Belgian Grand Prix Results: Max Verstappen Wins The Race At Spa-Francorchamps
Max Verstappen has won the Belgian Grand Prix.
Following the two-time champion to cross the line were his Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc who finished in second and third place, respectively.
The exciting start saw Carlos Sainz lock up and run into the line of Oscar Piastri. The Australian driver then didn't have enough room to get through and sustained damage to his front wing after contacting the wall. Piastri managed to pit and get back out at the back of the pack but was forced to stop on track shortly afterwards, ending his race.
By Lap 9, Red Bull were running in first and second with Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen, after the former started from second and the latter from sixth.
Fans saw some incredible on track battles and overtakes as well as various different tyre strategies with Lando Norris and Fernando Alonso pitting for hard tyres in the early stages of the race.
Verstappen took the lead of the race on Lap 17 followed by Perez. The pair had already gained a gap of six seconds to Charles Leclerc who was running in third position at this stage.
Rain began to call on Lap 20 but with it predicted to only last ten minutes, the drivers tried to avoid pitting for intermediate tyres.
Sainz had been running at the back of the pack after suffering from damage on the Turn 1 incident of Lap 1, however, as it began to rain, the team decided to retire the car on Lap 25.
Lewis Hamilton went into the pits just before the last lap to take a 'free' pit stop for new tyres. He had a sufficient gap behind him to Fernando Alonso to not lose any places in the line-up so the aim was to take the Fastest Lap point away from Verstappen, which he managed to pull off.
Belgian Grand Prix Results
- Max Verstappen
- Sergio Perez
- Charles Leclerc
- Lewis Hamilton - Fastest Lap
- Fernando Alonso
- George Russell
- Lando Norris
- Esteban Ocon
- Lance Stroll
- Yuki Tsunoda
- Pierre Gasly
- Valtteri Bottas
- Zhou Guanyu
- Alex Albon
- Kevin Magnussen
- Daniel Ricciardo
- Logan Sargeant
- Nico Hulkenberg
- Carlos Sainz - DNF
- Oscar Piastri - DNF