Belgian Grand Prix – Race: Verstappen on another planet

Max Verstappen climbed 13 positions during the race to secure his 9th victory this season. He further extends his lead in a championship that is eagerly awaiting its conclusion.

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A crazy start to the race.

With his soft tires, Carlos Sainz managed to make a superb start and kept the lead of the race. His compatriot, Fernando Alonso, also made an excellent start, overtaking Sergio Perez’s Red Bull to take second place. The Alpine driver then faced pressure from Lewis Hamilton approaching turn five. The British driver attempted an overtake on the outside but closed the door too early. As a result, the Mercedes was sent airborne and forced to retire.

One lap later, Nicholas Latifi lost control and went off into the gravel trap on the 6th lap. Rejoining the track in a haphazard manner, the Canadian forced Valtteri Bottas to make an evasive maneuver to avoid colliding with the Williams. Unfortunately, in doing so, Bottas also went off the track. While Latifi managed to continue the race, the Finnish driver was not as fortunate.

The retirements of Lewis Hamilton and his former teammate, Valtteri Bottas, caused the safety car to come out. This nullified the 1.7-second lead that Carlos Sainz had built over Sergio Perez. The Ferrari driver managed to hold onto the lead at the restart on the fourth lap.

Max Verstappen’s comeback

Following his penalties due to engine element changes, Max Verstappen started the race in fourteenth position. Red Bull decided to apply his penalties at Spa-Francorchamps because the Belgian circuit offered many opportunities for overtaking.

Max Verstappen took full advantage of the circuit’s characteristics to make a strong comeback. By the first lap, the reigning world champion had already climbed to 8th position. By the 8th lap of the race, the Dutch driver had overtaken George Russell to claim 3rd place.

With Carlos Sainz stopping on the 11th lap, it allowed Verstappen to move up to second position. One lap later, he overtook his teammate Sergio Perez for the lead of the race. Carlos Sainz, after his pit stop, was quickly caught up by Verstappen’s Red Bull, who eventually overtook him on the 18th lap, 6 laps after the Dutchman’s pit stop. On the 21st lap, the number 55 driver was overtaken by Sergio Perez. Having dominated all the free practices and qualifying sessions, Red Bull confirmed their excellent pace by placing both of their cars in the top two positions.

A complicated race for Ferrari.

Ferrari didn’t start this second part of the season as they had hoped. Despite a good start to the race, Carlos Sainz never managed to keep up with the pace of the Red Bulls and the Spanish driver ended up spending his race pushing to prevent George Russell’s Mercedes from stealing the final step of the podium from him.

Charles Leclerc, on the other hand, had more difficulties climbing back up the field than Verstappen, due to a slower pace. He also had to make an early pit stop because a tear-off got stuck in his brakes.

On the 43rd lap of the race, Ferrari called upon the Monégasque driver to set the fastest lap. This attempt to secure an additional point for Maranello turned into a small fiasco. Coming out behind Fernando Alonso, Leclerc had to overtake the Alpine again. On top of that, Leclerc was penalized with a 5-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane. As a result, Fernando Alonso inherited his fifth-place finish. Another intriguing strategic move indeed!

The good performances of the midfield

One of the standout performances of this weekend is that of Alexander Albon, who managed to qualify for Q3 on Saturday. Starting 6th, the Thai driver managed to keep his competitors at bay despite having a slower car. This tenth position marks his third of the season, fully justifying his contract extension.

Great performance also from Fernando Alonso who managed to establish himself as the best among the others to finish in 5th position. The Spanish driver is joined in the points by his teammate, Esteban Ocon. The Frenchman was notably involved in many battles. Despite starting from the pits, Pierre Gasly had a great race and a great comeback to finish the race in 9th position.

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