Max Verstappen Leads Red Bull to ‘Another Planet’ Leaving Charles Leclerc & Struggling Ferrari ‘Surprised’ in the Dust

Another day, another victory for Max Verstappen as the Dutch driver wins his 9th GP this year. He cruised through the race and crossed the line comfortably ahead of anyone on the grid, despite starting the race from P14.

Meanwhile, it was yet another disappointing afternoon for Ferrari. Pole sitter Carlos Sainz finished third and Charles Leclerc finished the race with a penalty in 6th position.

Charles Leclerc was given a 5-second penalty after the race, which allowed Fernando Alonso to surpass him to finish P5. In what was another strange decision by Ferrari, Leclerc was called into pits towards the final few laps of the race in order to secure the fastest lap.

After the race, Leclerc claimed that Red Bull’s pace was out of this world. He said, “Nothing good obviously, other than all of this, there’s obviously the pace also, the pace, Carlos and I we were; the thing that is strange that the things weren’t okay inside the car, but then you look at the pace compared to the Red Bull and they are on another planet completely.”

When asked if he was surprised at the gap between Ferrari and Red Bull, Charles said, “No, very very surprised, I mean, specially qualifying I mean if you look, qualifying and race, if you look how close we were to midfield, I think we were more race like we were in the first half of the season but they just were much quicker than us so, yeah very strange.”

READ MORE: 5 Seconds Add Another Nail in the Coffin of Charles Leclerc’s Championship Charge at Belgian GP

Verstappen finished the race almost 27s ahead of third place and pole-sitter Carlos Sainz.

Ferrari’s team radio with Charles Leclerc leaves people astounded

Fans were left surprised yet again as they heard Ferrari’s team radio for Charles Leclerc. The strategists seem clueless, as they asked Leclerc for his advice and opinion constantly. Even in the latter stage, when they pit Leclerc in the hope of winning the fastest lap, Leclerc suggested them not to risk their position.

Leclerc said, “I would not risk it this time, but if you really want to try it, but I would not risk it.”

However, Ferrari ignored Leclerc’s advice and asked him to pit. Fernando Alonso also commented post-race that he was “quite surprised” and that “Ferrari always does strange strategies.”

WATCH THIS STORY: Ferrari Strategy Fails We Will Never Forget

Ferrari would be hoping they can sort things out quickly before next week’s Dutch GP at Zandvoort. Max Verstappen would feel like he has one hand on the championship after today. Leclerc now falls to third position in the championship; 98 points behind Verstappen. Do you think Leclerc and Ferrari can stage a fightback?