2023 Belgium Grand Prix Highlights: What Happened at the Race

The teams are heading to Spa-Francorchamps for the 2024 Belgium Grand Prix.

Last year’s race was quite eventful with a sprint race format, but this year it’s back to the usual setup.

Qualifying

During Friday’s qualifying session, Max Verstappen grabbed pole position by nearly a second ahead of Charles Leclerc. Sergio Perez secured P3, joined by Lewis Hamilton on the second row. Following them were Carlos Sainz and Oscar Piastri. Lando Norris qualified in 7th place, with George Russell, Fernando Alonso, and Lance Stroll trailing behind.

Sprint Qualifying and Race

Oscar Piastri started the sprint race in P2 despite only qualifying 6th for the main event. The Ferraris separated him from his teammate Lando Norris. The formation lap began behind a safety car due to wet conditions, leading many drivers to pit immediately for intermediate tires. This strategy allowed Piastri to take an early lead as Verstappen stayed out longer.

On lap three, Fernando Alonso’s crash brought out another safety car. When racing resumed, Verstappen quickly overtook Piastri. Meanwhile, Hamilton battled with Perez and Sainz for fourth place but received a five-second penalty after colliding with Perez on Lap 6; Perez retired due to this incident.

Verstappen comfortably won the sprint race with Piastri finishing second and Pierre Gasly surprising everyone by taking third place after starting sixth. Fans might think Gasly’s performance was quite unexpected!

Sunday’s Race

Verstappen started Sunday’s race from 6th due to a grid penalty despite securing pole position in qualifying. Leclerc led initially but soon lost his lead to Perez’s superior Red Bull car. By Lap 4, Verstappen had climbed up to fourth place behind Hamilton.

It took just six laps for Verstappen to overtake Hamilton into third at Kemmel Straight chicane and three more laps before he passed Leclerc into second at the same spot again! On Lap 17 he soared past Perez too—taking first place en route towards his eighth consecutive win!

Amidst close battles between Albon-Tsunoda and Russell-Aston Martins throughout mid-race action came rain showers on Lap 20 causing brief chaos yet all managed staying slicks without major incidents except one momentary scare where Verstappen almost lost control climbing Eau Rouge hill!

Late stages saw Esteban Ocon making impressive moves passing Tsunoda then Stroll within few laps showcasing great driving skills himself!

Max Verstappen clinched victory comfortably over teammate Sergio Perez by more than twenty-two seconds while Charles Leclerc completed podium places followed closely by Hamilton (fourth) then Alonso-Russell-Norris-Ocon-Stroll-Tsunoda rounding off top ten finishers respectively!

What do you think about these thrilling races?