Red Bull 'like F1 car in F2 race'

Red Bull celebrated a record 12th successive Formula 1 win, and 11th of the season, on Sunday and left other teams feeling more than ever that they were racing a rival from another level.

Max Verstappen has won nine races for Red Bull this season and the gap between him and McLaren's second-place Lando Norris at the checkered flag on Sunday was 33.731 seconds, the largest winning margin since 2021.

If the Dutch driver was a constructor, his solo haul of 281 points for the current season would put him well clear of second-placed Mercedes on 223.

"Today you've seen the pace that Max had and we saw it in the long runs already on Friday. That's where they are. It's like a field of Formula 2 cars against a Formula 1," said Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff.

That said, Wolff felt Mercedes had the second-quickest car and was making progress with seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton on pole for the first time in 33 races, since Saudi Arabia in 2021.

Hamilton finished fourth on Sunday with teammate George Russell sixth after starting 18th.

"If you look at the lap-time profile, also where George came from, we just didn't monetize on it," said Wolff.

Hamilton was fourth into the first corner, beaten by Verstappen and both McLarens of Norris and Oscar Piastri.

The 38-year-old Briton said he just lacked the pace to keep up on the first stint but the car started to become more driveable as the race went on.

"We have a lot of work to do," Hamilton said. "We are a long way off beating the Red Bulls in a race and obviously now we are behind the McLarens."

Russell reckoned Mercedes was maybe equal second with McLaren, which is now fifth in the constructors' championship after a slow start to the campaign.

Mercedes is the only team to have beaten Red Bull in more than a year, with Russell winning in Brazil last November.

REUTERS