And I’ll leave you with our report from Spa-Francorchamps. Thank for reading!
So Perez marches into second in the drivers’ championship, which Verstappen now leads by a stonking 93 points. Leclerc is five points behind Perez in third. Red Bull’s stranglehold on the constructors’ standings extends to 118 points.
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And Max Verstappen: “It was a really hectic first lap, to stay out of trouble, but after the safety car the car was on rails. After that, once we were in the lead, it was just about just managing everything. The whole weekend was incredible. It’s been a weekend I couldn’t imagine – I’m going to enjoy today and then next week, let’s see what we can do.”
Here’s Sergio Perez: “I really hoped for more but Max was just flying. He was on another planet, untouchable. Still, it’s a strong result for the team and I think we managed to get a lot of points today which is important.”
Carlos Sainz speaks: “It was harder than expected – the pace was just not there. We had a lot of overheating of the tyres, we were sliding around a lot. The Red Bulls, Max and Checo, they were in a league of their own today.”
Charles Leclerc’s miserable day continues: he’s been given a five-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane, so will finish the race behind Fernando Alonso in sixth.
How they finished:
1 Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
2 Sergio Perez (Red Bull)
3 Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)
4 George Russell (Mercedes)
5 Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
6 Fernando Alonso (Alpine)
7 Esteban Ocon (Alpine)
8 Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin)
9 Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri)
10 Alexander Albon (Williams)
11 Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
12 Lando Norris (McLaren)
13 Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri)
14 Guanyu Zhou (Alfa Romeo)
15 Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren)
16 Kevin Magnussen (Haas)
17 Mick Schumacher (Haas)
18 Nicholas Latifi (Williams)
RET Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
RET Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo)
Max Verstappen wins the Belgian GP!
Verstappen cruises round his final lap to clinch the inevitable win. Behind him comes Perez fopr a Red Bull one-two, and Sainz holds off Russell for the last podium place.
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Lap 43/44: Leclerc pits, gambling on fastest lap, but while he’s heading back out Fernando Alonso sneaks ahead of him into P5!
Lap 41/44: Russell’s hopes of a podium may be dashed by a self-inflicted mistake, taking turn 14 a touch late, hitting the marbles and losing tyres temperature. He’s back up and running now, though, and has just under three laps to hoover up the 2sec lead Sainz holds over him.
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The top five with four laps to go: Verstappen, Perez, Sainz, Russell, Leclerc
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Lap 40/44: Charles Leclerc is almost certainly going to have to accept P5 at best today – he’s a full 20secs behind Russell and in no immediate danger of reducing that gap.
Lap 38/44: Russell continues to eat into Sainz’s lead over him in third, just 2secs now. The Mercedes man is the second quickest driver on the track right now and looks desperate for a podium place.
Lap 36/44: With George Russell hounding down Sainz in P3, the worry for Ferrari is that they may not even make it on to the podium today. Further back, Vettel sees off Gasly going into turn one for P7. The Frenchman claims his place back seconds later – while Ocon leaves them to it and steams around both cars to leave them eating dust. Lovely stuff.
Lap 33/44: A disconsolate Lewis Hamilton, interviewed in the garage, says the incident with Fernando Alonso at the start was his fault – “He was in my blind spot, I didn’t see him, I didn’t give him enough room” – and apologies to his team.
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Lap 32/44: Further back, Alonso has put his foot down to make up three places and march into P8.
Lap 30/44: Verstappen pits, but his lead is such that he returns to the track still in P1, a tidy 8secs ahead of his teammate. Battling it out for lowly P5, Leclerc rattles past Vettel.
Lap 29/44: Russell is told to pit, but ignores the call to drink in another lap in second place. He goes in next time round, though, and emerges behind Sainz in P4.
Lap 26/44: Sainz heads in for his second pitstop of the afternoon, followed closely by his teammate Leclerc. Russell had been closing in on the Spaniard, who switches to hard compound.
Lap 24/44: Stroll, eyeing a points spot, makes a move on Ricciardo but backs off at the last, then attacks again with DRS on the straight: again, no dice.
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Lap 22/44: How they stand at the halfway mark:
1 Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
2 Sergio Perez (Red Bull)
3 Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)
4 George Russell (Mercedes)
5 Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
6 Fernando Alonso (Alpine)
7 Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin)
8 Esteban Ocon (Alpine)
9 Alexander Albon (Williams)
10 Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren)
Lap 21/44: Sainz can resist the Red Bull machine no longer. This time it’s Perez who picks off the Ferrari for a Red Bull one-two.
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Lap 20/44: Leclerc and his team get into a lengthy radio debate about strategy. He’s told they’re looking at a P5 finish. “If we have to stop now we will be right in front of Gasly which is P12,” the driver is told. “Why would we stop now?” he barks.
Lap 19/44: And Verstappen retakes the lead, and this time it’s a real lead. He hunts down Sainz and once DRS is engaged he cruises past the Ferrari to the delight of the Spa crowd.
Lap 18/44: So with the first round of pit stops done, Sainz leads Verstappen by 1.6secs. Behind them is Perez, then Russell and Leclerc. Verstappen is clocking up fastest laps like there’s no tomorrow.
Lap 18/44: Verstappen pits, returning Sainz to the lead. Meanwhile Russell has Leclerc in his sights on the straight and goes for him all guns blazing, roaring past him with DRS for P4.
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Lap 16/44: The top five: Verstappen, Sainz, Perez, Leclerc, Russell. A newly fired-up Leclerc attacks Perez, who does a great job of shutting him off.
Lap 14/44: Alonso and Russell hit the pits, the latter swapping mediums for mediums. Sainz has found his way past Ricciardo and back into the podium places.
Lap 12/44: Carlos Sainz pits from the lead, emerging behind Ricciardo in P6, but he’s stuck in traffic. Verstappen roars inside Perez to assume the lead … but will he want to change up his softs soon?
That early collision
DRAMA ON THE OPENING LAP!
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) August 28, 2022
Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso come together on the opening lap! 😮 pic.twitter.com/8GQp94gZ7h
Lap 10/44: Verstappen isn’t happy with the degradation on his soft tyres but he turns on the style regardless, weaving his way past Alonso and then Russell for P3, just over 2secs behind leader Sainz.
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Steve Carbert writes in: “Hi Alex, if I was Toto I’d find the best software engineer on the planet to go over the telemetry software they use just to make sure no foreign adversary has managed to plant a virus to screw up their data.”
Lap 9/44: Leclerc does indeed enjoy better luck next time, picking his moment before zipping round the outside of Gasly and then inside Tsunoda for a hard-fought P14.
Lap 8/44: Charles Leclerc, meanwhile, is toiling back in P16. He goes for Gasly but the Frenchman shuts the door on him: better luck next time.
Lap 7/44: Verstappen has clawed his way up to fifth, six seconds off the lead. Not a bad first quarter-hour. The impressive Albon picks off Ricciardo for P7.
Lap 6/44: The race resumes and immediately Russell and Alonso go toe-to-toe for third, the Mercedes man coming out on top and keeping his place. Perez attacks Sainz but the Spaniard holds tight to his lead. The Mexican has got a taste for the fight today.
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Lap 5/44: Charles Leclerc has gone in for new tyres and changed from softs to mediums. Safety car over.
Lap 4/44: With the safety car about to end, Sainz leads, trailed by Perez, Russell, Alonso and Vettel. Verstappen has crept up to P8.
Valtteri Bottas retires!
Eeesh – a helluva start here. This time Latifi tags Bottas and both lurch off track. And the birthday boy, 33 today, is done. The safety car is out and Alonso makes his feelings clear on Hamilton, who looks to have cut across the Alpine: “What an idiot! Closing the door from the outside!”
Lewis Hamilton retires!
Lap 2/44: Both cars make their way back onto the track but both look damaged and Hamilton, going into turn 16, sparks emanating from under his car, is ordered by his team to stop. His race is run!
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Lap 1/44: It’s a great start from Sainz who holds the lead but Alonso, Hamilton and Russell all steam past Perez! And then more drama as Hamilton and Alonso, tussling for second place, tangle and plough onto the gravel together!
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Belgium: nice and flat, no? No. This circuit has the most elevation of all in the calendar, as well as being the longest. Sainz, Verstappen, Leclerc and Bottas start on soft tyres, everyone else on mediums.
Right then. The drivers are lined up and we’re ready for the formation lap.
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Max Verstappen hedges his bets in the pre-race interview, saying the aim is to “stay out of trouble and see where we end up.” Meanwhile, a defeatist Toto Wolff reckons Mercedes’ car is undriveable: “You cannot have a car that is on pole in Budapest.... and then suddenly be almost be 2 seconds off, so, we need to look into the data, dig deep and find out. I think it is clear from the reaction from Lewis that the car was undriveable yesterday. So, we need to find the right compromise between finding out what is happening and focusing on next year’s design.”
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These are the used and new tyre sets available to the drivers for the #BelgianGP. Which compound do you think will be preferred for the race?#F1 #Fit4F1 #Formula1 #Pirelli #Pirelli150 @F1 pic.twitter.com/0yZ3adqogO
— Pirelli Motorsport (@pirellisport) August 28, 2022
How they line up on the grid today:
1 Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)
2 Sergio Perez (Red Bull)
3 Fernando Alonso (Alpine)
4 Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
5 George Russell (Mercedes)
6 Alexander Albon (Williams)
7 Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren)
8 Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri)
9 Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
10 Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin)
11 Nicholas Latifi (Williams)
12 Kevin Magnussen (Haas)
13 Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo)
14 Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
15 Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
16 Esteban Ocon (Alpine)
17 Lando Norris (McLaren)
18 Guanyu Zhou (Alfa Romeo)
19 Mick Schumacher (Haas)
20 Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri)
Breaking news (vis Press Association): The Belgian Grand Prix has survived the axe from next year’s calendar. The race, staged at the historic Spa-Francorchamps venue, had been mired in doubt as Formula One chiefs continue to expand the sport’s schedule outside of Europe. A record 24 rounds have been mooted for next year. A debut Grand Prix on the Las Vegas strip has already been confirmed for 2023, but a failure to rubber-stamp the return of the South African GP in Kyalami for next season ensures the Belgian race will remain for at least another term. A statement released by the sport’s bosses an hour before the start of Sunday’s fixture at Spa read: “Formula One can confirm that the Belgian Grand Prix will be on the 2023 calendar following an agreement to extend our partnership together. “Further details on the 2023 calendar will be announced in due course.” The 2023 season is expected to start in Bahrain on March 5, with the final version of next year’s schedule expected to be released in the coming weeks.
Martin Brundle’s much-trumpeted grid walk is as quietly excruciating as ever. He hounds down the passing Esteban Ocon, who does his very best to ignore the man bellowing his name behind him but, after a valiant effort, eventually succumbs. “The conditions are quite similar to yesterday,” he mumbles. “All good I would say. The car feels as good as yesterday. It’s always tough but the aim is to get back into the contest.” The same scene then plays out with Fernando Alonso, who sidles over once he realises there’s no getting out of this one. “We will try to be aggressive, but let’s do one step at a time,” he says.
Not a single driver starts today where they qualified. A vaguely mind-bending consequences of the various penalties imposed on today’s grid.
George Russell starts from fifth today despite a middling display by Mercedes in qualifying. His hopes for the race? “A realistic target is to definitely get ahead of Fernando and do the fastest race possible. It sounds simple - do the fastest race possible and stay ahead of Max and Charles, but I think Max is just going to slice through the field. It would be great if we could fight for that podium but based on yesterday’s pace it will be tricky but it is totally a new day today.”
And our write-up from yesterday’s qualifying, a Verstappen demolition job:
There’s a new gunslinger in town. Or at least, on the way to town. Arriving in town in four years. Here’s a reminder of this week’s big news:
Preamble
When the excitement is in danger of fizzling out, how about a mid-season rule-change to spice things up? That right: welcome back to the second half of an F1 season that sees Max Verstappen a ludicrous 80 points clear in the standings. And welcome back to a new sport – or at least a very marginally readjusted one.
It should be said that the new regulations – the introduction of an “oscillation metric” and a tightening of the rules on the rigidity of the floor, since you asked – are to ensure driver safety rather than to prevent the season becoming a cakewalk. By trying to limit the bouncing that occurs on those punishing straights, the rules should lessen any chance of head injury..
The impact? We’ll soon see, but while early whispers suggested the rule-change may hinder Ferrari and Red Bull – who were both exploiting a loophole that allowed some flexibility in their floor – while benefitting Mercedes, then any hopes for a levelling of the playing field were dampened during yesterday’s qualifying, when those two teams roared out in front of the chasing pack with Max Verstappen just as dominant as ever.
Max Verstappen took fastest lap despite opting against a final run, but Carlos Sainz will start from pole due to grid penalties to Verstappen and Leclerc. Sergio Perez starts in second and Fernando Alonso third. The Mercedes pair of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell were miles off the pace – a “kick in the teeth”, said Hamilton – though will start fourth and fifth after being bumped up the grid.
If you figure none of that suggests a particularly reinvigorated level of competition, well, you’d be right. With half the season to go, Charles Leclerc already sounds somewhat defeated “[Red Bull] are extremely quick and we can’t quite explain why,” he said yesterday. “When you see the gap to Max it’s a bit worrying.” He was talking about the qualifying sessions but he could just as easily be talking about his own championship hopes.
Season over? Well, Red Bull hold a 97-point lead in the constructors’ standings, while Verstappen’s failure to win the championship now rests of a capitulation of Devon Loch proportions. In Spa, though, he does start from P14 so will have to fight his way through the field to compete. Over to you, Max.
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