Formula 1 2020 Belgian Grand Prix results

Ferrari has experienced a difficult start to the 2020 season after suffering a huge drop in straight-line speed performance compared to last year.
Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc finished 13th and 14th respectively in Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix as Ferrari spent a total of five laps with a car running inside the top 10.
The drop in performance has come following Ferrari’s ...

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In a Formula 1 season that has been anything but normal, there was a welcome sense of routine brought by the traditional late August trip at Spa.
The Belgian Grand Prix may be a fan favourite, but this was a race that did little to thrill spectators at home as tyre management turned this into a slow burner.
There were nevertheless plenty of storylines coming out of Spa both on- and ...

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Sainz was prevented from starting Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix after reporting an issue with his power unit en route to the grid, forcing him out of the race.
McLaren said there had been an issue on Sainz's power unit which had caused an exhaust failure, leaving the Spaniard on the sidelines.
Team principal Andreas Seidl said that McLaren needed to wait on analysis from engine supplier ...

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The red cars qualified in 13th and 14th places for the Belgian GP, and finished in the same positions, albeit with Sebastian Vettel moving ahead of teammate Charles Leclerc.
In recent weeks there has been a focus on Ferrari's power unit performance and the degree to which the Maranello outfit has been reined in since last year, following a series of regulatory clarifications.
Customer teams ...

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At Spa, Romain Grosjean finished 15th, just 3.9s behind Sebastian Vettel, and 1.8s behind Charles Leclerc, having ceded a spot to the Monegasque driver in the late stages of the race.
In the past, being that close to the works cars would be hugely encouraging for Maranello customer Haas, but Steiner says the circumstances give him no pleasure.
"Obviously you get a little bit of satisfaction ...

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With main rival Red Bull appearing to have closed in recently, Mercedes responded to the potential threat with a raft of changes that have further improved the W11 and optimised it for low-downforce circuits.

Mercedes F1 W11 fins comparison
Photo by: Giorgio Piola

Starting at the front of the car, the L-shaped fins beside the ‘S’ duct outlet, which Mercedes was one of the ...

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The pair have agreed to get matching tattoos if Ricciardo finishes on the podium for Renault before he leaves the team at the end of this year.
With Ricciardo having delivered a strong fourth place finish in the Belgian Grand Prix, and believing his car can be even stronger in Italy this weekend, he is bullish about winning his bet.
Asked by Motorsport.com about how worried Abiteboul should ...

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Hamilton eased to a dominant victory at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps on Sunday, leading every lap of the race ahead of Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas.
But a need for tyre management meant there was little action at the front of the field, with Hamilton, Bottas and Max Verstappen spending the entire race unchanged as the top three.
Red Bull driver Verstappen called the race "boring" ...

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The Italian outfit endured one of its least competitive showings for years at the Belgian Grand Prix as Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc failed to finish in the points on a weekend where the SF1000 had no pace.
But while its Spa slump has put Ferrari on the backfoot, Binotto says the performance needs to be put in context, amid his belief that it was a one-off caused by track ...

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After slumping to its worst qualifying result of the season so far on Saturday, Ferrari's struggles continued into the race at Spa as both Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel finished outside of the top 10.
Leclerc ran as high as eighth in the opening stages after making a good start, but quickly fell down the order as Ferrari's lack of straight-line speed left him powerless to keep cars ...

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Verstappen spent every single lap of the race running third as he struggled to take the fight to the Mercedes pair of Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas ahead.
Verstappen made an earlier than planned switch to the hard compound tyre following an early safety car, forcing him to then manage his pace for the remainder of the race to pull off a one-stop strategy.
The option Red Bull had to ...

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Mercedes swept to its sixth victory of the 2020 Formula 1 season as Hamilton led Bottas home for a 1-2 finish, extending its lead over Red Bull in the drivers' championship.
Hamilton led every lap of the race at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, having kept Bottas at bay in the opening stages before controlling the gap at the front.
Bottas was heard asking if he had "one push" available to ...

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Gasly tried to pass the Mexican on the run down the hill from La Source to Eau Rouge, and just managed to squeeze through on the right as the gap between the Racing Point and the barrier closed.
The move was one of several that Gasly made during a charging race to eighth place that also won him the Driver of the Day vote.
He was the only driver to start on the hard tyres, and along with ...

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Hamilton dominated proceedings at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps on Sunday to record his fifth victory of the 2020 season, extending his lead in the Formula 1 drivers' championship to 47 points.
The Mercedes driver made his sole pitstop of the race after just 11 laps following an early safety car period, requiring him to make his hard tyres last 33 laps to the end of the race.
Hamilton ...

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Giovinazzi crashed at the exit of Les Fagnes on Lap 10 of the race, spinning into the barrier on the right-hand side of the track.
The Alfa Romeo car bounced back towards the racing line, forcing Russell to take evasive action and crash his Williams into the wall on the left-hand side of the track.
A loose wheel from Giovinazzi’s car hit the front-left wheel on Russell’s car during the ...

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The race at Spa was processional at the front, with Max Verstappen taking another third for Red Bull, while the drivers trying a contra-pitstop strategy during the safety car providing most of the action in the pack.
At the start, Bottas made a fractionally better getaway compared to the polesitter but was obliged to go to the outside and tuck in closely behind Hamilton as they exited La ...

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Sainz reported that something had "broke" on his McLaren MCL35 car while completing his installation lap to the grid at Spa, saying over team radio there was "smoke coming out of the car".
The Spanish driver returned to the pits and was wheeled back into the McLaren garage as the team got to work to try and resolve the issue ahead of the race start.
But McLaren said shortly after Sainz ...

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Hubert was killed in a crash during last year’s Formula 2 feature race at Spa, and a minute’s silence took place ahead of the category’s event yesterday. A further ceremony is planned before the Belgian Grand Prix.
Ricciardo was deeply affected by the death of the Renault junior driver 12 months ago, and admitted at the time that he even had doubts about carrying on racing after the ...

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Sergio Perez and Lance Stroll attempted to get through Q2 on the medium tyre, a plan that worked for the Mercedes drivers and for Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.
However when Perez and Stroll didn’t show enough pace on the mediums the team switched both men to softs for their second runs in Q2, which got them through.
That in turn left them with only one set of softs for Q3, which duly ...

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The Italian outfit has endured its most difficult race weekend of the campaign so far, with neither Charles Leclerc (13th) nor Sebastian Vettel (14th) qualifying in the top ten.
But even getting out of Q1 looked like it would be a struggle at times, after Vettel ended up last in final free practice a day after the team was blighted by an inability to get its tyres working.
While the team’s ...

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F1 has staged all of its races through 2020 so far behind closed doors as part of the COVID-19 event protocols, with reduced numbers of paddock personnel also permitted to attend.
F1 officials had been hopeful of getting fans back to races from the autumn onwards, but both this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix and next week’s Italian Grand Prix take place behind closed doors.
Mugello has now ...

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With the rain forecast on Sunday, some teams took a step back from the trimmed out levels they ran earlier in the weekend in an attempt to ensure their drivers have more grip for a wet race.
McLaren chose not to do that, and Sainz qualified seventh in a dry session, three places ahead of teammate Lando Norris.
“We elected to run super low downforce, which means if the rain comes, we might ...

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With Ricciardo’s Renault car coming alive in the low drag trim needed for Spa-Francorchamps, he helped the French car manufacturer deliver its best qualifying result since it returned to Formula 1 as a works team.
Lining up fourth, just two places ahead of teammate Esteban Ocon, Ricciardo is well in the hunt for a podium finish if any of the cars ahead of him stumble.
Mercedes boss Toto ...

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Ferrari slumped to its worst qualifying performance of the season in Belgium on Saturday as Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel finished 13th and 14th respectively.
It left Ferrari as the seventh-fastest team in qualifying, continuing its disappointing start to the season after a huge drop in performance over the winter.
Ferrari managed to lock out the front row of the grid at Spa last ...

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While Mercedes set the pace in the opening practice on Friday, Max Verstappen put Red Bull on top in the more representative FP2 session, potentially setting up the foundation of a thrilling two-way battle between the two F1 giants.
Lewis Hamilton said after practice that Red Bull has the edge over Mercedes, while Verstappen on the other hand downplayed his chances, saying Red Bull may not be ...

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The team's head of vehicle performance, Dave Robson, said Williams was encouraged after Ferrari appeared to show poor form during the long runs in FP2.
Ferrari had both of its cars knocked out in Q2 for the first time in 2020 during qualifying at Spa on Saturday, while Russell reached the middle segment of qualifying for a fifth time this season, ending up 0.207s behind Vettel in P15.
The ...

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Just two weeks after Renault endured a tough time in Spain as both drivers failed to make it into Q3, Ricciardo qualified fourth at Spa-Francorchamps with teammate Esteban Ocon two places further back.
The duo's pace in the first and third sectors at Spa have highlighted Renault has opted for a lower downforce solution than other teams here – and it's one that Ricciardo suggests has made the ...

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Hamilton charged to the 93rd pole position of his F1 career after dominating all three stages of qualifying at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, beating teammate Valtteri Bottas by 0.511 seconds in Q3.
It continued Hamilton's impressive form at the start of the 2020 season, with the six-time world champion already enjoying a 37-point lead over Red Bull's Max Verstappen at the top of the ...

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Albon struggled at points earlier in the season with the unpredictable and skittish 2020 Red Bull car, and has failed to match teammate Max Verstappen's pace so far this year, scoring less than half as many points.
But after reporting greater confidence with the RB16 in practice on Friday, Albon put in one his best qualifying displays of the season so far by taking fifth on the grid, finishing ...

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Hamilton ran at the head of the pack on both of the Q3 flying efforts, setting a new lap record each time as he stormed to his sixth pole at the track, with Valtteri Bottas second ahead of Max Verstappen.
Other teams opted to position their cars in the pack of try and gain the advantage of a tow – Verstappen said "For us it was all about trying to get a little bit of a tow to have a bit of ...

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Shortly after completing his lap, Verstappen was told on the team radio that he had missed out on beating Valtteri Bottas by just 0.015 seconds.
In response, Verstappen expressed his frustration and then said: "I ran out of energy a bit too early."
But while aware that having more energy at the end of the lap could have made a difference, the Red Bull driver thinks that the way the battery ...

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Ferrari slumped to its worst qualifying performance of the 2020 season so far at Spa on Saturday as both Charles Leclerc and Vettel were eliminated in Q2, finishing 13th and 14th respectively.
The team has struggled throughout the race weekend, with Leclerc scraping through Q1 by less than one tenth of a second.
It meant Ferrari ended qualifying as the seventh-fastest team, only beating the ...

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Boseman's death at the age of 43 was announced on Saturday morning, sparking an outpouring of tributes to the star of the celebrated Black Panther film.
Mercedes F1 driver Hamilton said on social media ahead of Saturday's running at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps that he was "devastated" by the news of Boseman's death, writing: "Our superhero passed away".
Hamilton charged to the 93rd pole ...

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Both Mercedes and Verstappen will start the race on the medium tyres as they were able to get through Q2 on what is a better race tyre than the red-walled softs the rest of the top 10 will start on in a dry race.
Ferrari managed to avoid losing a driver in Q1, but Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel were both eliminated in the next segment, one year on from the former taking pole at ...

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Wolff had openly spoken out recently against the way that Mercedes had been treated in the discussions over the new Concorde Agreement, as he especially felt the German car manufacturer’s contribution to the sport had not been recognised by F1.
But despite his clear unease as the negotiations entered their final phase, in the end Mercedes joined all the other teams in committing to F1 for the ...

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Lewis Hamilton has expressed his frustration about the current tyres, noting that they don’t fulfill the requirements set out in the target letter that was given to Pirelli, and to which he says the drivers had no input.
The world champion has asked for a change of tyre philosophy when the new 18-inch format comes in 2022.
Hamilton said after the Spanish GP that there is too much tyre ...

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There has been intense debate this year about whether or not high rake solutions have reached the end of the line, with Red Bull struggling with some balance issues at the start of the season.
But while lower rake cars like Mercedes and Racing Point are doing well, Horner thinks there is not actually much of a difference now between the different concept solutions.
“I think Mercedes have ...

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Valtteri Bottas and Max Verstappen finished fifth and sixth after abandoning their final qualifying simulation efforts, as Ferrari's Spa misery continued with Charles Leclerc finishing in P17 and Sebastian Vettel last in FP3.
Much of the rubber laid down during the opening practice sessions was washed away during an intense thunder storm, which was so severed it caused the Porsche Supercup ...

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