The last Grand Prix before the Summer break in Formula 1 took place last day at Spa and the weather was not ideal throughout the weekend as rain was a constant guest during the weekend and this was a packed weekend of Racing and Qualifying. There was also a sprint race which happened on Saturday and this was a 11 lap race where Max Verstappen won the sprint and Oscar Piastri secured his best ever finish at P2 and he was feeling confident heading into the race on Sunday. Max Verstappen was starting the race at P6 and Charles Leclerc and Sergio Perez were at the front of the grid.
Let’s look at the Results of the Belgium F1 Grand Prix 2023:
Race Results
The race starts and Sergio Perez gets off to a great start as he gets past Charles Leclerc and goes into the lead and Oscar Piastri had the worst possible start as he collides with Carlos Sainz and he is out of the race. And Max Verstappen has already gone to P4. It is Lap 2 and Oscar Piastri is out and the yellow flag is out and Carlos Sainz has also got damage to his car. Lap 4 and Carlos Sainz is struggling as Fernando Alonso goes up to P5 and it is looking curtains for the Ferrari driver. It is Lap 5 and Yuki Tsonuda is at P6 and this could be a career changing race for him. Lap 7 it is and threw to four pit stops have taken place and Max Verstappen is just getting to P2. Lap 10 and it took just 10 Laps for Max Verstappen to go from P6 to P2.
It is Lap 13 and for now Sergio Perez is 2.7 seconds ahead of Max Verstappen and he looks good. Lap 14 and Lewis Hamilton, Sergio Perez and Charles Leclerc go into the pits and they come out in P2, P3 and P4. Lap 15 and Max Verstappen comes out of the pits and is just 2.1 seconds behind. It took 17 laps for Max Verstappen to get the lead of this race and it is race over. And George Russell gets past Lance Stroll to get to P6. It is Lap 19 and the rain comes down and the drivers are sticking to their tyres. Lap 23 and Lando Norris gets past Logan Sargeant and George Russell gets a set of soft tyres.
Lap 25 has been reached and the rain has gone and it is clear skies and Max Verstappen is 6 seconds ahead in front and Carlos Sainz is forced to retire but he fought valiantly for 25 Laps. The fortunes of Aston Martin and McClain have reversed in this race as Fernando Alonso is in P5 and Lance Stroll is in P8. It is Lap 29 out of 44 and Lewis Hamilton pits again and Charles Leclerc pits as well. And in Lap 30, Sergio Perez pits and he comes out 4.5 seconds in 3rd place. The moment of the race came in Lap 35 as Max Verstappen and his engineer have an argument where the engineer is not happy with Max uses his soft tyres fast and in reply Max aske if he can stop again for Pitstop training. It is Lap 37 and Charles Leclerc is in P3 and George Russell is closing in on Fernando Alonso. Lap 41 and only 3 Laps are left and Max Verstappen has an 18 second lead over Sergio Perez showing that Max Verstappen is in a league of his own. The race ends and it is an 8th consecutive win for Max Verstappen and the 13th for Red Bull. Sergio Perez is in P2 and Charles Leclerc is in P3.
Race Standings
Position | Driver | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
1. | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 25 |
2. | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | 18 |
3. | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 15 |
4. | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 13 |
5. | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | 10 |
6. | George Russell | Mercedes | 8 |
7. | Lando Norris | McClaren | 6 |
8. | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | 5 |
9. | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 2 |
10. | Yuki Tsonuda | AlphaTauri | 1 |
11. | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | 0 |
12. | Valteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo | 0 |
13. | Zhou Guanyu | Alfa Romeo | 0 |
14. | Alexander Albon | Williams | 0 |
15. | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 0 |
16. | Daniel Ricciardo | AlphaTauri | 0 |
17. | Logan Sargeant | Williams | 0 |
18. | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas | 0 |
DNF | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | 0 |
DNF | Oscar Piastri | McClaren | 0 |
