Shop
Max Verstappen is a win shy of equalling Sebastian Vettel’s F1 record for consecutive number of wins after chalking up his eighth in succession by taking the chequered flag in the Belgian Grand Prix.
From sixth on the grid after taking a five-place penalty for a gearbox change beyond the season allocation, the runaway Dutchman made it eight in a row to stretch his chasm of a lead to 125 points over Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez who finished runner-up at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit, 22.3secs adrift, his best result since the Miami GP in early May.
For Red Bull as a team, it was its 13th consecutive win to stretch its own constructors’ record.
It was another consummate display from Verstappen and Red Bull, with the only consternation the radio spats between the 25-year-old and his race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase.
Lambiase often had to tell Verstappen to be smarter, and race more cleverly than was the case on occasion, particularly after he set what was at the time the fastest lap following his second pit stop after heavily degrading his tyres when it was not required.
Regardless, Verstappen has now won 10 of 12 grands prix this season, and is now onto 45 for his career.
Behind the fifth Red Bull one-two of the season, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc completed the podium trio, whilst Lewis Hamilton was fourth in his Mercedes ahead of Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, and George Russell in his Mercedes, one of only three drivers to complete the 44 laps by only making one stop.
McLaren’s Lando Norris managed to claim seventh, a fine effort after enduring first- and second-stint tyre woes that left him at the rear for a period, with Alpine’s Esteban Ocon followed by Lance Stroll in his Aston Martin, and AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda.
It is only the third point for the Italian team this season, all claimed by the Japanese, whose team-mate Daniel Ricciardo was 16th, the Australian often hindered throughout by being stuck in a DRS train.
For compatriot Oscar Piastri, less than 24 hours after his superb drive to second in Saturday’s sprint, his grand prix lasted less than one lap.
From fifth on the grid, Piastri had a straightforward run into La Source hairpin but to his right trouble loomed in the form of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz.
Weaving into the middle of the track, Sainz locked up his front-right tyre, turning in on Piastri who was squeezed onto the barrier at La Source.
It was evident on the way to Eau Rouge that the front wing was broken on Piastri’s MCL60, with the Australian falling backward down the field before pulling off the track and retiring at the exit of the Fagnes chicane.
Piastri was far from happy with Sainz, declaring over the radio: “I don’t know what he was doing. I was there and he just turned as if I didn’t exist.”
The end result for Sainz was a significant hole in his right-hand sidepod, one that ultimately led to his retirement later in the race.
The incident allowed Verstappen an easy jump of two places even before Eau Rouge, with the Dutch driver up to fourth from his penalty-hit start of sixth.
By the time the race hit the end of the Kemmel Straight for the first time, Perez had grabbed the lead from polesitter Leclerc, who then managed to aid Hamilton’s cause in defence against Verstappen once the DRS opened after the first two laps.
For the three laps that followed, Hamilton was able to keep within a second of Leclerc, allowing him to open his rear wing and prevent Verstappen from making a DRS-aided overtake.
On lap six, however, and the moment Hamilton fell out of DRS range behind Leclerc, Verstappen was able to sweep by just before the end of the Kemmel Straight.
Three laps later, Leclerc was dispatched, leaving Verstappen just over three seconds behind Perez.
Following initial pit stops for Perez after 13 laps and Verstappen a lap later, both switching from softs to new mediums, it took the Dutchman a further three laps before sailing past the Mexican on lap 17.
At that stage, it was reported that rain was approaching, forcing Russell, Pierre Gasly and Lance Stroll – the only drivers yet to pit at that stage and running sixth, seventh and eighth respectively – to stretch out their opening stints.
The Frenchman’s was remarkable given he had started on softs, compared to the mediums for the Briton and the Canadian.
Aston Martin was the first of the trio of teams to blink, opting to bolt a set of softs onto Stroll’s car and relegating him to 18th.
At that stage, with light rain falling, Verstappen almost lost control of his RB19 through Eau Rouge, his car twitching violently but with the 25-year-old able to retain control.
After 22 laps, the midway point, Russell also took on a set of softs, with Alpine’s Gasly pitting a lap later onto a set of mediums, with both the right call as the rain was never heavy enough to take on intermediates.
With the danger out of the way, Verstappen then opened up a 6.2s cushion over Perez, with Leclerc a further 7.2s adrift, with the Monégasque 2.4s ahead of Hamilton.
After 24 laps, Ferrari finally retired Sainz, who had been enduring a lonely race at the back of the pack given the lack of downforce on his SF-23 from the damage sustained from the opening-corner incident with Piastri.
At around two-thirds distance, the leaders pitted for a second time, Hamilton first, followed by Leclerc, Perez, and Verstappen, all taking on softs.
Verstappen was initially warned by Lambiase for degrading his tyres heavily on his opening lap of the final stint before issuing a further warning soon after as his frustration with his driver grew.
Verstappen suggested a further pit stop to give his crew “some extra pit-stop training”, to which Lambiase replied: “No, not this time.”
Frustratingly for Verstappen, Hamilton, with enough time in hand behind him, pitted for a third time after the 42nd lap, taking on a set of mediums to claim the fastest lap point off his rival on the final tour.
