As the Formula One circus pulls up its tents for the summer break, fans can spend the next few weeks looking forward to the series serving up more of the best racing it’s seen since introducing its new car in 2022.
While the wide open Spa Francorchamps Circuit usually offers a better race than others, the competition at the front of the grid continued to close up in the Belgian Grand Prix, as it has in the previous races. The final results saw four different manufacturers in the top-five and just 1.173 seconds separating the top-three before Mercedes driver George Russell was disqualified for an underweight car.
In the race, Russell used a clever one-stop strategy to cross the line 0.526 seconds ahead of teammate Lewis Hamilton. A hard-charging McLaren of Oscar Piastri crossed the line third, with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc being promoted to the final podium spot after Russell’s disqualification.
Hamilton didn’t expect the good result, especially after the troubles the team experienced earlier in the weekend.
“We had such a disaster on Friday and the car was nowhere; we made some changes but it was hard to see what it would be like in the race because of the wet [qualifying ] yesterday, but the car was fantastic today,” he said. “If we can continue the kind of performance we’ve had in the last few races and start our weekends off a bit better, we can just keep pushing.”
Meanwhile, Piastri continued the McLaren surge of late and almost looked like he had the late pace to leapfrog the two Mercedes. He fell just short, closing on Hamilton in second but unable to get past either of the cars ahead.
“I’m happy with the results and we managed the race pretty well,” said Piastri, who won the previous race in Hungary. “I don’t think we could have done much more. Clearly, the pace with George staying out there on one set of tires was the right thing to do. It’s been a fun couple of weeks and looking forward to some time relaxing and coming back even stronger.”
Championship leader Max Verstappen of Red Bull and McLaren’s Lando Norris rounded out the top-five following the removal of Russell from the results.
Although the Verstappen-less battle at the front occurred due to his 10-place grid penalty, after being fastest in qualifying, the Red Bull driver could not carve his way through the field as he’s done in the past and only got up to fifth by the end.
“In the first stint, I got into a DRS [drag reduction system] train and basically stayed there and then tried to do a nice undercut, which I think worked well,” said Verstappen. “The cars were all very similar in pace and it’s very difficult to move up, but I think from P11 we did a good job. With our pace in the past few races, it wasn’t realistic to think we could go from P11 all the way to the front – those days are dying, unfortunately.”
As the summer break begins, Red Bull’s grip on the constructors title appears to be loosening, with the gap only 42 points ahead of McLaren. Meanwhile, Verstappen still enjoys a nice cushion in the drivers standings, with his 277 points still 78 more than Norris in second.
Even though that’s still more than three full race wins ahead and lots of ground to make up in the 10 remaining races, fans can look forward to more good battles at the front and closer racing than the past two-and-a-half years served up.
The Red Bull driver will likely still win his fourth consecutive drivers title, but he’ll have to work for it.
The Dutch Grand Prix lies next on the calendar and goes August 25 at the Zandvoort Circuit.
