Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix: Verstappen unstoppable, won again – news from Debrecen, news from Debrecen | Debrecen and Hajdú-Bihar county news
Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix: Verstappen is unstoppable, he won again
Spa-Francorchamps – The 24-year-old Dutch driver continues to increase his advantage at the top of the overall points race.
Defending world champion Max Verstappen of Red Bull won Sunday’s Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps, extending his lead at the top of the standings.
The 24-year-old Dutch driver triumphed by starting from 14th place due to a penalty. Verstappen won the F1 race for the ninth time this year, and for the 29th time in his career.
Behind Verstappen, his teammate, Mexican Sergio Pérez, finished second, so the Austrian team could celebrate a double success.
Carlos Sainz Jr., the Spanish driver of Ferrari, who started from the first grid, was able to stand on the bottom step of the podium.
Verstappen’s biggest rival in the overall standings, Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), was fifth, but shortly after the signal, he received a five-second time penalty, so he ended up sixth.
At the start, Pérez lost a lot, in the first corner he dropped from second to fifth place, but he was able to quickly regain the positions. Sainz confidently kept the lead at the start, but Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) and Fernando Alonso (Alpine) collided behind him, as a result of which the British seven-time world champion’s car was damaged so much that he had to give up the race. Soon the safety car also drove onto the track, after Nicholas Latifi (Williams) pushed Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo) into the gravel bed.
The safety car let the field go after two laps, the order on the podium was Sainz, Pérez, George Russell (Mercedes), and then Verstappen, who started from 14th place, was already racing in sixth place. Leclerc, who started from the 15th forced position, was in the pits during the safety car period because a helmet grill foil got stuck on the right front brake disc, and the mechanics freed him from this. The Monaco competitor therefore dropped all the way to 17th place.
Verstappen in the field was the fastest, he was already third in the 10th lap, and based on his pace, he had the best chance of winning the race.
From the front, Sainz stopped for a tire change earlier than Verstappen, who overtook Pérez and took the lead. When the defending Dutch champion also received fresh tires, he returned to second place, four and a half seconds behind Sainz. It didn’t take two laps for Verstappen to catch up and easily pass the leading Spaniard, taking over the lead and racing towards his ninth race win of the year. Pérez also passed Sainz a few laps later, creating a double Red Bull success, perhaps at this stage of the race Leclerc was already in fifth place.
No one and nothing threatened Verstappen’s victory, on his second tire change the defending World Cup champion returned to the lead without any problems, and in the end easily triumphed.
The Dutch rider with 98 points is now ahead of Leclerc, who fell back to third position overall because Pérez took over second place from him.
The World Cup will continue in Zandvoort with the Dutch Grand Prix next year.