Belgian Grand Prix
Verstappen can relax in the summer break – Piastri does not build on his performance from Saturday
Unsurprisingly, Max Verstappen also wins the Belgian Grand Prix. But in addition to the reigning world champion, a young driver is slowly but surely causing a stir.
Max Verstappen can celebrate.
Christian Bruna / EPA
Anyone who drives to the Belgian Grand Prix is aware that a rain cape has to be in the luggage. Because if the race at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps is famous for something, it’s for the changing weather conditions that the teams have to struggle with again and again.
This is also the case in this year’s edition. Heavy rain on Saturday meant that the sprint race had to be pushed back in the schedule. Even the midday sprint shootout, in which the starting grid for the later sprint is determined, could not start on time. In the early evening the rain continued, so that Max Verstappen and Co. had to start the sprint with a rolling start behind the safety car.
On Saturday it was too wet for a long time to start the race.
Olivier Matthys / EPA
Verstappen leading the field has become standard this season. Prior to the Belgian GP, he won nine out of eleven races, making him the clear world championship leader. Much more surprised Formula 1 newcomer Oscar Piastri in the McLaren. In the shootout, the young Australian was only 11 hundredths behind Verstappen, in the following sprint he even took the lead for a short time because the Dutchman drove into the pits after the first lap. However, it wasn’t enough for the surprise victory. Alonso crashed, triggering a safety car phase. As soon as the sprint was released again, Verstappen took the lead again.
Piastri also fast on Sunday – back in the garage
It is also surprising that Piastris got a taste of the sprint victory because his team had a bad start to the season. McLaren has only achieved impressive results since the Austrian Grand Prix a few weeks ago. Some changes to the car have meant that the traditional British team has been able to fight for podium positions ever since.
Piastri started Sunday’s race from a promising fifth place, but it was over for him after just a few seconds. Because Carlos Sainz in the Ferrari touched him shortly after the start, the 22-year-old Australian had to park his vehicle at the side of the track and follow the race afterwards on a monitor.
At the start, Piastri and Sainz touched.
Geert Vanden Wijngaert / AP
Team-mate Lando Norris experienced first-hand that the McLaren vehicle is not yet optimally set up. Shortly after the start, the Brit struggled with too much contact pressure and was handed over to the back. His team probably speculated on bad weather conditions with this specification of the car, because the car worked perfectly in wet conditions, as Piastri proved on Saturday.
Max Verstappen’s car also worked perfectly, who said goodbye to the summer break with a win ahead of team-mate Sergio Perez at the Belgian GP. The podium was completed by Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari. Valtteri Bottas and Guanyu Zhou in the Alfa Romeo Sauber finished 12th and 13th without points. In just under four weeks, the second half of this year’s racing calendar will begin in the Netherlands.
2023-07-30 14:52:53
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