It was another eventful weekend for Max Verstappen and Red Bull, as they came away the biggest winners of the 2023 Belgian Grand Prix. As expected, the Dutchman has won again, while his Mexican teammate, Sergio Perez, won P2.
Verstappen continues to pull away from the chasing pack in the drivers standings, and it feels like it is just a matter of time before he’ll be the official world champion for the third consecutive season.
Charles Leclerc took the third podium spot, while veterans Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso finished P4 and P5, respectively. Meanwhile, Oscar Piastri, who turned heads during the Sprint, did not finish the actual race.
Learn more about what happened in Spa last weekend as SBOTOP recaps the Belgian Grand Prix 2023 highlights.
Red Bull still the team to beat
Red Bull recently broke the record for most consecutive wins in a single season when they recorded their 12th win in a row at Hungaroring, and they extended it to 13 straight last weekend.
Despite being given a five-place gearbox penalty after winning the Sprint, which saw him sit sixth in the starting grid, that didn’t stop Max Verstappen from getting his eighth successive victory, making him the second driver in Formula 1 history to do so other than Sebastian Vettel.
Leclerc actually had pole position, but the Belgian Grand Prix 2023 odds didn’t like his chances, and he eventually dropped to P3. Sergio Perez passed Leclerc on the first lap, and Verstappen moved past him on the ninth.
Perez and Verstappen were having a battle as the rain poured on, and both were experiencing tyre issues. However, the Dutchman eventually pulled away from his Mexican teammate, which put the race beyond doubt.
Other than Verstappen’s win, Red Bull are pleased to see Sergio Perez back on track following his struggles in the races prior. Checo has now finished within the Top 3 in back-to-back races, although he is still miles away from challenging his teammate, who now has a 125-point advantage in the standings.
Piastri’s rollercoaster weekend
Oscar Piastri had a Saturday to remember when he caught everyone by surprise after winning P2 in the Sprint. However, it was the exact opposite on Sunday, when he had a DNF.
The Sprint was delayed by more than half an hour, but it did eventually get underway behind the Safety Car for four laps. Half of the grid decided to pit right away to change from wet to intermediate tyres, including Piastri, which gave him the lead because Max Verstappen pitted on the second lap.
Piastri’s lead didn’t last long as Max Verstappen managed to reclaim the lead on Lap 6. Still, he came away with a lot of momentum heading into Sunday’s race.
However, his hopes of replicating his Sprint performance didn’t go to plan when he collided with Carlos Sainz Jr. in the first lap.
Sainz Jr. was fighting for position with Lewis Hamilton on the run down to Turn 1, but his car locked a brake going into the corner. Piastri’s car was squeezed against the wall, and he ran into Sainz Jr’s, and both would eventually retire from the race.
Because the MCL60’s front-right tyre hit the inside wall, its suspension was severely damaged. On the other hand, the SF-23 had a glaring hole in the sidepod.
Sainz Jr. was frustrated at Piastri, saying that the McLaren driver was “overly ambitious” in trying to get past him early on, but Piastri disagreed. The race stewards curiously chose not to investigate, chalking it up as a race incident.
Mercedes’ year-old problem resurfaces
Since their two-three finish in the Spanish Grand Prix last month, Lewis Hamilton could only muster two podiums in the next five races, while teammate George Russell couldn’t get into the Top 4.
At Spa, Lewis Hamilton started third in the Belgian Grand Prix, but he dropped to P4 because the W14 was suffering from porpoising issues similar to the W13 last year.
“Struggled at the beginning, rear end is our biggest issue, and we had big bouncing this weekend, so we were back to the bouncing like we had last year,” lamented the seven-time world champion.
Despite the bouncing issues, though, Hamilton still managed to record the fastest lap of the Belgian Grand Prix on the final lap after a late pit stop.
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff said that the upgraded floor of the W14 could’ve been the cause for the bouncing problems returning, so it’s back to the drawing board for the Silver Arrows this summer break.
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