Max Verstappen could win successive races at the Belgian Grand Prix this weekend, something rival Lewis Hamilton has never done. The Dutchman, who leads the Formula One world drivers’ championship by a whopping 80 points, is hoping to continue his good form at Spa following the summer break.
Red Bull star Verstappen won in Belgium last year, beating Hamilton’s new Mercedes team-mate George Russell, who finished in second place for former team Williams. Hamilton finished third.
It helped Verstappen close in on the Briton in the championship standings, and their battle would infamously go right down to the final lap of the year. Verstappen’s triumph moved him within three points of Hamilton.
And the 24-year-old could become the first driver since Kimi Raikkonen to win successive races at the event. Raikkonen achieved the feat in 2004 and 2005.
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Despite winning four times at the Belgian GP, Mercedes driver Hamilton has not won twice in-a-row. His last on the circuit came in 2020, while the 37-year-old has also won in 2010, 2015 and 2017.
Verstappen can extend his huge lead over Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in the world championship race. A whopping 80-point gap separates the pair as Verstappen continues to close in on successfully defending his world title from last year.
Meanwhile, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has urged F1 bosses to ringfence the Belgian Grand Prix and protect it from being dropped from the calendar. The 48-year-old says not having Spa, Monza or Silverstone would be like the ATP tennis tour without the Wimbledon Championships.
“Spa, it’s one of those historic races. Monza, Silverstone, Spa, they’re the big and historic ones, we should ringfence those and protect those.
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“It’s great that there’s these new events coming in and there’s interest. But you’ve got to have that history. It’d be like having the ATP Tour without Wimbledon.
“They’re part of our history, they’re part of our DNA. We’ll definitely make our opinion known, but you’ve got to trust the people who are running the business at the end of the day.”
Verstappen agrees with his boss. The Belgium-born driver describes the Spa-Francorchamps circuit as ‘amazing’.
“It would be a big shame to lose Spa. It’s my favourite track in the world. I think it’s just an amazing track in a Formula One car.”
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