Max Verstappen was dominant again in F1 Belgian GP from sixth with Sergio Perez ending up second from Charles Leclerc.
It was a clean start from pole-sitter Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari in a dry F1 Belgian GP at Spa-Francorchamps but Red Bull’s Sergio Perez wasted no time to pass him for the lead on the Kemmel Straight with Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton moving a place up to third.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen gained places to be fourth from Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, who had damage after contact with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri at Turn 1. The Australian tried to pass on the inside but they touched which damaged both their cars.
Piastri eventually stopped to retire while Sainz lost about 5% of aero which cost him chunk of time to drop outside the Top 10. Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso was up to sixth from McLaren’s Lando Norris, who dropped places on the medium tyres.
AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda and Williams’ Alexander Albon gained places to be in the Top 10. The gaggle of cars gained on both Sainz and Norris who were struggling, with the former suffering from damage and latter not having the right set-up due to dry conditions.
Both of them ran in the lower field post their pit stop. It was Perez in the lead from Verstappen who cleared both Leclerc and Hamilton. The Mexican eventually lost the lead just after the pit stop on Lap 17 at the Kemmel Straight.
Alonso stood fifth from Mercedes’ George Russell who cleared Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll – both of whom started on the medium compound. It was same for Alpine’s Pierre Gasly in eighth, as Tsunoda and Alpine’s Esteban Ocon passed Albon for Top 10 places.
The predicted started to fall but it wasn’t strong enough for an intermediate stop where both Stroll and Russell stopped and changed to the slick compound. Even others who followed elected for the dry compound with the rain not getting strong.
Sainz eventually retired with damage as the second round of pit stop kick-started. Post the second stop, Verstappen retained the F1 Belgian GP lead from Perez with Leclerc keeping third from Hamilton despite the undercut try from the Mercedes camp.
Alonso was a handy fifth from Russell and Norris who recovered from early blip. Stroll too did well in eighth from Tsunoda as Ocon passed Albon to be 10th with Gasly not far behind in 12th. The latter allowed his teammate to get by who cleared the Williams as a result.
Gasly eventually passed Albon in the corners where the Williams was struggling and the Thai driver couldn’t get back on him. He elected to pit for the third time to fight back up. In the fight for ninth, Ocon managed to pass Tsunoda on the outside.
He hung on after Kemmel Straight and surprised Tsunoda, as he gained enough to catch eighth placed Stroll in the process. He passed him as well to catch Norris. At the front, Verstappen had enough to win F1 Belgian GP by 22.305s over Perez.
It was a Red Bull 1-2 as Leclerc rounded out the podium with Hamilton pitting to take the fastest lap in fourth. Alonso was fifth from Russell with Norris recovering well in seventh as Ocon took eighth from Stroll who kept Tsunoda off in the Top 10.
Gasly was 11th from Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas and Zhou as Albon was only 14th after early heroics and a third stop. Haas’ Kevin Magnussen ended up 15th from AlphaTauri’s Daniel Ricciardo, Williams’ Logan Sargeant and Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg.
DNF: Sainz, Piastri.
🏁 LAP 44/44 🏁
Hamilton just misses the podium but takes the fastest lap 👏#BelgianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/8c4ZBvJA4I
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 30, 2023
Here’s how F1 Belgian GP sprint panned out