Verstappen powerless: 'Mercedes dominated the race'

Formula 1 sat ready on Sunday afternoon to watch the continuation of the battle between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen. Although Red Bull Racing seemed to have a good chance of winning, it was Mercedes that won the race relatively easily.

Verstappen was hoping to continue the streak he set in Imola in Portugal but came up way short of laying claim to a victory. " It was a different race than I predicted," says Kees van de Grint at RTL GP Slipstream. "That's partly because Red Bull was disappointing and Mercedes made a slight progression. Then you have to conclude that Verstappen did his best, but he was powerless."

The Dutchman complained about the track conditions earlier in the weekend. According to Van de Grint, these played an important role in the race. "Hamilton, credit where credit is due, and Mercedes have dominated this race. The next race will show if this was due to the track conditions. In fact, I still maintain that everything points to the fact that Red Bull had to have the better car here as well, but that was not the case."

Red Bull and Mercedes will battle it out again this coming weekend in Barcelona. Whereas Verstappen recorded his first-ever victory in Spain in 2016, Hamilton has finished the last four races in first place.