Formula 1 2023 Belgian Grand Prix results

Russell made a good getaway from eighth and coming down the hill from La Source he tried to pass the ailing Piastri, the Australian having damaged his car when squeezed between the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz and the inside barrier.Russell headed to Piastri's left, following Lando Norris, but finding the route blocked, he was forced to back off.Fernando Alonso, Yuki Tsunoda and Lance Stroll all went ...

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The world champion had irrepressibly risen from the sixth place he had occupied on the grid, five places down from topping Friday evening qualifying thanks to his post-practice gearbox change.By lap 17 of 44 last Sunday, Verstappen had passed long-time leader and team-mate Sergio Perez, then pulled out an 8.9s lead by the time the two Red Bulls made their final stops.PRIME: The surprise star of ...

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This year's edition of the Belgian Grand Prix yielded yet another Max Verstappen masterclass as the Dutchman waltzes away with the Formula 1 title.Born in Belgium, Verstappen cruised to victory at his second home race to extend his advantage in the championship to a whopping 125 points over Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez, having won the last eight races.While battles for the lead were effectively ...

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A dominant force throughout the 1960s and early 1970s, Agostini won a record 15 grand prix motorcycle world titles – eight of which coming in the premier class, which we now know as MotoGP.With 122 grand prix victories to his credit, Agostini achieved more than most could ever dream of between 1963 and 1977.Between 1967 and 1972, Agostini was frighteningly consistent, winning every race he ...

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Alonso finished the Spa race in fifth place, beating the Mercedes of George Russell and the surviving McLaren of Lando Norris.The solid result followed huge frustration on Saturday, when the Spaniard qualified only 15th in the shootout after team-mate Lance Stroll brought out a red flag, and then spun off early in the sprint.In the main event he jumped up from ninth to sixth on the first lap ...

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On a day when many drivers suffered tyre issues Leclerc had a strong run to third place behind the Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez.After two difficult weekends in Britain and Hungary, it was the Italian team’s first podium since the Monegasque driver took second in Austria.Leclerc suggested that there were signs of improved tyre degradation even in races where the team had poor ...

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After 18 months in charge of the team, Szafnauer completed his final weekend with Alpine at Spa on Sunday evening, following Friday's announcement of his departure.He will be replaced on an interim basis by Bruno Famin, who is also Alpine’s VP of motorsport.After Sunday’s race Szafnauer said an emotional farewell to team members in the garage and motorhome before heading to the airport. His ...

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The team has gradually introduced a major upgrade package for its MCL60, but drivers and management have sought to play down expectations for recent races. Nevertheless, McLaren scored podiums at the Red Bull Ring, Silverstone and in the Spa sprint race last weekend.However, Lando Norris then classified seventh in the Belgian GP after dropping three places during the opening stint due to struggles ...

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The German manufacturer introduced a decent upgrade for its W14 at Spa-Francorchamps last weekend, which included new sidepods and an updated floor.However, the arrival of that coincided with Mercedes battling the return of bouncing on the straights, which proved to be its biggest headache throughout 2022.Wolff says the team needs to find answers quickly as to why the phenomenon it felt it had got ...

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Verstappen utterly demolished the competition in Sunday's race at Spa-Francorchamps, beating team-mate Sergio Perez by 22 seconds and putting Red Bull's nearest challenger Charles Leclerc on 33 seconds in his Ferrari.The Dutchman's dominance was such that he soon joked with his race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase about making an extra pitstop for the fastest lap to give his crew "some extra pitstop ...

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Despite starting from the third row, due to a grid penalty for a new gearbox, Verstappen worked his way to the front by lap 16 – taking the lead from team-mate Sergio Perez (Red Bull), who’d led since passing poleman Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) on the opening lap.Read Also:

F1 Belgian GP: Verstappen beats Perez by 22s after starting from sixth
Red Bull F1 trophy destroyed for second ...

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Red Bull celebrated Max Verstappen's and Sergio Perez's 1-2 victory at Spa-Francorchamps with a standard team photo, followed by champagne celebrations in front of its garage in the pitlane.As team members, including Verstappen and team principal Christian Horner, cleared off to avoid a champagne shower, the team's pitboard fell on top of its constructors' trophy, completely destroying it in the ...

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After their high-profile disagreement in qualifying at Spa, the pair again attracted attention with their discussions at various points of the Dutchman's dominant win on Sunday.Once Verstappen had reached second place behind early leader and team-mate Sergio Perez, Lambiase asked him to "Use your head", to which Verstappen replied: "Are we both [the two drivers] doing it or what?"When Lambiase ...

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Norris finished where he started in seventh but struggled on the medium Pirellis during his opening stint to lose three places before pitting on lap five of 44 for hard tyres.The Briton reckoned this part of the race was "terrible" as it left him trapped between defending through the first sector before then being unable to pass later in the lap.He explained: "It was terrible - it's an honest ...

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The seven-time world champion took a low-key fourth place in the final F1 race before the summer break, unable to halt Max Verstappen’s charge through the field to victory, but kept clear of rivals behind him while also picking up the bonus point for fastest lap with a late pitstop for fresh tyres.But worryingly for Mercedes, Hamilton reported he suffered with F1 car bouncing throughout the ...

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The pair came together on the opening lap of Sunday's Spa race, with Sainz, who started fourth, locking up and colliding with Piastri on the inside of Turn 1.The McLaren was pinched against the inside wall, damaging its suspension and ripping the side of the Ferrari’s right sidepod, with Piastri slowing on the run downhill to Eau Rouge and later stopping.Though the stewards took no action over ...

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When the lights went out, polesitter Leclerc swung across Perez's bows to maintain the lead at La Source, where Carlos Sainz, starting fourth, locked up and then collided with Oscar Piastri running just behind from fifth on the grid on the inside.The McLaren was pinched against the inside wall, damaging its suspension and ripping the side of the Ferrari's right-side sidepod, with Piastri slowing ...

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With an eye on the predicted wet conditions, McLaren went for a higher level of downforce than its rivals with both cars, a move that paid off in the sprint event, where Oscar Piastri briefly led and finished second, with Norris sixth.Nevertheless, the Englishman says that given more time the team would probably have taken downforce off the car."I think we're just not in the optimal range of ...

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A late downpour caused the 2023 Belgian Grand Prix sprint race to be delayed. The field was then led by the safety car for five formation laps ahead of a rolling start.The safety car train helped clear standing water to cut spray and help visibility, but all cars pitted within two laps to fit intermediate tyres since the wet-weather crossover had arrived.As such, drivers reckoned the blue-walled ...

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All so familiar so far at Spa. Rain, risk, and Red Bull running away with a 2023 Formula 1 race.That's how this season's second sprint race ended, with Max Verstappen in complete control up front, despite the proceeding's early intrigue of McLaren's Oscar Piastri leading the initial laps.Verstappen and his Red Bull team ultimately made the correct choice in not stopping at the end of the five ...

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Since the start of July, Alpine has replaced outspoken CEO Laurent Rossi, who has been moved aside to work on "special projects".Then, on the Friday of the Spa weekend, it was announced that team principal Otmar Szafnauer - at the helm for 18 months - and sporting director Alan Permane - an Enstone veteran of 34 years - will leave following the race. Meanwhile, chief technical director Pat Fry ...

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Hamilton tried to pass the Mexican heading into Stavelot, and they made side-to-side contact, with the left front wheel of the Mercedes hitting the Red Bull’s sidepod.The Mexican was subsequently forced to retire from the race due to bodywork and floor damage, while Hamilton received a 5-second penalty that dropped him from fourth to seventh in the final classification.“It was massive damage ...

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Heavy showers, which had all but prevented running in Friday's single free practice session, continued to wreak havoc on the Spa-Francorchamps circuit, with the start for Saturday afternoon's sprint delayed by 35 minutes.Eventually the race got underway after five formation laps to clear out some of the standing water and try to reduce the spray that limited visibility, a topic that has been put ...

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Mercedes had looked on course for a decent result in the sprint shootout session at the Belgian Grand Prix on Saturday after Lewis Hamilton was fastest overall following the first run in SQ3.But his hopes of turning that form into a pole position for the sprint were derailed after he and team-mate George Russell tripped over each other.Hamilton ended up starting his final lap right behind Russell ...

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While the Mexican has never overtaken his two-time defending champion team-mate Max Verstappen in the standings this year, he closed to six points after winning the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in late April.But his form leading into the summer break has been dogged by a run of five consecutive failures to progress into Q3.This has forced him to fight back in the races although, in the fastest car in ...

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In rainy conditions all drivers are obliged to use the wet when running behind the safety car ahead of a race start.However, the anomaly is that once conditions become raceable the wet tyre is regarded as being of little use.In the Spa sprint, there was a rush into the pits for intermediates once the race got underway, with half the grid coming in at the start, and the remainder at the end of the ...

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Ferrari's Charles Leclerc will start the race from pole position, with Red Bull driver Sergio Perez joining him on the front row.Lewis Hamilton, the most successful driver at Spa on the current grid, will line up third for Mercedes.A five-place grid penalty for a gearbox change means runaway championship leader Max Verstappen will take the start from sixth place.When is the F1 Belgian Grand ...

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The race started behind the safety car, with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri following it into the pitlane to switch his wets for intermediate tyres. That paid off as he took the lead from Verstappen, who pitted at the end of the first racing lap.Verstappen passed Piastri for the lead on lap six, following a further safety car intervention after Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso crashed out.Read ...

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Gasly ended up third behind Red Bull's Max Verstappen and McLaren's Oscar Piastri.The leading pair opted to pit at the end of the formation lap to switch from the full wet tyres mandated by F1's rules, as the safety car had led the pack once the delayed proceedings eventually got underway on another day impacted by rain during this event.Verstappen said he thought the FIA's decisions on starting ...

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The Mercedes driver also referenced Ayrton Senna’s famous quote about no longer being a racing driver if you don’t go for a gap.The Turn 15 incident led Perez to retire from the race with bodywork damage and triggered a 5-second penalty for Hamilton after the stewards decreed that he was predominantly at fault.That dropped him from fourth place on the road to seventh in the final sprint ...

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Hamilton was deemed by the FIA to have been at fault for a brush with Perez as they battled for position through Paul Frere in the damp opening section of the sprint race.The contact between the Mercedes and Red Bull left Perez with a hefty amount of damage, and the Mexican later retired from the race.But while Perez and the FIA felt that Hamilton was to blame, Wolff thinks that his driver did ...

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The two-time world champion lined up only 15th for the shorter Saturday contest as a legacy of not setting a time in Q2 owing to the red flag caused by team-mate Lance Stroll shunting.Starting behind Stroll in 15th, by virtue of not having track position, he was kept out for an extra lap before pitting to swap his starting wet tyres for intermediates in a rain-affected bout.But on lap three of the ...

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A late downpour meant the field launched for the Saturday race behind the safety car ahead of a rolling start.Drivers reported improved conditions to immediately ditch full wet tyres for intermediates, but 10 drivers stayed out to avoid losing time in a busy pitlane.Piastri pitted straight away for intermediates, while Red Bull took the "safer call" by delaying Verstappen's stop for another lap - ...

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To reduce spray after a late downpour, five formation laps were run behind the safety car ahead of a rolling start.Although drivers reported conditions were clear for intermediate tyres, half the field stayed put for an extra lap on full wets. This was to avoid losing time to a double-stack pitstop and a delayed release in a congested pitlane.Polesitter Verstappen remained on the circuit while ...

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After spots of rain had fallen sporadically as the cars initially lined up on the grid 20 minutes ahead of the scheduled start time, it began coming down heavily 10 minutes later.The race started at 17:35 behind the safety car, which mandated all the cars to start the race on full wet tyres.They were sent around for five formation tours, which was originally announced as four before one more was ...

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This weekend's Belgian Grand Prix marks a year since Audi formally announced its 2026 F1 entry initially via a works powertrain programme before confirming a Sauber buyout.But Audi has since moved to replace CEO Markus Duesmann, who presided over the entry.There is also widespread speculation that the manufacturer's engine programme is running months behind schedule. Audi did announce in June that ...

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It obliged Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll to switch from intermediates to medium rather than soft tyres on a drying track, with the Canadian subsequently crashing heavily on his final lap.Under sprint shootout rules, drivers are obliged to use medium tyres in SQ1 and SQ2, then softs in SQ3.However, the rules also state that if the track is declared wet by the FIA those rules won’t apply, and ...

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On a drying Spa-Francorchamps circuit timing the final flyer to perfection was of the essence, with Alpine's Pierre Gasly the first of four drivers to claim provisional pole until Red Bull's Max Verstappen pipped McLaren prodigy Oscar Piastri to the top of the timesheets.Mercedes appeared to have misjudged its drivers' positioning to start the final lap, with Russell hindering Hamilton after ...

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On a weekend when the French F1 outfit announced the exit of team principal Otmar Szafnauer and sporting director Alan Permane as part of a shake-up, Prost has voiced his dismay at what has become of the squad.  The Frenchman, who was an advisor and non-executive director for the Renault/Alpine squad from 2015 until 2022, thinks that the French sportscar maker has made a critical error in ...

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