiase.
The following lap, Verstappen stopped for tyres and it only took a couple of laps before he was crawling all over the back of Perez's Red Bull machine.
Verstappen tracked Perez through the fearsome Eau Rouge-Raidillon section before applying DRS and roaring round the outside of his team-mate along the Kemmel Straight on lap 17. By the end of the lap, he had already pulled out a 1.6 sec gap over his team-mate.
Verstappen was then on the radio, reporting rain, and the Dutchman endured a hairy moment through Eau Rouge as the back end of his Red Bull machine stepped out on him at 180mph.
"F***, I nearly lost it," said the championship leader amid the light drizzle.
Lambiase was then back on the radio asking if Verstappen could make his tyres last with more rain due to arrive.
"I can't see the weather radar," came Verstappen's spiky response.
On lap 29, Perez now trailing Verstappen by nine seconds, stopped for a second time with Verstappen following in on the same lap but it was not long before Lambiase was back on the radio lambasting his driver.
"You used a lot of the tyre on the out lap Max," he said. "I am not sure if that was sensible."
Verstappen responded by banging in the fastest lap of the race.
Such is Verstappen's stranglehold of Formula One, he was back on the radio joking if he should stop for a third time.
"Should we push on and do another stop?" he said. "A little bit of pit-stop training?"
"Not this time," replied Lambiase, having previously calling on his driver "to use your head a bit more."
But Verstappen showed no sign of slowing down, delivering Red Bull's 22nd win from the last 23 races and retaining the team's unbeaten streak this season.

Race results

1 Max Verstappen NED Oracle Red Bull Racing 44 Laps

2 Sergio Perez MEX Oracle Red Bull Racing 22.305s

3 Charles Leclerc MON Scuderia Ferrari 32.259s

4 Lewis Hamilton GBR Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team 49.671s

5 Fernando Alonso ESP Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 56.184s

6 George Russell GBR Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team 63.101s

7 Lando Norris GBR McLaren F1 Team 73.719s

8 Esteban Ocon FRA BWT Alpine F1 Team 74.719s

9 Lance Stroll CAN Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 79.340s

10 Yuki Tsunoda JPN Scuderia AlphaTauri 80.221s

11 Pierre Gasly FRA BWT Alpine F1 Team 83.084s

12 Valtteri Bottas FIN Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake 85.191s

13 Zhou Guanyu CHN Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake 95.441s

14 Alex Albon THA Williams Racing 96.184s

15 Kevin Magnussen DEN MoneyGram Haas F1 Team 101.754s

16 Daniel Ricciardo AUS Scuderia AlphaTauri 103.071s

17 Logan Sargeant USA Williams Racing 104.476s

18 Nico Hulkenberg GER MoneyGram Haas F1 Team 110.450s

Carlos Sainz ESP Scuderia Ferrari DNF

Oscar Piastri AUS McLaren F1 Team DNF

READ MORE: Lewis Hamilton insists his collision with Sergio Perez was a 'racing incident'

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