Improbable performance pushes the defending champ closer to the 2022 title.
SPA-FRANCHORCHAMPS, Belgium—Max Verstappen began Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix from 14th place, moved up to 7th by the same number of laps, passed Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz Jr. on lap 18, and led Red Bull Racing to a 1-2 placing, finishing just over 17 seconds ahead of teammate Sergio Perez. Ferrari’s CarlosSainz Jr. finished second, just ahead of Mercedes George Russell, who took third.
The Dutchman’s victory puts him 93 points ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. The Monegasque finished fifth but was relegated to sixth when he was penalized late in the race for speeding in the pit lane. With the Belgian GP’s results added to the season standings, Red Bull Racing now has a 116-point lead over Ferrari in the Constructor’s Championship.
“It was quite a hectic first lap to try and stay out of trouble,” said Verstappen afterward. “So many things were happening in front of me. We picked the right places to pass people, looked after our tyres, and that’s how we made our way forward. Once we were in the lead, it was all about managing everything, but this whole weekend has been incredible.”
With such a wide circuit, many passes occurred during the 44-lap race, with Alpine recording double points finish along with Red Bull. The French team placed Alonso fifth and Esteban Ocon seventh, respectively, moving them further ahead of McLaren in the fight for fourth in the Constructor’s Championship. In his final Belgian Grand Prix, Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel took eighth, with Alpha Tauri’s Pierre Gasly ninth. Williams had a great day, not with Latifi, but with his teammate, Alex Albon, who had the fastest car in a straight line and was rewarded with the final point in tenth.
One safety car period occurred when Alpine’s Fernando Alonso was struck by the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton coming out of Les Combes on the opening lap, lifting Hamilton off the ground. Both cars continued, but the Briton suffered damage in the undercarriage of his car, forcing him to pull off the circuit at Blanchimont. Just one lap later, and nearly at the same location, Williams Nicholas Latifi spun and struck the rear left side of Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas, giving the Finn a horrible birthday present and retiring him from the race as the car sat beached in the gravel.
With next week’s race being at Verstappen’s home ground at Zandvoort, it could be very soon when Verstappen takes his second world driving championship unless Ferrari can change things. Booking favorites had Verstappen to win this race, but the Dutchman was not expecting it to be like this.
Max Verstappen: It has been a weekend I couldn’t have imagined before. But I think we want more of them, and we’ll keep working hard. Of course, I am going to enjoy it today. Next week, we’ll see what we can do.
Friday practices at the Heiniken Dutch GP will be televised on Friday, with Free Practice 1 starting at 6:30a on Friday (ESNU) and Free Practice 2 beginning at 10a (ESPN2).
