Starting sixth because of a five-spot grid penalty, Verstappen wasted no time in moving to the front to win the iconic race in the country of his birth for a third straight yet.

It also saw Verstappen claiming his eighth straight win this season and extend his Red Bulls team's tally to 13 straight victories.

His teammate, Sergio Perez, took second while Ferrari's Charles Leclerc rounded off the podium.

Verstappen said was forced to work at the start of the race.

“I knew that we had a great car, it was just all about surviving Turn 1,” said Verstappen.

“I could see it was all getting pretty tight. I’ve been in that position before myself, so I was just like, ‘I’m going to stay out of that’, so it worked out.

“I think we all made the right overtakes, moves, I just got a little bit stuck in the beginning in a DRS train. Once that [was] clear I could do my own pace. Again, really enjoyable.”

The circuit takes a break until the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort on 27 August.

Morgan Piek OFM Sport