Verstappen, Perez, Sainz, the order of arrival of Spa 2022. Immediately behind, at the finish line: Russell, Leclerc and Alonso. In short, nothing new after the summer break. On the contrary. This track again showed disarming values on the field, with perhaps an excessive superiority in favor of a single team. Red Bull as a single-seater is fine, no doubt a little better than the others. But Verstappen is proving all the gigantic worth of him. And so, the others have nothing left but the crumbs, as well as the end of the world dreams in red, now almost mathematical.
Verstappen, a record comeback
With the points lost before the August break, and today’s race, Verstappen is driving calmly. He has so many points of advantage that he can have a clear mind, he can go faster because he is less tense than his colleagues. He can risk more. And he could even afford a zero-point grand prix or two without losing too much sleep. What to say: the Dutchman – indeed, today it is good to remember that he also has a Belgian passport, the country where he was born – first of all climbed to the top of the grand prix despite having started from 14th place, after only 12 laps: a record comeback. for this sport. With these premises, an excellent race pace and impeccable strategies, his race was practically “downhill”.
The same cannot be said for the reds. Despite the penalty shared by Leclerc and Verstappen for the engine change, so both of them relegated to the rear on the starting grid, no miracle happened. Of course, it must be admitted that Sainz has raised the bar a bit this weekend, but Leclerc has not been able to play his game, because he has not been able to make any progress. Wanting to find one with a bit of commitment, we identify good news, as far as we have seen on the track, on the Ferrari race pace: apart from the comparison with Red Bull, at least it was able to run on the 7,004 km of the renewed Spa circuit. quickly of the Mercedes. Or rather: just enough to put a driver on the podium.
Leclerc in trouble
Leclerc, in trouble from the start for having been forced to an unexpected first pit stop after a lap, eventually found himself in a tense and paradoxical situation: an unfortunate inconvenience that unfortunately still has to be pointed out to the Maranello wall. Basically, while he was about to finish fifth with a margin over Alonso of more than 18 seconds, he was called up to try to make the fastest lap in the race: a prestige for the statistics and also a precious point for the world championship. However, overcoming the limit in the pitlane, for a single lap, full of nervousness, Charles gets a 5 second penalty. And so, after sweating and struggling to try to score the fastest lap at the last, not without risking not to pass Alonso again, the benefit of the extra point was canceled due to a relegation of one position. And therefore, even if the honors of many other “purple chronometers” have been taken away from Max Verstappen, no one has deprived the reigning champion of the tranquility that he has now been able to conquer thanks to the comfortable advantage: for him, even at the last pit stop, super fast time in changing medium tires and exit position exactly the same as where he entered. As a leader. Without problems of pursuers, because Perez was there to watch his back.
And so, while Max Verstappen gained 13 positions today, Charles Leclerc has to settle for 10. But that extra paid second in qualifying in the race meant he could never get to fight for the positions that matter.