Verstappen clinches 8th consecutive win at Belgian GP after sixth-place start

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen has clinched his eighth consecutive race win at the Belgian Grand Prix after the defending world champion led a 1-2 finish for the team.

How the race unfolded…

Although Verstappen claimed pole position on Friday afternoon, in qualifying for the grand prix, the defending world champion started the race down in sixth after he served a five-place grid penalty for an additional gearbox which was outside the regulations.

This meant Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc started on pole ahead of Red Bull’s Sergio Perez and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton who started in second and third respectively.

When the race started, it was a good launch from Leclerc who went into the opening corner – La Source – unchallenged as Perez darted over to defend his track position from Hamilton. Slightly further back, Sainz locked up into the corner and pinched McLaren’s Oscar Piastri into the inside wall and the two inevitably made contact.

On the run down to Eau Rogue, Perez found himself on the Monegasque’s gearbox and quickly overtook the Ferrari driver at the beginning of the Kemmel Straight. As the pack raced towards the Les Combes chicane, the order stood as; Perez, Leclerc, Hamilton and Verstappen in first, second, third and fourth respectively.

After the opening corner contact, Piastri pulled off to the side of the track in the latter stages of the second sector on the first lap and retired from the race. Due to the total length of the track, and how closely the field was together, it allowed the track marshals to clear the stranded McLaren without an intervention of the safety car.

On the other hand, the #55 Ferrari of Sainz began to fall backwards in the racing order as it was clear damage to the Prancing Horse’s sidepod.  The Spaniard later retired on lap 25 of 44 due to the damage sustained in the first corner.

On the seventh lap, Verstappen made light work of Hamilton into the braking zone of turn five and moved up to third just behind Leclerc who remained in second. Two laps later, in the same area of the track, Verstappen made it a provisional 1-2 for Red Bull as he overtook Leclerc, for second, into the Les Combes braking zone.

As the pit window was opened up by the midfield, it wasn’t long before the top four pitted for their mandatory stops with Hamilton to pit first on lap 13, followed by Perez and Leclerc a lap later. Verstappen remained out for an additional lap and inherited the race lead before he popped into the pit lane for his stop.

The additional lap for Verstappen meant that when he returned to the circuit he returned to second place, behind Perez. However, it wasn’t long before he pushed his teammate on down the pit straight.

As Perez and Verstappen raced down towards Eau Rogue, Verstappen was nose-to-tail with Perez’s gearbox and the Mexican was a sitting duck as the Dutchman activated DRS to breeze on by and take the race lead. From there Verstappen was untouchable and controlled the race at his own pace.

Even if he did have a moment up Raidillion, during the brief moment in the light drizzle, Verstappen was able to cruise his way to victory without any reasonable challenge from anyone behind him.

As the chequered flag fell, Verstappen took his eighth consecutive victory which has spanned from Miami to Belgium this year as Perez and Leclerc rounded out the podium in second and third respectively.

Verstappen did hold the fastest lap as he took the chequered flag but Hamilton pitted on lap 43 of 44 for a brand new set of the medium compound tyres, with a free pit stop in hand to retain fourth place over Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso behind him.

As the seven-time world champion took the chequered flag in fourth, the Mercedes driver put in the fastest lap to steal away the extra championship point from Verstappen.

That’s all for the article: Verstappen clinches 8th consecutive win at Belgian GP after sixth-place start!

Read more Formula 1 here:

• Fans still prefer Martin Brundle’s Grid Walk over the new Fan Walk
• Sainz states Piastri ‘was too optimistic’ after Belgian GP opening lap collision
• F1 Belgian GP: LIVE
• Verstappen regains lead from Piastri to secure Belgian GP Sprint Race
• F1 Belgian GP: Verstappen takes fastest lap over Piastri by 0.011s
• Alpine F1 Team and Otmar Szafnauer part by ‘mutual agreement’ after Belgian GP

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Kamron Kent

Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.

I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.

Kamron Kent

Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.