Introduction
Max Verstappen recovered from a five-place gearbox penalty to say his eighth successive victory within the 2023 Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix, with teammate Sergio Perez including to the celebrations for Red Bull as he accomplished a one-two consequence.
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Verstappen progressively picked off his rivals throughout a tense 44-lap encounter at Spa-Francorchamps, taking P1 after Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc had began the race on pole. The championship chief then saved his automotive on the observe throughout a mid-race bathe that threatened to – however didn’t fairly drive – a transfer from slick tyres to intermediates.
Perez additionally labored his well beyond Leclerc to return house within the runner-up spot, crossing the road some 20 seconds behind Verstappen and giving Red Bull their first excellent consequence for the reason that Miami Grand Prix again in May.
Leclerc held on for the ultimate podium place, denying seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton (who pitted late on to internet the quickest lap), whereas Fernando Alonso put his Aston Martin forward of the opposite Mercedes machine of George Russell to take fifth.
Lando Norris initially misplaced a bunch of positions after beginning the race on medium tyres after which switching to hards, however a transfer to softs as spits of rain started to fall proved impressed, and he wolfed up the competitors on his grippy rubber and ultimately bagged seventh.
Aston Martin secured one other double-point end as Lance Stroll backed up teammate Alonso within the ninth, whereas Esteban Ocon and Yuki Tsunoda accomplished the factors within the eighth and tenth, respectively, through some late scrapping.
Pierre Gasly went longer into the race than anybody else with a sizeable first stint, however a sluggish cease when he ultimately boxed hindered his efforts and left him eleventh on the chequered flag, adopted by the Alfa Romeos of Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu.
Williams had blended it within the points-paying locations early on, with the FW45 exhibiting unbelievable straight-line pace, however they pale because the completely different slick-tyre methods performed out, leaving Alex Albon 14th and Logan Sargeant seventeenth.
Haas duo Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg, each impacted by pre-race penalties, wound up fifteenth and 18th, respectively, whereas sixteenth went to the second AlphaTauri of Daniel Ricciardo, who couldn’t match teammate Tsunoda’s points-scoring efforts.
Only 18 automobiles completed the race after a first-corner conflict between Sprint podium finisher Oscar Piastri and Carlos Sainz led to each drivers retiring – the McLaren man clipping the within wall at La Source and stopping along side the observe and the Ferrari nursing harm earlier than being known as in to retire.
When the drivers returned to parc ferme, Verstappen couldn’t conceal his delight as he punched the air in celebration for the tenth time this season, shifting only one win away from matching Sebastian Vettel’s successive victory document of 9 races within the course of.
It additionally means Verstappen now holds a lead of 125 factors over Perez within the drivers’ standings because the Dutchman continues his push in the direction of what can be a 3rd world championship on the bounce.
Mario Isola, Motorsport Director, Pirelli:
Finally, on a day with affordable climate, the rain solely made an look briefly with out having any vital affect on the way in which the race performed out. Coming into this last a part of the weekend virtually at nighttime elevated the variety of unknown components and, together with the big variety of dry climate tyres obtainable, as they had been solely used for a couple of laps in yesterday’s qualifying, this gave the groups a wider than typical vary of potential methods. Degradation on the Soft and Medium tyres was in keeping with our simulations, given the comparatively low observe temperature. These low temperatures additionally meant the Hard was not very aggressive, and it was solely utilized by one driver for a couple of kilometres. In phrases of efficiency, the opposite two compounds had been as much as the duty, and the stint lengths diverse in keeping with whether or not a driver selected to push proper from the begin to take advantage of the obtainable grip or handle the scenario to elongate the stint as a lot as potential, which was the case for the three drivers who solely made a single pit cease.
Finally, I want to congratulate the followers (380,000 attendance) who put up with some very moist climate. They had been rewarded with a fantastic present, partly all the way down to the Sprint weekend format, which meant that, proper from Friday, there was loads of pleasure on the observe. Formula 1 is quickly going to take a brief break, though we nonetheless have two extra days of testing on Tuesday and Wednesday right here at Spa, working with Aston Martin and McLaren. The each day work programme will rely rather a lot on what the climate has to supply.
How the race was received from the tyre standpoint:
Medium and Soft had been essentially the most used compounds through the race, with the Hard solely utilized by Norris for 12 laps in his second stint. 13 drivers opted to begin on Softs, seven on Medium. The softest of the three compounds Pirelli introduced right here proved to be very aggressive, additionally giving the groups higher flexibility when it comes to technique, with seven drivers opting to push proper from the beginning, stopping earlier than lap 10 (Sainz additionally pitted, having sustained automotive harm) whereas others prolonged the stint as a lot as potential, like Gasly for instance, who pitted after 23 laps. Those who began on Mediums additionally adopted completely different methods: Russell managed to do 22 laps, Stroll simply two fewer, whereas Tsunoda stopped on lap 9 and Alonso on 10. This compound was the out-and-out alternative for the second stint, with way more comparable stint lengths, in a window between 15 and 20 laps.
(*1*)
The most crucial second of this part got here shortly after half-distance when, for round ten minutes, it rained barely. Lap instances quickly elevated, reaching the restrict for the crossover level to intermediates, however then the rain stopped, and the observe dried rapidly. For the ultimate phases, based mostly partly on what had been discovered within the first a part of the race, the Soft was again in favour of the groups and drivers. Here too, the stint lengths diverse: the primary three finishers accomplished an identical distance (Verstappen 14, Perez 15 and Leclerc 16), Norris did 27, whereas Ocon and Zhou ran for 19 whereas Tsunoda and Hulkenberg did 20.
Three drivers did only one cease – Russell, Stroll and Gasly – the primary two of those ending within the factors, whereas the Frenchman was simply exterior in eleventh. Another trio, the 2 Williams drivers and Lewis Hamilton made three stops. In the case of the Williams pair, it was for strategic causes, whereas the seven instances world champion got here in for a set of latest Mediums to safe the additional level for the quickest race lap.
What’s subsequent?
Now it’s time for the Formula 1 summer season break. The championship will resume with the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort from 25 to 27 August, and only one week later, the motion switches to the ultimate European spherical of the season, from 1 to three September, when Monza hosts the Formula 1 Pirelli Gran Premio d’Italia 2023.
2023 Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix Race Results
| Pos | No | Driver | Country | Team | Time | Points | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 1 | Max Verstappen | Netherlands | Red Bull Racing | 1:22:30.450 | 25 | 314 |
| 2. | 11 | Sergio Perez | Mexico | Red Bull Racing | +22.305s | 18 | 189 |
| 3. | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Monaco | Scuderia Ferrari | +32.259s | 15 | 99 |
| 4. | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Great Britain | Mercedes-AMG Petronas | +49.671s | 13 | 148 |
| 5. | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Spain | Aston Martin F1 Team | +56.184s | 10 | 149 |
| 6. | 63 | George Russell | Great Britain | Mercedes-AMG Petronas | +63.101s | 8 | 99 |
| 7. | 4 | Lando Norris | Great Britain | Mclaren Racing | +73.719s | 6 | 69 |
| 8. | 31 | Esteban Ocon | France | Alpine F1 Team | +74.719s | 4 | 35 |
| 9. | 18 | Lance Stroll | Canada | Aston Martin F1 Team | +79.340s | 2 | 47 |
| 10. | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | Japan | Scuderia AlphaTauri | +80.221s | 1 | 3 |
| 11. | 10 | Pierre Gasly | France | Alpine F1 Team | +83.084s | 0 | 22 |
| 12. | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Finland | Alfa Romeo F1 Team | +85.191s | 0 | 5 |
| 13. | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | China | Alfa Romeo F1 Team | +95.441s | 0 | 4 |
| 14. | 45 | Alexander Albon | Thailand | Williams Racing | +96.184s | 0 | 11 |
| 15. | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Denmark | Haas F1 Team | +101.754s | 0 | 2 |
| 16. | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Australia | Scuderia AlphaTauri | +103.071s | 0 | 0 |
| 17. | 2 | Logan Sargeant | USA | Williams Racing | +104.476s | 0 | 0 |
| 18. | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Germany | Haas F1 Team | +110.450s | 0 | 9 |
| 8. | 55 | Carlos Sainz | Spain | Scuderia Ferrari | DNF | 0 | 92 |
| 5. | 81 | Oscar Piastri | Australia | McLaren Racing | DNF | 0 | 34 |
| 21. | 21 | Nyck De Vries | Netherlands | Scuderia AlphaTauri | DNS | 0 | 0 |
2023 Constructor Standings
Here are the team-by-team highlights:
