Formula 1 Race Review - Belgian Grand Prix
Credit: Francois Nel/Getty Images
This past weekend, Formula One paid a visit to one of its most historic and beloved tracks, the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium. Rain was a common occurrence during Friday and Saturday, but Sunday afternoon saw a (mostly) sunny sky hang over the 20 F1 cars as they sped around the twists and turns of Spa. Reigning world champion Max Verstappen was looking to take his eighth straight grand prix victory, but was forced to start in sixth position after a five place grid penalty for taking a new gearbox. This left Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc on pole, with Sergio Perez next to him heading down into turn one.
Leclerc held the lead off the line, but behind him, things were not going well for his teammate, Carlos Sainz. The Spaniard suffered a lockup going into the hairpin, and as he cut down towards the apex, Oscar Piastri in the McLaren stuck his nose underneath him. The two collided, and while neither spun out, Piastri’s front wing broke, and a hole was punched in the side of Sainz’s Ferrari. The McLaren immediately dropped down to last by the time the field exited Eau-Rouge, and was forced to retire on the side of the road. Sainz meanwhile spent the first half of the race slowly falling back and getting overtaken, before he too was forced to end his day prematurely.
Lap one also saw Perez take the top position away from Leclerc as the two rushed down the Kemmel Straight, the Ferrari being no match for the RB19 in a straight line. Verstappen managed to get up to fourth position, but got stuck behind Lewis Hamilton for the ensuing couple of laps. Hamilton did an admirable job keeping the Dutchman behind as long as he did, but it was only a matter of time before Verstappen blasted past into turn seven, and began his charge towards the lead. He overtook Leclerc a few laps later, putting him right behind Perez in the running order. Red Bull, keen to keep their drivers from clashing on track, pitted Perez earlier than Verstappen to allow the Mexican to pull a bit of time on his teammate. However, once the two time world champion got fresh rubber, he quickly pulled up to the back of Perez, and flew past him on lap 17 of the race. Thankfully for Christian Horner and the whole Red Bull team, the overtake was clean and uncontested, and Verstappen set off in the lead while Perez managed the gap to Leclerc behind him.
A few laps later, drops of rain began to fall on the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps. It was nothing like the downpour that had delayed the start of the sprint race on Saturday, but it was enough to keep the drivers on their toes. Most notably, Verstappen had a moment going through Eau-Rouge on lap 21 that saw him get a snap of oversteer and almost lose the car at the most dangerous part of the track. Thankfully, he was able to make a lightning-quick steering adjustment to regain control, and continued on from there. Most of the field considered pitting for intermediate tires, but surprisingly, no one actually did. A few opted to put on new slick tires, but no wet-weather compounds were actually fitted. The radar said that the rain would not last for long, and sure enough, the sun was back out almost as quickly as it had disappeared.
The short shower, however, did play right into the hands of Lando Norris. McLaren had set his car up for wet weather, which meant that while he had loads of downforce, he was also horrendously slow in a straight line. The Brit had spent the entire race getting overtaken on the straights, and had fallen back far outside the points. But, as soon as the raindrops started falling, the McLaren found its footing, and Norris began making up some of the time he had lost. McLaren used this sudden pace as well as a bold pit strategy to vault their driver back up the order, and finish in seventh place when all was said and done. It was a remarkable recovery for a team that seemed destined to score no points on the day.
The rest of the race played out quite predictably, with Verstappen beating Perez by over 22 seconds to secure his eighth consecutive win. Behind the Red Bulls was Leclerc, who delivered his third podium of the season for the Scuderia. Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso followed in fourth and fifth, respectively. Currently, Hamilton is just a singular point behind his former teammate and rival Alonso in the World Drivers Championship, as the Aston Martin has seemed to lose pace relative to the Mercedes in the last few races. George Russell recovered to sixth place after losing a boatload of positions on lap one due to getting stuck behind Piastri’s ailing McLaren. Norris took home seventh, just one second ahead of Esteban Ocon, who flew the flag for Alpine with an eighth place result. Lance Stroll finished 9th, and Yuki Tsunoda took the final point on offer with a stellar drive to fend off Pierre Gasly and Valtteri Bottas.
This year’s Belgian Grand Prix was, at best, an average Formula One race, but the weekend as a whole delivered a good bit of excitement for the fans. Friday’s wet-to-dry qualifying was enthralling, even though Verstappen took pole by over eight tenths. There was a moment where it looked like the defending world champion would get knocked out in Q2, which caused some tension on the radio between himself and his race engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase. Saturday’s sprint race was not a cakewalk for the Dutchman either, as the decision to pit for intermediate tires after lap one instead of after the formation lap left him behind Oscar Piastri on track. Although Verstappen would eventually pass him after a safety car restart and run away with the lead, the racing behind him was stellar, and the strategy at play saw the field get jumbled up early on. As a whole, the Belgian Grand Prix weekend delivered good action and entertainment for those in attendance and everyone watching across the world. Hopefully, F1 will continue to come back to the legendary Spa-Francorchamps for as long as the World Championship exists.
