Max Verstappen wins Belgian Grand Prix despite five-place grid penalty

Max Verstappen won the Belgian Grand Prix with another dominant drive from sixth place on the grid. Once he had made up the places and taken the lead from his Red Bull team-mate Sergio Pérez who was second, Verstappen delivered a controlled drive form the front where he was entirely unopposed. Charles Leclerc was third for Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton fourth for Mercedes and Fernando Alonso fifth for Aston Martin.

Verstappen was in a class of his own once more at Spa-Francorchamps. With this the final round before the sport’s summer break and with 10 meetings remaining, the question is just how soon will Verstappen tie up his third consecutive championship. He now leads Pérez by 125 points.

The victory also ensures Red Bull are the first team to score 12 consecutive race wins in a single season. They had expected to perform well in high speed corners at Spa and on the straights where their car excels and with the upgrades they brought to the last round in Hungary, they were indeed untouchable.

So much so that the indication is now that the team have already shifted resource development to next year’s car and the only further upgrades that will be brought for this year’s model will be track-specific, such as the low-downforce set-up for Monza.

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For Verstappen it was the 45th win of his career and Red Bull extended their record-breaking run with a 13th consecutive victory, while completing a season clean sweep remains on the cards.

Indeed such was the ease with which Verstappen controlled the race he indulged in a spot of light banter with the team. When engineer Gianpiero Lambiase asked him to go easy on his tyres for the final third his reply was tinged with laughter. “I could also push on and we do another stop. A little bit of pit-stop training?” he said.

Verstappen now has eight wins in a row and 10 from 12 meetings this season, while this is his third in a row at Spa. The eighth consecutive win puts him behind only Sebastian Vettel’s record of nine in a row the German scored in 2013. He could match Vettel when racing resumes at Verstappen’s home race in the Netherlands at the end of August.

The signs were there on Friday and indeed on Saturday when in the sprint, having passed Oscar Piastri for the lead, he put over six seconds on the Australian in as many laps.

That was in the 11-lap dash in changeable wet conditions, in full race pace on a dry track he was simply flying. He started five places behind team-mate Pérez, who was in identical machinery but the Mexican was as powerless to resist as the drivers still playing catch up to Red Bull.

Leclerc held his lead from pole in turn one but it was a short-lived triumph as he was powerless against Pérez who passed him on the Kemmel straight, while Verstappen was up to fourth by the end of the first lap.

Verstappen set off after Hamilton in third and had him by lap six and again Hamilton could not prevent him passing at Les Combes. Leclerc was only a second further up the road and Pérez just over three.

Leclerc duly fell with similar ease on lap nine, once more on the entry to Les Combes. Only Pérez remained with a three-second lead. Hamilton pitted from fourth on lap 13 for the medium rubber. Pérez covered it off with his stop a lap later, while Verstappen entered discussions with Lambiase over the strategy with rain expected. With some frustration evident in his response at being asked to make the call himself, they pitted him anyway and he emerged once more behind Pérez by two and half seconds.

On fresh tyres, he tore after Pérez and caught him within a lap. On lap 17 on his tail through Eau Rouge he simply breezed past as they exited the corner with DRS. Verstappen had the lead and was in utter control, he had a second and a half on his team-mate within a lap.

The rain did indeed arrive on lap 19, slowly increasing in intensity and Verstappen had a wobble on the slippery track at Eau Rouge. However, all the drivers opted to try and see out on the slick rubber, a brave call but they managed it without incident.

Verstappen, meanwhile, had left Pérez behind, his lead over seven seconds by lap 26 while Hamilton could not quite close down Leclerc. The British driver took his second stop on lap 28 looking for an aggressive undercut on the Ferrari. Hamilton threw his all into the out lap as Leclerc stopped but it was not quite enough and Leclerc held his place.

Verstappen and Pérez covered off both stops, the order for the final third remaining static. Verstappen closed it out with insouciant ease, 22 seconds up on Pérez. The Dutchman would doubtless like to go racing again immediately on this form but for his rivals the summer break will be a welcome break to lick their wounds.

George Russell was sixth for Mercedes, Lando Norris seventh for McLaren, Esteban Ocon eighth for Alpine, Lance Stroll ninth for Aston Martin and Yuki Tsunoda 10th for AlphaTauri. – Guardian