Tag Archives: Belgian Grand Prix

2023 F1 Grand Prix of Belgium — Results & aftermath

Unstoppable Verstappen cruises to easy win at Spa despite starting sixth; Red Bull teammate Perez a solid second, Leclerc holds off Hamilton for P3

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen continued his rampage this past Sunday at legendary Spa-Francorchamps, effortlessly moving up from a gearbox penalty-induced P6 start to take an easy victory in the Belgian Grand Prix over 22-seconds ahead of his closest pursuer and teammate Sergio Perez. On a typically changeable weekend in the hills and valleys of the Ardennes that saw occasionally heavy rains leading to tricky track conditions during Friday qualifying and the Saturday Sprint spectacular, the Grand Prix itself was almost entirely dry, leading to a rather straightforward race and, with Verstappen’s incredible run of form in 2023, a seemingly predetermined outcome. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc inherited pole after Verstappen’s gearbox change penalty and he lead away Perez when the lights went out. But the lead Red Bull of the Mexican made easy work of the Prancing Horse on the opening lap and charged into the lead, albeit one that was destined to be short lived. Verstappen meanwhile set about his relentless march to the front with typical aplomb, nimbly working his way through the McLaren of Oscar Piastri and the second Ferrari of Carlos Sainz, who clashed going into Turn 1 and fatally damaged both of their cars in the process. By Lap 9, the Dutch master had disposed of Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes and was on the gearbox of Leclerc, making the decisive move to take P2 away while cruising into Les Combes. After their first round of pit stops to doff their opening set of Soft Pirrellis in favor of the more durable Mediums, on Lap 14 for Perez and the following circuit  for Verstappen, the two Red Bulls drew inexorably closer. Perez was no match for Verstappen’s pace and the runaway championship points leader overtook him without breaking a sweat easily on Lap 17, grabbing the lead for the remainder of this 44-lap contest and breezing into the summer break the undisputed top dog in F1.

After that, it was mainly a matter of where the rest of the top ten would finish, as Verstappen ran away en route to his eight consecutive victory and the Red Bull team’s unprecedented thirteenth in a row, including all twelve races run so far this year. For good measure, Verstappen also won the Saturday Sprint race for an extra 8 points, although on this day it would be Hamilton who nabbed tho bonus point for the race’s fastest lap. Perez had to settle for second but, combined with his P3 last weekend in Hungary, it still marked a solid return to form for him after some bleak outcomes following the high of his last win in Azerbaijan way back in Round 4. While Leclerc couldn’t match the pace of either Red Bull, his was still fast enough to hold off the Merc of Hamilton, the Monegasque netting the final podium position while Hamilton could never really mount a real charge and so finished in P4.

Those results were still far better than their teammates, with Sainz being forced to retire his damaged Ferrari on Lap 25 after steadily going in reverse after his opening lap contretemps with Piastri. And Hamilton’s stablemate George Russell also had a dispiriting day at Spa, losing a ton of positions on Lap 1 but then at least gamely fighting his way from P11 back to a respectable finish in P6. Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso drove steadily and smoothly all race long, maximizing the car’s performance to the tune of a P5 finish ahead of Russell after starting from P9 on the grid, while his wingman Lance Stroll could only improve his starting spot by one and came home P9. After his McLaren teammate Piastri’s race came to an abrupt halt on Lap 2 due to his tangle with Sainz, it was left to Lando Norris to fly the papaya flag. With the McLaren MCL60 seemingly carrying excessive downforce which served them well in the mixed wet conditions on Friday and Saturday but led to a draggy car during this dry race, Norris struggled to a P7 result. That made for a bit of a disappointment after the team had been so solid in recent race weekends and throughout quali and the Sprint events this weekend, Piastri having finished runner up to Verstappen in the rain-shortened Sprint race. Esteban Ocon ended his points drought with a P8 finish, a small ray of hope on a weekend that saw Alpine fire most of their team’s top officials. And Yuki Tsunoda scored the last point in P10 in his AlphaTauri, acing out the second Alpine of Pierre Gasly for the final point paying position.

Top 10 finishers of the Belgian GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
1 1 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 44 1:22:30.450 25
2 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 44 +22.305s 18
3 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 44 +32.259s 15
4 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 44 +49.671s 13
5 14 Fernando Alonso ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 44 +56.184s 10
6 63 George Russell MERCEDES 44 +63.101s 8
7 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 44 +73.719s 6
8 31 Esteban Ocon ALPINE RENAULT 44 +74.719s 4
9 18 Lance Stroll ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 44 +79.340s 2
10 22 Yuki Tsunoda ALPHATAURI HONDA RBPT 44 +80.221s 1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The August recess is upon us and the next race weekend is not until August 25-27 amidst the dunes of Zandvoort in the Netherlands, Verstappen’s veritable back yard. Enjoy your summer recess and I’ll look forward to seeing you when the on track action resumes!

2023 F1 Grand Prix of Belgium — Qualifying results

Verstappen fastest in Friday qualifying but denied pole due to gearbox penalty, will start P6; P2 Leclerc promoted to pole, P3 Perez second on grid

On the last race weekend before the long summer break, qualifying for Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix took place on Friday due to this being another of Formula 1’s periodic, somewhat gimmicky Sprint Race weekends. But with the first race held at legendary Spa-Francorchamps in July instead of the traditional late August second half opener, Red Bull’s magnificent Max Verstappen was once again definitively the fastest man on track. Pulling an epic final flier out of the bag on the rapidly drying but still damp 4.35-mile circuit in the heart of the Ardennes after a typical period of deluge earlier in the day, Verstappen whipped up the pace to the tune of a whopping 8-tenths advantage over Ferrari man Charles Leclerc’s formerly fastest lap of 1:46.988. Unfortunately for Verstappen, however, that superlative effort did not result in pole position because Red Bull chose this race to take their sixth gearbox change of the season on Max’s car, resulting in a 5-place gird drop for the Dutch master. While that forces the current runaway championship leader to start from only P6 on the grid come Sunday a week after having his pole streak snapped by Lewis Hamilton in Hungary, you’d have to be braver man than I to bet against Verstappen charging all the way back to the front and contesting for the win.

Due to that penalty, Leclerc was elevated to pole for the GP, the Monegasque being truly quick all day long and definitely in contention for a podium, if not the win itself, with what looks to be an improved Prancing Horse, at least on a long, flowing track like this one. Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez qualified P3 but will now start alongside Leclerc in P2. Lewis Hamilton was fourth fastest but his Mercedes teammate George Russell could do no better than P8 in these tricky conditions. Likewise, Leclerc’s teammate Carlos Sainz lagged behind him in P5, trailed by the greatly improved McLarens of Oliver Piastri in P6 and Lando Norris in P7. Aston Martin rounded out the Top 10 qualifiers, with Fernando Alonso once again out-qualifying Lance Stroll, P9 to P10. After their gangbusters first third of 2023, Aston appear to have lost ground when their most recent “upgrade” made the car slower rather than faster and even at a favorable long, high speed circuit like Spa they couldn’t match the pace of Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes, much less Red Bull .

Top 10 qualifiers for the Belgian GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 1 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 1:58.515 1:52.784 1:46.168 22
2 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 1:58.300 1:52.017 1:46.988 23
3 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 1:58.899 1:52.353 1:47.045 22
4 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:58.563 1:52.345 1:47.087 24
5 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 1:58.688 1:51.711 1:47.152 23
6 81 Oscar Piastri MCLAREN MERCEDES 1:58.872 1:51.534 1:47.365 23
7 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 1:59.981 1:52.252 1:47.669 21
8 63 George Russell MERCEDES 1:59.035 1:52.605 1:47.805 24
9 14 Fernando Alonso ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 1:58.834 1:52.751 1:47.843 22
10 18 Lance Stroll ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 1:59.663 1:52.193 1:48.841 22

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Adjusted starting grid after Verstappen’s penalty is here.

Click here for Sprint Shootout Qualifying and Sprint Race results.

Tomorrow’s race airs live on ESPN beginning at 9AM Eastern here in the States. This is Leclerc’s and Perez’s best opportunity in some time to make up at least a little ground on Verstappen  — let’s see if they take advantage of it. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2022 F1 Grand Prix of Belgium — Results & aftermath

DUTCH TREAT — Verstappen surges from P14 start to take dominating win at Spa, Perez P2 for maximum Red Bull points; Ferrari’s Sainz P3 but luckless Leclerc demoted to P6 after late pit stop penalty

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen may well have just sealed the deal on his second consecutive Drivers’ Championship. Despite starting Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix from P14 on the grid after being penalized for voluntary engine changes, the Dutch points leader proved an irresistible force as he relentlessly pushed his way to the front. By Lap 12 of this 44-lap contest at the fabled Spa-Francorchamps circuit here in the Ardennes forest, Verstappen had carved his way through the field and executed a pass on his Red Bull teammate, Sergio Perez, to take the lead of the race, a progression as astonishing as it was seemingly predictable. Meanwhile, the pole-sitting Ferrari of Carlos Sainz had pitted a lap earlier than Verstappen and emerged in P6 but rapidly sliced his forwards the front so that by the time Mercedes’ George Russell made his first stop for fresh Pirellis on Lap 14, with Perez and Verstappen both coming in following Lap, the Spaniard had recaptured the lead. However, it soon became apparent that Sainz’s Prancing Horse did not have the legs for Verstappen’s Red Bull on this day, perhaps because of too much downforce put on the Ferrari or perhaps just because the RB18 is simply superior to the F1-75. On Lap 18, Verstappen made easy work of Sainz and then pulled away, eventually extending to such an advantage that by Lap 30, when he made his second and final pit stop, he easily retained the lead when he reemerged onto the track. It then became a formality, as Verstappen swanned away for the remaining final third of the race to take his eighth victory in fourteen rounds and extend his Drivers’ Championship lead to a whopping 93 points over his teammate Sergio Perez, who leapfrogged Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc on the day as a result of his own strong second place finish. It was not only Verstappen’s third win on the trot, having prevailed in France and Hungary before the summer break, but he also pulled off the rare feat of making it to the top step of the podium in back-to-back races despite starting from P10 or lower at both the Hungaroring and here at Spa.

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

That Leclerc ended up losing out in his increasingly long shot quest to stay close to Verstappen was not entirely the Monegasque’s fault. While finding himself similarly disadvantaged as his Dutch rival due to engine component changes that saw him start from P15 on the grid, Leclerc had the misfortune of sucking up a stray visor tear-off into his right front brake duct on the opening laps. That forced an early pit stop, which fortunately was under a Safety Car caused by Valterri Bottas’s Alfa Romeo being beached in a contretemps with the Williams of Nicholas Latifi. Nevertheless, it threw Ferrari’s strategic plans for Leclerc for a loop and the team exchanged Medium Pirellis for his opening set of Softs during that premature stop under yellow on only Lap 4. Form then on, it was primarily damage control. Leclerc rejoined way back in P17 and there was no way that set of Medium tires could possibly go to the end and save another stop on a very warm day where tire deg was significantly higher than expected. The ups and downs of the next forty some odd laps culminated in a questionable call for a late switch to Soft tires on Lap 43 in an attempt to set the fastest lap. This backfired in more than one way, as Leclerc first ended up losing P5 to Alpine’s Fernando Alonso upon exiting the pits. With some effort, Leclerc was able to catch and pass Alonso to regain the position on the final lap but Verstappen not only retained the extra point for fastest lap but the stewards also dinged Leclerc for speeding in the pit lane on that final stop and penalized him 5 seconds, which handed P5 back to Alonso after the race. So, at the end of a frustrating day, Ferrari had to settle for Sainz’s decent podium in P3, while Leclerc dropped not only a position in the race due to that late penalty but also ceded P2 in the points to Red Bull’s Perez. With only eight more rounds remaining in the 2022 campaign, Leclerc’s dreams of a championship are fading just as fast as Verstappen continues to disappear down the road.

Mercedes had a decidedly mixed day at the races. While young George Russell acquitted himself well and came home a valuable P4, if never quite having the pace to really challenge Sainz for the podium, seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton crashed out on the opening lap after a poorly judged overtaking maneuver led to a collision with Alpine’s Fernando Alonso. While Hamilton’s Silver Arrow suffered terminal damage after being launched by Alonso’s front tire coming into contact with Hamilton’s rear, Alonso somehow survived and thrived, taking that unexpected, penalty-induced P5 for a very satisfying day for the Spaniard. Even better for the team and their mission to take fourth in the Constructors’ title, the second alpine of Esteban Ocon did very well to finish in P7, the Frenchman showing his determination by making several stunning two-car overtakes during the course of the race. Sebastian Vettel drove a savvy race and finished P8 for Aston Martin and Pierre Gasly got a rare positive result for struggling AlphaTauri in P9. Williams’ Alexander Albon also performed well on the day to take the last point in P10.

Top 10 finishers for the Belgian GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
1 1 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING RBPT 44 1:25:52.894 26
2 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING RBPT 44 +17.841s 18
3 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 44 +26.886s 15
4 63 George Russell MERCEDES 44 +29.140s 12
5 14 Fernando Alonso ALPINE RENAULT 44 +73.256s 10
6 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 44 +74.936s 8
7 31 Esteban Ocon ALPINE RENAULT 44 +75.640s 6
8 5 Sebastian Vettel ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 44 +78.107s 4
9 10 Pierre Gasly ALPHATAURI RBPT 44 +92.181s 2
10 23 Alexander Albon WILLIAMS MERCEDES 44 +101.900s 1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is in but a week’s time and will be in Verstappen’s home sandbox — the Dutch Grand Prix form the beachfront Zandvoort Circuit. Hope to see you then to find out if anyone can slow Max’s relentless march to what now seems like an inevitable second F1 crown!

2022 F1 Grand Prix of Belgium — Qualifying results

Verstappen quickest at Spa but Sainz inherits pole after engine penalties effect slew of top drivers; mixed up grid should lead to wild Belgian GP

Formula 1 returns from the long summer break with one of the oldest and most prestigious events on the calendar, the Belgian Grand Prix from fabled Spa-Francorchamps. And Saturday Qualifying for tomorrow’s race saw Red Bull’s peerless Max Verstappen miss not a beat coming back from his holiday, as the Dutchman easily set the fastest time on the series’ longest circuit. However, Verstappen will not be starting from pole because even though he gapped the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz by over six-tenths he and the team decided to make engine changes and so Max will be pushed towards the back despite setting the fastest lap. He wasn’t the only competitor to take the pain of power unit component changes this weekend either. Not only his main rival, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, bit that particular bullet, but Alpine’s Esteban Ocon, McLaren’s Lando Norris, Haas’s Mick Schumacher and Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas also followed suit. While one might need a degree from MIT to figure out all these penalty permutations, it looks like the key takeaway is that Verstappen will start P15 and Leclerc P16 tomorrow. Along with all the other out-of-position cars it could make for a chaotic run into Eau Rouge on the opening lap when Verstappen and Leclerc try to fight their way through slower traffic in an effort to get to their respective teammates at the front, the pole-sitting Sainz and the P2 Red Bull of Sergio Perez.

The biggest beneficiaries of all those penalties are Alpine’s Fernando Alonso, who gets promoted to P3 on the grid, and the two Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell, who look to be starting in P4 and P5 despite not even being the third fastest team in quali.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Belgian Grand Prix:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 1 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING RBPT 1:44.581 1:44.723 1:43.665 9
2 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 1:45.050 1:45.418 1:44.297 14
3 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING RBPT 1:45.377 1:44.794 1:44.462 12
4 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 1:45.572 1:44.551 1:44.553 14
5 31 Esteban Ocon ALPINE RENAULT 1:46.039 1:45.475 1:45.180 15
6 14 Fernando Alonso ALPINE RENAULT 1:46.075 1:45.552 1:45.368 16
7 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:45.736 1:45.420 1:45.503 20
8 63 George Russell MERCEDES 1:45.650 1:45.461 1:45.776 20
9 23 Alexander Albon WILLIAMS MERCEDES 1:45.672 1:45.675 1:45.837 18
10 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 1:45.745 1:45.603 1:46.178 14

The provisional grid after all the penalties looks like this, however: Continue reading →

2021 F1 Grand Prix of Belgium — Results & aftermath

WASHOUT AT SPA: Belgian Grand Prix aborted due to heavy rain; Verstappen categorized P1, Russell P2 and Hamilton P3 on qualifying form; half points to be awarded

Formula 1 suffered a dismal return after the long summer break when the Belgian Grand Prix was abandoned due to heavy rains at the long and hilly Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Sunday. After trying several times over three hours to get the race going, Race Control eventually made the difficult decision to terminate the race and call the drivers into the pits for a final time on the day. Despite only running laps behind the Safety Car, half points will still be awarded to the top ten “finishers,” which mainly came down to how the drivers qualified in yesterday’s not quite but nearly as wet three rounds of Saturday qualifying. So that saw Red Bull’s Max Verstappen the rather anticlimactic victory today, with Williams’ George Russell earning his maiden podium by dint of his excellent effort yesterday and taking P2. The young Briton led out his potential future teammate, Mercedes ace Lewis Hamilton, who trundled home classified in P3.

The biggest losers on the a day when F1 itself took it on the chin were Red Bull’s Sergio Perez, who was set to start in P7 but who crashed out earlier on a pre-race reconnaissance lap and finished dead last in P20 after his crew scrambled to get his car back together during the delays; McLaren’s Lando Norris, who had to start from P15 due to his own qualifying shunt and the resultant 5-grid spot penalty for replacing his engine and finished there; and Mercedes second driver Valtteri Bottas, who was also serving a penalty for his part in the melee at the start of the prior Hungarian GP, and also finished out of the points in P12, certainly not the result the Finn was looking for with Russell making a strong push to take his Mercedes factory seat. Those three competitive drivers would surely have been looking to pull themselves into the points paying positions but were denied that opportunity by the uncooperative weather.

Their misfortunes really benefitted Ferrari, whose Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz only qualified P11 and P13 respectively but saw their positions elevated to P8 and P10 through the various misfortunes of others by the time the race was called off. Further up in the field, Daniel Ricciardo’s McLaren earned P4 with his sterling quali effort, Sebastian Vettel saw his Aston Martin classified a solid P5 and Alpha Tauri’s Pierre Gasly came home in P6. Alpine’s Esteban Ocon in P7 and Williams Nicolas Latifi in P9 rounded out the Top 10. Latifi’s points result also made it a banner day for team Williams, which along with Russell’s freak podium, made for a much needed shot in the arm for the storied F1 team that has really been scuffling for the last several years.

Top 10 finishers of the Belgian GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
1 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA 1 0:03:27.071 12.5
2 63 George Russell WILLIAMS MERCEDES 1 +1.995s 9
3 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1 +2.601s 7.5
4 3 Daniel Ricciardo MCLAREN MERCEDES 1 +4.496s 6
5 5 Sebastian Vettel ASTON MARTIN MERCEDES 1 +7.479s 5
6 10 Pierre Gasly ALPHATAURI HONDA 1 +10.177s 4
7 31 Esteban Ocon ALPINE RENAULT 1 +11.579s 3
8 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 1 +12.608s 2
9 6 Nicholas Latifi WILLIAMS MERCEDES 1 +15.484s 1
10 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 1 +16.166s 0.5

Complete race results, such as they are, available via Formula1.com.

The next race is in but a week’s time, the return of the Dutch Grand Prix from the legendary dunes of the Zandvort circuit after an absence of 36 years. Let’s hope the weather cooperates in Holland after such a disappointing weekend in Belgium — and hope to see you then for some actual racing!

2021 F1 Grand Prix of Belgium — Qualifying results

Verstappen takes pole in wet conditions at Spa, denying overachieving P2 Russell; Hamilton settles for P3; promising Norris crashes out in lurid Q3 shunt at Eau Rouge

Formula 1 returned from the long summer break and arrived at the fabled Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium with a bang — a bit too literally for McLaren’s talented young driver, Lando Norris. On a consistently wet day in the Ardennes, the rain picked up between the second and third qualifying sessions and Norris found himself running a hot lap early in Q3 that only lasted as long as Eau Rouge. His McLaren twitched in the standing water there and when Norris attempted to correct he lost control of his mount and spun violently into the tire barriers, destroying the car. Norris appeared to injure his left arm in the violent shunt but was otherwise unscathed when he finally emerged from his wrecked chassis after a tense few moments. Just like that, one of the main contenders for pole at the Belgian Grand Prix was out of the running and Norris will also likely have to start from the pits tomorrow after the crew spend the night rebuilding his car.

After a long Red Flag delay to clean up the track, the remaining nine drivers and their teams scrambled to figure out how best to deal with the weather, which thankfully lightened up during the pause, though it was certainly still wet. As time ran down in the stop-start Q3, everyone decided that Intermediate wet tires were worth the risk and at first Mercedes ace Lewis Hamilton set a time that appeared fast enough to claim pole. But the circuit continued to improve and, surprisingly, it was the Williams of George Russell who displaced the seven-time champion Hamilton from that top spot by several tenths as time ran out in the final quali session. When Hamilton was unable to better Russell’s mark on his final attempt, it looked like the younger of the two Englishman might earn a flukey but still joyous first career pole. But Red Bull’s Max Verstappen had other ideas. With the bitter taste of his collision-affected P10 at the last race in Hungary still fresh in his mouth and plenty of time to brood about it during the long break, the young Dutch Master hooked up his final lap beautifully and dashed Russell’s pole dreams, besting the Briton by a shade over three-tenths. Nevertheless, Russell was still elated to earn his first front row start in F1, as were Wiliams after a long slog back to respectability, and he will line up in P2 across from Verstappen to start tomorrow’s Grand Prix.

Hamilton had to settle for the third best time and Norris’s McLaren teammate Daniel Ricciardo, who seemed to be nowhere earlier in qualifying, excelled as the sessions wore on and earned a much needed solid P4 starting spot for himself and the shaken team. Cagey old veteran Sebastian Vettel, who had been calling for a Red Flag prior to Norris’ shunt and was livid with the race directors after the crash, still kept his head together enough to pilot his Aston Martin to the fifth fastest time on the day. AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly also did well in the wet and will line up alongside Vettel on the third row in P6 on the grid. Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez could only manage a time good enough for P7 but he still bested the second Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas, who not only qualified down in P8 but will be pushed back 5 spots on the grid due to his culpability for running into Verstappen at the Hugaroring on the opening lap. Alpine’s Esteban Ocon, the shock winner of that contentious Hungarian GP, set a P9 time but will slot in at P8 on the grid for tomorrow’s contest due to Bottas’ penalty. That is exactly the starting spot Ocon had in Hungary when he drove to victory so the Frenchman may be feeling that he has the rest of the field right where he wants them.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Belgian GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA 1:58.717 1:56.559 1:59.765 20
2 63 George Russell WILLIAMS MERCEDES 1:59.864 1:56.950 2:00.086 24
3 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:59.218 1:56.229 2:00.099 22
4 3 Daniel Ricciardo MCLAREN MERCEDES 2:01.583 1:57.127 2:00.864 22
5 5 Sebastian Vettel ASTON MARTIN MERCEDES 2:00.175 1:56.814 2:00.935 23
6 10 Pierre Gasly ALPHATAURI HONDA 2:00.387 1:56.440 2:01.164 23
7 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING HONDA 1:59.334 1:56.886 2:02.112 22
8 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 1:59.870 1:56.295 2:02.502 22
9 31 Esteban Ocon ALPINE RENAULT 2:01.824 1:57.354 2:03.513 23
10 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 1:58.301 1:56.025 DNF 19

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live beginning at 9AM Eastern on ESPN2 here in the States. With more foul weather forecast at Spa for Sunday it could be another crazy race result in a season full of them. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2020 F1 Grand Prix of Belgium — Results & aftermath

Hamilton romps to victory at Spa, Bottas P2 as Mercedes dominate again; Verstappen P3 for Red Bull; Renault on the ascent

The 2020 dominance of the Mercedes factory team and their ace pilot Lewis Hamilton continued today as Hamilton sailed to victory in the Belgian Grand Prix at the legendary Spa-Francorchamps circuit and teammate Valtteri Bottas claimed second place. With Hamilton starting from pole and Bottas P2 on the grid and both cars clearly faster than the next best Red Bull of Max Verstappen, the only suspense in today’s race was wondering if the Hard compound Pirellis on both Silver Arrows would make it to the end of the race after a very long second stint. But the tires held up just well enough to get to the end even though they had run a whopping 33 laps out of the total 44 race distance. Nearly all the competitors pitted under a Safety Car, which was deployed on Lap 10 after being prompted by a lurid accident between Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi and the Williams of the promising young Englishman George Russell. Verstappen ran the same strategy but could never get enough of a gap to Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo behind him to risk a second stop for fresh rubber later in the race and try and undercut Bottas. So the Dutchmen had to be content to run a somewhat dull race too far to strike the Finn and simply take his customary podium by coming home P3.

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

Despite running out of laps to make a proper lunge at Verstappen, Ricciardo & Renault had to be well pleased with his sterling P4 effort, with the team all the more so when second driver Esteban Ocon made a pass against Red Bull’s Alexander Albon to seize P5 on the penultimate lap of the race. Albon had to settle for P6, less than impressive when compared to the performance of his teammate Verstappen in what is ostensibly identical equipment. Renault seem to like these long, high speed old school circuits so look for their new found pace to carry over next week at Monza, likely causing some headaches for Red Bull in the process. McLaren’s Lando Norris drove very well to earn P7 after qualifying tenth. But it was a decidedly mixed day for the team, as Carlos Sainz was unable to start the race after experiencing a terminal exhaust issue on the warm up lap. That opened up the points to AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly, who made a two-stop strategy work despite some creeping doubts by clawing back a ton of positions on fresh Mediums as the laps wound down to take P8. The Racing Points of Lance Stroll and Sergio Perez took the last points in P9 and P10 respectively.

Ferrari’s day went as poorly as their terrible qualifying effort indicated it would. Sebastian Vettel finished P13 and Charles Leclerc P14 today after each had taken a turn winning the Belgian GP in the prior two years. To make matters even worse, both Prancing Horses finished behind Kimi Raikkonen in an Alfa Romeo, which is essentially a Ferrari support team. With only a week until their home grand prix in Italy and clearly badly down on straight line speed, which is at even more of a premium at Monza than at Spa, look for the mood of the legendary team from Maranello and their fanatical fans, the tifosi, to get much worse before it gets better in what is looking like for all the world a completely lost 2020 campaign.

Top 10 finishers of the Belgian GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
1 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 44 1:24:08.761 25
2 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 44 +8.448s 18
3 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA 44 +15.455s 15
4 3 Daniel Ricciardo RENAULT 44 +18.877s 13
5 31 Esteban Ocon RENAULT 44 +40.650s 10
6 23 Alexander Albon RED BULL RACING HONDA 44 +42.712s 8
7 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN RENAULT 44 +43.774s 6
8 10 Pierre Gasly ALPHATAURI HONDA 44 +47.371s 4
9 18 Lance Stroll RACING POINT BWT MERCEDES 44 +52.603s 2
10 11 Sergio Perez RACING POINT BWT MERCEDES 44 +53.179s 1

Complete race results available via Fomrula1.com.

The next race is in but a week’s time — the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, the fearsome “temple of speed.” Mercedes will be keen to rub salt into the Ferrari’s self-inflicted wounds in their back yard and in front of their crestfallen tifosi and Renault will be looking to up their game to take the fight to Verstappen’s Red Bull on equal terms. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2020 F1 Grand Prix of Belgium — Qualifying results

Hamilton train keeps rolling with pole at Spa; Bottas second fastest, Verstappen P3; Ferrari have met their Waterloo

Mercedes ace Lewis Hamilton continued his seemingly unstoppable momentum in this truncated, COVID-affected 2020 season by taking a blistering pole for the Belgian Grand Prix during Saturday qualifying at the venerable Spa-Francorchamps circuit. Two weeks after a dominant win in the Spanish GP and having been victorious in four out fo the six contests so far, the English 6-time Champion and current points leader hustled his Silver Arrow around this beautiful and long 4.3 mile road course to the tune of 1:41.252, six-tenth quicker than his game but outclassed teammate, Valtteri Bottas. While that locked out the front row for Mercedes yet again and Bottas will line up alongside Hamilton in P2, the Finn simply doesn’t seem to be able to match Hamilton’s supreme pace in the W11 this year, particularly not in race trim. Once again, the Red Bull of Max Verstappen was the only other car and driver combo to even give Mercedes any hint of a fight on outright pace, as the talented Ducthman wheeled his car around for a lap good enough for P3 on the grid just .015 in arrears of Bottas. The RB16’s superior downforce, as well as Verstappen’s mastery in the wet, could throw the wild card into another easy Hamilton win if we get rain on Sunday, something that is always well within the realm of possibility here in the Ardennes forest.

Renault had an excellent qualifying effort that saw veteran Daniel Ricciardo vault himself all the way up to P4 and a starting spot in the second row beside his former Red Bull stablemate Verstappen. The second Renault of Esteban Ocon also came good with a P6 time. They will sandwich Vertsappen’s wingman Alexander Albon, who did decently to set the fifth fastest time. The McLaren of Carlos Sainz continued his recent superiority over his precocious teammate Lando Norris by out-qualifying the young Englishman for the second race weekend in a row, P7 to P10 in this instance. And while the two Racing Points of Sergio Perez and Lance Stroll easily made it into Q3 and qualified P8 and P9 respectively, the team was probably still disappointed and a little surprised by being blown off by both Renaults and one McLaren after their mini-Mercedes was normally the best of rest outside of the big three teams this season.

A sad note on Ferrari: after winning the last two Belgian GP with Sebastian Vettel in 2018 and Charles Leclerc in 2019 the same duo were unceremoniously bounced out in Q2 when Leclerc could achieve no better than the 13th fastest lap in a field of 15 and Vettel only the 14th. Simply put, the inability (or unwillingness) of the Scuderia to develop their cars and improve their pokey straight-line speed is one of the key frustrations of the 2020 season. The fact that the SF 1000 now appears to be getting slower each week and dropping further into the clutches of teams like Alpha Tauri and even Williams is nothing short of a travesty. The legendary team from Maranello appear to have given up on 2020 entirely and with the new spec Formula being delayed until 2022 this also bodes ill for their competitiveness next year, even assuming better team dynamics with the departure for the lame duck Vettel. Right now Carlos Sainz has got be wondering if his dream drive might not be looking like a nightmare and perhaps even rethinking his decision to leave what looks to be a fast-improving McLaren operation. With a now-confirmed eleven contests remaining it’s hard to see how Ferrari right this particular ship, always a bad thing for the sport. If they don’t score any points tomorrow, which is looking like a 50-50 proposition at best, the Italian press and the tifosi will be howling for blood just a week away from their home GP at Monza. Tomorrow in Belgium could truly be Ferrari’s Waterloo, though what such a nadir would mean with so many races still to go is anybody’s guess.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Belgian GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:42.323 1:42.014 1:41.252 15
2 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 1:42.534 1:42.126 1:41.763 17
3 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA 1:43.197 1:42.473 1:41.778 17
4 3 Daniel Ricciardo RENAULT 1:43.309 1:42.487 1:42.061 11
5 23 Alexander Albon RED BULL RACING HONDA 1:43.418 1:42.193 1:42.264 15
6 31 Esteban Ocon RENAULT 1:43.505 1:42.534 1:42.396 15
7 55 Carlos Sainz MCLAREN RENAULT 1:43.322 1:42.478 1:42.438 15
8 11 Sergio Perez RACING POINT BWT MERCEDES 1:43.349 1:42.670 1:42.532 15
9 18 Lance Stroll RACING POINT BWT MERCEDES 1:43.265 1:42.491 1:42.603 15
10 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN RENAULT 1:43.514 1:42.722 1:42.657 17

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live on ESPN starting at 9AM Eastern here in the States. Hope to see you then to find out if either weather or competitors can do anything to slow down the Hamilton express!

2019 F1 Grand Prix of Belgium — Results & aftermath

Leclerc scores maiden F1 win as Ferrari bests Mercedes in Belgium; Hamilton P2 & Bottas P3 for Silver Arrows

In the first race back from the summer break and on a sunny Sunday at Spa-Francorchamps that was dimmed by the tragic death of up and coming Formula 2 driver Anthoine Hubert in the feature race on Saturday, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc made good on the flashes of brilliance he has so often shown this season to score his maiden Formula 1 victory at one of the most legendary circuits on the calendar. The Prancing Horses finally put together their pace advantage with enough aero efficiency and reliability to best the normally supreme Silver Arrows of Mercedes. Leclerc started from pole and his senior teammate Sebastian Vettel began in P2 after Ferrari locked out the front row in Saturday qualifying, forcing Mercedes to play catch-up with their drivers Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas starting in P3 and P4 respectively. Hamilton was able to better Vettel late in the race to seize P2 and then did an outstanding job closing the gap to Leclerc. But the Englishman ran out of laps and had to settle for a second place finish, which hardly did his massive points lead in the Drivers’ Championship any harm whatsoever. Bottas, who was re-signed by Mercedes for another year during the break, finished P3.

Despite finishing off the podium in P4 Vettel did yeoman’s work for his team. After being the first of the top runners to pit on Lap 16 and doffing his starting Soft Pirelli’s for the more durable Mediums, Vettel inherited the lead when first his teammate, then Hamilton and then Bottas pitted on the successive laps of 21, 22 and 23. But rather than fighting to keep the lead Vettel played the good solider and gifted P1 back to Leclerc on Lap 26. The proud German 4-time champion then played a superb rear gunner role for Leclerc’s benefit holding up Hamilton for several laps before finally being passed on the Kimmel Straight on Lap 32. It was an unusual show of selflessness for any F1 driver let alone Vettel and must have been appreciated by the team. But having pitted so early, with the team perhaps banking in a late Safety Car that never materialized, Vettel was doomed to stop again for fresh rubber on Lap 34 while the top 3 sailed away from his grasp.

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

The race got off to a choppy start with a nasty tangle between Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Raikkonen and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen going into Turn 1 at La Source. The result was floor damage for Raikkonen but a catastrophic steering failure for Verstappen that sent the Dutchman spearing off into the barriers at the top of the hill. Thankfully Verstappen was uninjured but his day was over almost before it began, putting an end to a superb recent run that saw him win two of the previous four contests, as well as his finishing streak of 25 consecutive top 5 finishes. The ensuing Safety Car period was too early to benefit anyone strategically and only lasted until the end of Lap 4.

Outside of the elite Top 4 and with Verstappen and Raikkonen’s misfortunes blowing the points positions wide open McLaren’s Lando Norris looked to score a massive P5 result after his teammate Carlos Sainz suffered a breakdown on Lap 3. But Norris’s car died on the start finish straight on the last lap of this 44 lap tilt. So the heartbroken rookie could only watch as car after car was able to finish in front of him and he slid down the order and out of the points in P11. The main beneficiary of Norris’s agony was Alexander Albon, making his debut for Red Bull after being promoted from Toro Rosso during the summer break. Albon gladly took that P5 position, while Racing Point’s Sergio Perez and Toro Rosso opportunistically grabbed P6 and P7 respectively.  Nico Hulkenberg salvaged at least a little something for struggling Renault with an eighth place finish despite the fact that he will not be returning to the factory team next year. The second Toro Rosso of Pierre Gasly, who was demoted back down from Red Bull to make room for Albon, soothed his injured pride just a little bit with a P9 result. And the second Racing Point of Lance Stroll took the last points paying position by coming home in P10 after wheel banging his way past Haas’ Romain Grosjean late in the race.

Top 10 finishers of the Belgian Gran Prix:

POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
1 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 44 1:23:45.710 25
2 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 44 +0.981s 18
3 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 44 +12.585s 15
4 5 Sebastian Vettel FERRARI 44 +26.422s 13
5 23 Alexander Albon RED BULL RACING HONDA 44 +81.325s 10
6 11 Sergio Perez RACING POINT BWT MERCEDES 44 +84.448s 8
7 26 Daniil Kvyat SCUDERIA TORO ROSSO HONDA 44 +89.657s 6
8 27 Nico Hulkenberg RENAULT 44 +106.639s 4
9 10 Pierre Gasly SCUDERIA TORO ROSSO HONDA 44 +109.168s 2
10 18 Lance Stroll RACING POINT BWT MERCEDES 44 +109.838s 1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is in but a week’s time at the similarly legendary Autodromo Nazionale Monza circuit right in Ferrari’s backyard. With the Scuderia on the ascent that high speed circuit should suit the Prancing Horses’ straight line advantage and the tifosi will be looking for an even better result from their pilots at the expense of mighty Mercedes. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2018 F1 Grand Prix of Belgium — Results & aftermath

Vettel survives chaotic start to dominate at Spa, Hamilton a distant runner-up as championship tightens yet again; Vertsappen salvages P3 at home race

The action at the Belgian Grand Prix was all front-loaded with a large and frightening multi-car opening lap shunt starting the proceedings off in chaos and then the race settling down to a serenely dominating performance by Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel. The crash began when Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg misjudged his breaking going into Turn 1 La Source and plowed into the back of McLaren’s Fernando Alonso, sending the Spaniard airborne. Alonso came down on top of the Sauber of Charles Leclerc, showing for the first time since its introduction this year the efficacy of the Halo head protection device. Leclerc could well have had cockpit intrusion by Alonso’s car as it fell on top of him but the Halo successfully deflected any potential contact to the Frenchman’s otherwise exposed head. Hulkenberg was assessed the blame for the accident and rightfully so. The veteran German, who is not usually a reckless driver, will face a 10-spot grid penalty in Italy next weekend as well as 3 points on his super license. In addition to Hulkenberg, Alonso and Leclerc, Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen and Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo were also caught up in the mess, somewhat victims of their poor starting positions due to the scrambled wet weather conditions in Saturday qualifying They came together harshly in the resultant accordion effect and Raikkonen suffered a puncture and rear wing and floor damage and Ricciardo’s rear wing was completely ruined after someone had knocked him into Raikkonen from behind. That necessitated time consuming repairs during the Safety Car period, particularly a complete rear wing change for Ricciardo that put the Aussie a lap down. But while both soldiered on gamely their races were inevitably ruined. Raikkonen and Riccardo would both be forced to retire before the end of the race.

Meanwhile the fi the race might as well have been in a different postal code as neither Mercedes pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton or the man starting beside him from P2, Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, were effected in the least by the mayhem behind them. Waging their own private championship battle and oblivious to the unfolding carnage, the two fierce championship rivals rocketed through Radillon and Eau Rouge and up the Kimmel Straight at full chat bracketed by two game but overmatched Force Indias. There Vettel made his move, scooting by Hamilton to grab the lead of the race before the Safety Car was deployed. That meant Vettel could dictate the restart when the Safety Car came in at the end of Lap 4. And while he did his best to roar away when he got the green flag the German could not quite escape Hamilton’s pursuing Mercedes. Continue reading →