“It’s a big pleasure to drive a car like this”: Max Verstappen untroubled as he wins the 2023 F1 Spanish GP

Max Verstappen cruised to victory at the 2023 F1 Spanish GP, taking his fifth win of the season. The Dutchman won the race from pole position and lead each of the 64 laps in Barcelona.

The two-time reigning world champion was in a league of his own and was not challenged in the slightest by the rest of the grid.

The Red Bull driver took the fastest lap of the race, winning his first Grand Slam of the season. Verstappen exhibited Schumacher-like dominance in Spain and is now 53 points ahead of his teammate Sergio Perez, who finished fourth behind both Mercedes'. Red Bull has won each of the seven races so far.

Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton and George Russell finished second and third respectively, proving that Mercedes' upgrades are working better than expected. It will be interesting to see if the German team can inch its way towards Max Verstappen and Red Bull in the coming races.

Speaking about his drive in Spain, Verstappen told Nico Rosberg in Parc Ferme:

"It's a big pleasure, you know, to drive with a car like this. And I think yeah, it showed again today. We had quite a lot of different tyre strategies out there. I think for most of the race we were on the right one. But again, a win here is incredible."

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Max Verstappen 'feels great' about breaking Sebastian Vettel's Red Bull record

Max Verstappen accomplished an extraordinary feat as he eclipsed Sebastian Vettel's enduring record for the most victories with Red Bull in Formula 1. With his latest win in Spain, the Dutchman has now won 40 races for Red Bull, putting him in an elite league of drivers.

Verstappen was untouchable in Barcelona, with no one on the grid posing a significant challenge to the Dutchman. His performance in Spain has now given him two wins more than Vettel, who dominated the sport from 2010-2013. The Red Bull RB19 has won each of the seven races so far this year, putting Verstappen in the best possible position to secure a third consecutive title.

On breaking Vettel's record of 38 wins, Max Verstappen said:

“If you have a good car for a while, you can break these kinds of numbers. But yeah, it's great. I mean, I would have never thought that I would be in this position in my career. When I grew up, I wanted to be a Formula 1 driver and winning these races is amazing. It's better than I could have ever imagined, for sure.”

With his rivals a long way behind him, it will be interesting to see how many wins Verstappen can get this year.