Max Verstappen capitalises on Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg crash to become youngster F1 winner at Spanish Grand Prix
Max Verstappen became the youngster Formula 1 race winner after taking advantage of a collision between Mercedes pair Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg on the first lap to prevail in a dramatic Spanish Grand Prix. The 18-year-old, on his Red Bull debut, took advantage of Daniel Ricciardo's three-stop strategy to take his maiden race win as new life was breathed into a sterile F1 campaign.
The race at the Circuit de Catalunya was blown wide open when pole-sitter and defending world champion Hamilton ran into the back of team-mate Rosberg on the first lap in an incident which, while it was not punished by the officials, will only intensify the relationship between the Silver Arrows pair. Though the incident deprived the race of the fastest two cars, it set up a fascinating contest between Red Bull and Ferrari.
And it was tactical battle which saw the Milton Keynes-based team prevail as Verstappen became the first Dutch winner in F1 just days after he was promoted from Toro Rosso. Victory sees him eclipse Sebastian Vettel as the sport's youngster ever race winner at 18 years and 227 days.
"It feels amazing," he said according to The Guardian. "I can't believe it. It was a great race. I have to say thank you to the team for giving me such a great car. To win in the first race is such an amazing feeling. My dad helped me a lot to achieve this, this is amazing. I couldn't believe I was leading the race. I held onto the tyres. We had the right strategy. It's a very big surprise. I had quite a bit of pressure from Kimi but it is difficult to overtake here."
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