At the wheel of his Red Bull, the reigning World Champion has once again demonstrated that the inverted grids do not even scare him. Winner at the end of July in Hungary after starting from 10th place on the grid, Max Verstappen did it again a month later on the Spa-Francorchamps track.
Fourteenth on the starting grid due to multiple penalties, the Dutchman made an excellent start on his soft tires and had no trouble getting rid of each of his competitors, until passing Carlos Sainz when he was pitted for the first time on lap 12. The gap widened in the lead and Verstappen rode solo to the checkered flag to earn 26 more points in the title chase thanks to the fastest lap bonus point.
The Dutchman’s main rival in the Championship, Charles Leclerc did not benefit from the same rhythm. By starting 15th on the grid, the Monegasque had a lot of trouble getting his Ferrari up the hierarchy. He thought he could save the day by finishing in the Top 5, but a 5-second penalty for speeding in the pits finally relegated him to 6th place behind Fernando Alonso. Charles Leclerc sees the Mexican Sergio Perez pass him in the drivers’ classification thanks to his second place.
Hamilton gave up very quickly
The big loser of this Grand Prix of Belgium is Lewis Hamilton who was harpooned at the level of the right rear tire by the Alpine of Fernando Alonso from the first lap in the series of turns of Combes. the seven-time world champion had to retire due to excessive damage to his Mercedes and attend the very fine race of the Spanish veteran, who finished in 5th place.
On the French side, Esteban Ocon achieved the best performance by completing the 44 laps of this Grand Prix in 7th place, less than a second behind Charles Leclerc. The Ébroïcien started from 17th place on the grid. Pierre Gasly could not do better than a 9th position.
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