The dominance of Max Verstappen and Red Bull continues at the Belgian Grand Prix. A former podium stalwart is among the other winners, and the team of the hour suffers a blow to the neck.
Here is the detailed race report.
Meanwhile, Verstappen teammate Sergio Pérez is receiving a bitter lesson. And Mercedes seems to have lost its way. The winners and losers of the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa.
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Belgian GP, race winner: Fernando Alonso
At the beginning of the year, the Spanish oldie was still a regular guest on the podium, but a different picture has emerged in recent weeks. Mercedes, Ferrari and McLaren – they have all escaped the Aston Martin in terms of performance.
At Spa, Alonso then returned to the top five for the first time since Austria. The Spaniard certainly didn’t drive a particularly exciting race. He bobbled around for a long time between the top and the midfielders. But Alonso delivered absolutely clean and error-free.
It is also important to mention the good job of the command post, which sent him back onto the track in front of Russell at the last pit stop. The old master gave it a “Very good job!”
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Belgian GP, race winner: Max Verstappen
It’s impressive how the Dutchman drives from victory to victory. Yes, he’s in the best car. And yes, he’s also probably the best pilot in the entire field. Nevertheless, the consistency and, above all, the flawlessness with which Verstappen goes about his work is frightening.
He delivers best performances week after week without overshooting the mark even once. It feels like years since Verstappen’s last individual mistake. The realization that he might not give away a single race this year is creeping closer and closer.
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Belgian GP, race winner: Charles Leclerc
Similar to Alonso, the race of the Monegasque can be explained relatively quickly. He had no chance going forward against the Red Bulls. At the back he kept the Mercedes and Alonso within striking distance to secure his podium.
It is currently no longer possible in a Ferrari if Pérez should come close to reaching his normal level. You don’t stand a chance against Verstappen anyway, so third place is a good result for Leclerc and Ferrari.
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Belgian GP, loser of the race: Sergio Pérez
Second place and still a loser – how can that be? Well, of course Pérez rode one of his better weekends this year. He secured second place on the podium with some ease and thus ensured the fourth RB double victory this season.
But if you look at the gap that the Mexican had to team-mate Verstappen, you can only shake your head. The Dutchman Pérez was 21 seconds behind at the finish – even though Verstappen only started on P6 and got stuck in traffic a few laps behind Hamilton and Leclerc.
However, Pérez could not use this phase for an outbreak. So it came as it had to: After the first pit stop, Verstappen didn’t need two laps to shoot up to the Mexican and finally overtake him. What followed was a lesson for Pérez – in a bitter, negative sense.
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Belgian GP, loser of the race: McLaren
After the strong days on Friday and Saturday, it was actually thought that McLaren should have a say in the top places on Sunday as well. But the team of the hour around Piastri and Norris experienced a pitch-black day in Spa.
Immediately after the start, the Australian was the victim of a collision with Sainz through no fault of his own. The latter missed him on the inside of turn one and squeezed Piastri between his Ferrari car and the barriers. The damage to the car was too great to continue the race.
Norris was also unable to confirm the recent strong results. Overall, McLaren simply lacked the pace to fight at the front in dry conditions. The desperate attempts by Norris’ race engineer William Joseph to help the young Englishman with various setup settings ended with snotty and visibly frustrated answers from his protégés.
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Belgian GP, loser of the race: Carlos Sainz
In addition to Piastri, the race of the second person involved in the start crash also resembled a catastrophe. In contrast to the McLaren driver, Sainz was initially able to continue the GP, but the damage to the sidepod of his Ferrari and the associated aerodynamic disadvantages were too serious. The Spaniard was passed place by place to the end of the field.
Nevertheless, Ferrari initially decided against giving up, probably because they were speculating on rain and a chaotic course of the race, as a result of which Sainz might have been able to score points. However, there were no wet conditions, which is why, after a bit of back and forth, the decision was made to park the car and protect the components.
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Belgian GP, loser of the race: Mercedes
Hamilton’s third place in qualifying gave the Silver Arrows some hope of a podium finish, but as in Hungary, Mercedes was too slow compared to Red Bull and Ferrari in the long run. While Hamilton never managed to come within striking distance of Leclerc, Russell was stuck in midfield for long stretches.
In the end, P4 and P6 might not read as badly as it might seem. For the claims of Mercedes – especially after the big update that was launched in Monaco – it is far too little.
One might almost think that the Silver Arrows got a little lost on their way. No matter what you try, nothing seems to work right. Team boss Toto Wolff also seems more and more at a loss in his interviews and is now shimmying from one slogan to the next.
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Belgian GP: The Top 10
Formel 1: Rennen beim GP von Belgien 1.Max Verstappen (Red Bull)2.Sergio Pérez (Red Bull)3.Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)4.Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)5.Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)6.George Russell (Mercedes)7.Lando Norris (McLaren)8.Esteban Ocon (Alpine)9.Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)10.Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri)