The reigning world champion claimed his fifth win at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg after getting their race tactics spot on once again, while it was also a fifth win on the bounce for the Dutch driver.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc finished in second for the manufacturer's 800th podium in Formula 1, while Sergio Perez of Red Bull took third after starting 15th on the grid.

Verstappen said no pitting during the Virtual Safety Car worked out for him to better the late Ayrton Senna’s tally of 42 wins.

“I think the most important thing for me was Lap 1, to stay in front. After that, we could do our own race.

“Of course, we opted not to box during the Virtual Safety Car, and just follow our normal strategy, and I think that worked out really well. The tyre degradation was not that high around here and our stints were perfect, so a great day and I enjoyed it a lot.

 “I mean, I could see already the few laps before the Virtual Safety Car came out, we were pulling out quite a gap, so I knew I would get them back eventually. I think just following our own plan at the time was the best way forward.”

While Verstappen is certainly the most dominant competition in Formula 1 at this stage, he added that it’s still too early to think about a third straight F1 world title.

“I don’t like to think about that yet. I’m just enjoying the moment, driving this car, working with the team. I think the whole weekend we’ve done a really good job.

“A Sprint weekend is always very, very hectic, and a lot of things can go wrong. Luckily a lot of things went right for us this weekend, so I’m just very happy with this weekend and we’ll focus again on Silverstone.”

This week the drivers and teams head to Silverstone for the British Grand Prix.

Morgan Piek/OFM Sport