Belgian GP Results: Max Verstappen Wins The Chaotic Sprint Race
Max Verstappen won the Belgian Grand Prix Sprint Race.
Following the Red Bull driver to cross the line were Oscar Piastri and Pierre Gasly who finished in second and third place, respectively.
Rain has troubled every session so far this weekend and it continued throughout the Sprint Race, which was delayed by 35 minutes after the Sprint Shootout was pushed back and then by an additional 30 minute due to more heavy rain.
The race did eventually get underway but started behind the safety car for four laps before a rolling start. As the track began to dry up during the multiple formation laps, the drivers were reporting to their teams that it was ready for intermediate tyres rather than wet.
Half of the grid decided to pit straight away to change from the wet tyres to the intermediates. Whilst the rest of the grid went into the pits on the second lap, it was absolute carnage with some close calls.
Oscar Piastri, who pit the lap before Max Verstappen, took the lead of the race on the second lap.
The safety car was quickly brought back out after Fernando Alonso lost control at Turn 11, beaching his AMR23 in the gravel and just missing out from a big impact with the race wall.
As the safety car came in at the end of Lap 5, Piastri held his own but Verstappen managed to take the lead back on Lap 6.
Penalty: Logan Sargeant was handed a five-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane.
There were some fantastic battles in the top 10 with Lewis Hamilton, Carlos Sainz, and Charles Leclerc overtaking Sergio Perez on Lap 7. Lando Norris then took the Mexican driver, shortly after Perez span out after complaining of no rear grip and by Lap 8 he was sitting in sixteenth. Lap 9 saw Perez retire from the race.
Penalty: Lewis Hamilton was handed a five-second penalty for causing a collision with Sergio Perez, which many believed should have just been a racing incident.
Belgian Grand Prix Sprint Race Results
- Max Verstappen
- Oscar Piastri
- Pierre Gasly
- Carlos Sainz
- Charles Leclerc
- Lando Norris
- Lewis Hamilton
- George Russell
- Esteban Ocon
- Daniel Ricciardo
- Lance Stroll
- Alex Albon
- Valtteri Bottas
- Kevin Magnussen
- Zhou Guanyu
- Logan Sargeant
- Nico Hulkenberg
- Yuki Tsunoda
- Sergio Perez - DNF
- Fernando Alonso - DNF