Lewis Hamilton erkent: 'Max kan een titelkandidaat zijn'

"Onze Max" by Martin J. Chan.

Wordt 2018 de definitieve doorbraak van Max Verstappen? Ik en honderdduizenden fans hopen dat van harte. Max legt de lat voor hemzelf sowieso altijd hoog, dus aan hem zal het zeker niet liggen. Veel is natuurlijk afhankelijk van het materiaal dat Max ter beschikking krijgt, doch ook een portie geluk. In die zin, dat hij verschoond blijft van vooral pech tijdens de start en de eerste bochten tijdens de komende 21 Formule-1 races. 
Of systeem-software die per ongeluk de verkeerde kant opwijst.

We moeten wel mild blijven tegenover Max en via de media en social media Max, buiten de nodige lofzang, ook wat rust gunnen op vooral prive-gebied en familie-aangelegenheden. 

Dat geneuzel in de schandaalpers over zijn familie en met name vader Jos Verstappen, moet nu maar eens voorgoed afgelopen zijn. Hij of zij die zonder zonden zijn, werpen de eerste steen. 

Max z'n ouders zijn prima mensen, welke mede Max hebben gebracht waar hij nu is.

Dan bedoel ik niet alleen de technische vaardigheden, maar ook de sportieve vechtlust en wilskracht van vader Jos, maar ook de zachtaardigheid en bescheidenheid van moeder Sophie. 
Met het prive-leven van de familie en van Max zelf, moet meer rekening gehouden worden en met name door de roddelpers. Kappen met moddergooien dus! 

Daar is de algehele balans van Max niet mee gediend en zou tot problemen kunnen leiden op sportief gebied. Iemand die lekker in z'n vel zit, presteert tenslotte altijd beter. In het geval van Max NOG BETER. 

Ook hier in Thailand volgen duizenden fans jou op de voet, Neerlands trots in donkere dagen. Zet 'm op jongen!! Veel geluk Max.. 

Martin J. Chan
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Lewis Hamilton blikt alvast vooruit naar komend Formule 1 seizoen. De viervoudig en regerend wereldkampioen is ervan overtuigd dat Max Verstappen een concurrent voor de wereldtitel gaat zijn. ,,Mijn niveau zal nog verder omhoog moeten'', zei de Brit bij Sky Sports News.
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 Als Hamilton al eens werd geklopt, gebeurde dit in de meeste gevallen door zijn grootste uitdager Sebastian Vettel. Maar Verstappen was Hamilton ook twee keer te slim af.  ,,De kwaliteiten van Max zijn fantastisch. We hebben dat gezien als alles op zijn plaats valt met een goede auto en een goed team."

Bron AD.NL en Martin J. Chan

Superior Verstappen wins the Grand Prix of Mexico

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Max Verstappen has won the Grand Prix of #Mexico impressive this evening. 
The #Dutchman had a super start and scored Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton of. The two kemphanes hit each other and fell far back. Verstappen could then drive sovereignly to the victory.

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A bold first corner move by Max Verstappen led to a second victory of the season for the Red Bull driver, while Lewis Hamilton sealed a fourth world title despite finishing down in ninth place.

Drama befell the front-runners through the opening chicane, as Verstappen stuck his car around the outside of polesitter Sebastian Vettel at the first right apex. Forcing his way past at the second left apex, Hamilton cut back to the outside of Vettel through the Turn 3 exit.

Disaster struck for both title protagonists, as Vettel glanced the right rear wheel of Hamilton’s Mercedes with his front wing endplate. Hamilton picked up a puncture, while Vettel lost his endplate, with both pitting for new tyres and nosecone respectively at the end of the first lap.

With his two chief rivals eliminated, Verstappen was able to pull away at the front, the second Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas unable to keep pace with the Red Bull in second.

Vettel made much faster progress through the midfield than Hamilton, the latter’s car suffering from overheating in the tow of Carlos Sainz for nearly a dozen laps.

A mid-race virtual safety car for Brendon Hartley‘s expired Toro Rosso allowed Hamilton to switch compounds from soft to super soft, allowing him to make faster progress up the order.
 
The only real resistance he faced on his way to ninth place was the very last car he passed, tenth placed Fernando Alonso. The McLaren driver put up a staunch defence, holding him at bay in the closing laps, but a bold move around the outside of Turn 5 gave Hamilton the place.
Vettel climbed to fourth, not enough to keep the championship alive going to the next round in Brazil. He finished 23 seconds behind his team-mate Kimi Räikkönen, who suffered a poor start and had to fight back against the Force India pair to finish on the podium.

Esteban Ocon rounded out the top five, he and team-mate Sergio Perez sandwiching the Williams of Lance Stroll in sixth. Stroll was a major beneficiary of the earlier virtual safety car, making his one and only stop while the race was neutralised to capitalise on his strong start.

Another driver to benefit from good timing for their only pit-stop was Kevin Magnussen, who was the very first driver to pull in when the virtual safety car was deployed. Having stayed out longer than most and made a nuisance of himself for the early stoppers, eighth was a fine reward from 14th on the grid.

Daniel Ricciardo had been scything through the field in the early laps, but pulled in shortly after with an MGU-H failure, one of the new components fitted for this race. Nico Hülkenberg also retired, being told to stop by his Renault team when his car was deemed unsafe to continue.

Marcus Ericsson turned in one of his best performances of the year, fighting tooth and nail with Alonso for points in the early stages. He had lost out by taking his stop just before the virtual safety car, and shortly after pulled into the pits with his engine on fire and being forced to retire.
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1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	71 laps
2	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	+19.678
3	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	+54.007
4	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	+1:10.078
5	Esteban Ocon	Force India	+1 lap
6	Lance Stroll	Williams	+1 lap
7	Sergio Perez	Force India	+1 lap
8	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	+1 lap
9	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	+1 lap
10	Fernando Alonso	McLaren	+1 lap
11	Felipe Massa	Williams	+1 lap
12	Stoffel Vandoorne	McLaren	+1 lap
13	Pierre Gasly	Toro Rosso	+1 lap
14	Pascal Wehrlein	Sauber	+2 laps
15	Romain Grosjean	Haas	+2 laps

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Shame on you FIA

Controversy in America: Verstappen stage take away by FIA

Starting from place 16, Max Verstappen knocked back in the GP of America with a two-stop strategy yet brilliantly back to the stage. Whereupon he was again taken off by a 5-second penalty. 

"This is just because of a steward's mongol who wants to give me a punishment again," he said. "It's been often of time," Verstappen said, frustrated for Ziggo Sport's camera.
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Max Verstappen wins final #Malaysia Grand Prix

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen won the final edition of the Malaysian Grand Prix on Sunday, as Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton finished second to extend his championship lead over Sebastian Vettel to 34 points.

Verstappen, 20, starting from second after Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari failed to make the grid, overtook pole-sitter Hamilton on lap four before clinching the second victory of his career and first this season.

Verstappen's Red Bull team-mate Daniel Ricciardo was third ahead of Vettel, who weaved through the field to finish fourth after starting from the back of the grid following engine problems.

The results mean Hamilton enjoys a big championship lead over Vettel with five races left in the season, starting next week in Japan.

Compounding Ferrari's woes, Vettel's car ended the day with only three wheels following an impact with Williams' Lance Stroll after the finish line.

"That's impossible," Vettel thundered over the radio. "Stroll wasn't looking where he was going!"

Verstappen capped the perfect birthday weekend with the victory and then hailed his Red Bull team for giving him an "unbelievable" car.

Third on the grid, Verstappen was second by the end of the pit straight after Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen retired from second spot before the start with engine problems.

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It took him only four laps to reel in pole-sitter Hamilton and from there the young Dutchman was never in any danger, taking a dominant victory on the day after his 20^th birthday.

"I think in the beginning, straight away, the car felt good," said Verstappen. "Saw Lewis was struggling a bit [...] of course he has more to lose in the championship, so I went for it at turn one.

"From there I could do my own race. The car was unbelievable, if I had to speed up I could. It was a very tough race and incredible to win."

Hamilton came second to extend his drivers' championship lead to 34 points over Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel.

Verstappen's Red Bull teammate Daniel Ricciardo completed the podium at the Sepang International Circuit.

It was Verstappen's second career grand prix victory but only his second podium finish in a 2017 season which has seen him fail to finish seven of the 15 races.

"Super, super job," said Red Bull team principal Christian Horner over team radio after Verstappen took the chequered flag.

Read Continue -

Vettel grabs GP Monaco, sour fifth place Verstappen

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Sebastian Vettel secured a memorable one-two for Ferrari in Sunday's 75th Monaco Grand Prix to extend his world championship lead to a luxurious 25 points over Lewis Hamilton.
Taking full advantage of generous support from his team-mate Kimi Raikkonen, who led from pole position to the start of the pit-stops, the four-time champion came home 3.1 seconds clear of the Finn in glorious Mediterranean sunshine.
Vettel's success was Ferrari's first in the principality in 16 years since seven-time champion Michael Schumacher triumphed in 2001. It was the 82nd 1-2 in the team's history.
It was also the 29-year-old German's second Monaco triumph, his third win this year and the 45th of his career, lifting him 25 points clear of Hamilton of Mercedes in the title race.
Australian Daniel Ricciardo, who was unlucky not to win last year, finished third for Red Bull, despite hitting the barrier at Ste Devote, ahead of Valtteri Bottas of Mercedes and Dutch teenager Max Verstappen in the second Red Bull.

Carlos Sainz was a well-judged sixth for Toro Rosso ahead of Hamilton, who had started 13th, and Frenchman Romain Grosjean of Haas.

Felipe Massa was ninth for Williams ahead of Dane Kevin Magnussen in the second Haas.
Jenson Button, back for one race to replace two-time champion Fernando Alonso, who was due to race at the Indianapolis 500 later Sunday, retired his McLaren after a collision with German Pascal Wehrlein's Sauber.
The crash left Wehrlein's car on its side at Portier, but he was unhurt.
On a perfect afternoon on the Cote d'Azur, the track temperature was 50 degrees and the air 26 as the drivers stood for a minute's silence in memory of the victims of the Manchester terrorist attack.
At the start, Raikkonen pulled clear to lead from Vettel and Bottas with Hamilton passing Vandoorne to take 12th on the opening lap.
The conditions were ideal for sunbathing, but not for race incidents as the field stretched out, the top eight remaining in grid order.

By lap seven, Raikkonen was two seconds clear of Vettel and 5.2 ahead of third-placed Bottas.

Hamilton's frustrations behind Kyvat were clear before he complained on team radio. "Our race comes later," said his engineer 'Bono'.
On a circuit with only two possible overtaking places - at Ste. Devote and at the chicane after the tunnel, both requiring co-operation - this was hardly welcome news for those hoping for something other than a processional contest decided by pit stops or reliability.
- perfectly executed -
Hamilton finally advanced one place after 16 laps when German Nico Hulkenberg retired, his Renault spewing oil at Portier. When Sergio Perez pitted, from seventh, for front wing repairs, he was 10th.
By lap 27, Raikkonen was behind Button's McLaren, but without blue flags waved to tell the Englishman to move aside. "How close do I have to get?" said the Finn.

This delay allowed the leaders to close up until, on lap 28, they surged past Button.

Raikkonen then passed Wehrlein who, briefly, held up Vettel. The gaps re-opened to 1.5 and 3.5 seconds with Ferrari in clear command.
The first leader to pit was Verstappen from fourth after 32 laps followed immediately by Bottas whose Mercedes' crew did their job 0.8 seconds quicker than the Dutchman's.
When Vettel pitted after 39 laps, he rejoined in the lead ahead of Raikkonen with Ricciardo third, thanks to fast pre-stop laps, and Bottas fourth.
For Ferrari, it seemed a perfectly executed plan to enable Vettel to win, and boost his drivers' championship bid, had unfolded.
Hamilton finally came in after 45 laps from sixth, rejoining seventh, but Vettel was out of sight, nine seconds down the road and clear of Raikkonen, with Ricciardo a further five seconds adrift in third.
By lap 50, it was 10.2 seconds and the paddock was abuzz with claims about Vettel's undisputed status as Ferrari's number one driver.

Attention was soon refocused on the track when, on lap 60, the Safety Car was deployed after Wehrlein was tipped into the barrier at Portier.

Verstappen took advantage of the pause to pit for fresh ultra-soft tyres before, when the action resumed after 66 laps, the final chase, and battle of attrition, began.

Source -  https://sports.ndtv.com/