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The Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps hosts the 12th round of the Formula 1 World Championship. The Belgian Grand Prix has reached its 79th edition and the legendary 7-kilometre circuit will be the stage for the third sprint weekend of the 2023 season, which is going to be particularly interesting as Spa always offers spectacular action and the uncertainty of Belgian weather will be once again a determining factor. Red Bull Racing are seeking to extend their domination on a championship that is increasingly becoming an occasion to break records and rewrite history books of the sport for the Anglo-Austrian team. More specifically, Max Verstappen could clinch his 8th consecutive win, surpassing his idol Michael Schumacher and approaching former Red Bull superstar Sebastian Vettel, who claimed 9 consecutive wins in the year of his fourth title (2013). The only difference? This is just mid-season, and after the summer break Verstappen could even improve this and other driver’s records. edition is attended by 380.000 spectators over the course of the race weekend, which represents an all-time record. The previous record belonged to the 2022 edition, characterized by 360.000 spectators during the weekend. Present in the calendar of the Formula 1 World Championship since the inaugural edition of 1950 and valid as a race for the category from the same year, the Belgian Grand Prix, together with those of Monaco, Switzerland, France, Great Britain and Italy, including a edition of the Indy 500 valid for the Formula 1 World Championship, was one of the races that characterized the calendar of the inaugural edition of the Formula 1 World Championship. As of this appointment, Laurent Mekies, Sporting Director of Ferrari, is not present at the Maranello stable wall: he handed over part of his duties to Diego Ioverno, who became the new Sporting Director. From next January Mekies will be Team Principal at AlphaTauri, where he has already served as race engineer, chief engineer and responsible for vehicle performance. The French stable Alpine announces the exit of three members of the team, namely the Team Principal Otmar Szafnauer, Sporting Director Alan Permane and Technical Director Pat Fry. They leave their respective roles after this appointment. Starting with the following Dutch Grand Prix, the new Team Principal will be the current Vice President of Alpine Motorsport Bruno Famin, while the director of the Alpine Academy, Julian Rouse, will replace Permane.
Matt Harman, however, will replace Fry, who will cover the role of Chief Technical Officer at Williams starting from the month of November. On Thursday night, Aston Martin use one of the six curfews granted during the season to carry out operations on their cars. The British stable receives no sanctions. Before the start of the free practice session, the third gearbox and third transmission are installed on the car of Lando Norris and Alexander Albon. The fourth transmission is installed on Esteban Ocon 's car. All three drivers are not penalized on the starting grid as the new components installed are among those that can be used in the maximum number established by the technical regulations. The third unit relating to the internal combustion engine is installed on the cars of Lewis Hamilton, Oscar Piastri, Lance Stroll, Fernando Alonso and Logan Sargeant, and the fourth unit is installed on the car of Norris, Kevin Magnussen and Albon. The third unit relating to the turbocharger was installed on the car of Hamilton, Piastri, Stroll, Alonso and Sargeant, and the fourth unit was installed on the car of Magnussen and Albon. The third unit relating to the MGU-H is installed on the car of Hamilton, Piastri, Stroll, Alonso and Sargeant, and the fourth unit is installed on the car of Magnussen and Albon. The third unit related to the MGU-K is installed on the car of Hamilton, Piastri, Stroll, Alonso and Sargeant, and the fourth unit is installed on the car of Albon. The second unit relating to the energy recovery system is installed on Valtteri's car Bottas, Zhou Guanyu, Magnussen and Nico Hülkenberg. The second unit relating to the electronic control unit is installed on the car of Zhou and Magnussen. The fourth unit relating to the exhaust system is installed on the car of Stroll, Alonso and Albon, the fifth unit is installed on the car of Hamilton, Piastri, Zhou, Magnussen and Sargeant, and the sixth unit is installed on the car of Norris. All drivers are not penalized on the starting grid as the new components installed are among those that can be used in the maximum number established by the technical regulations. Lando Norris, after two consecutive podium finishes, feels happy to be back in his place, but knows there is still a lot of work to do to maintain consistency for the rest of the season. He is looking forward to racing at Spa, one of his favorite tracks and where he can hopefully get good results. He is aware of the challenges the circuit can present depending on the conditions, but will do his best to finish the first half of the season in a strong position:
"Back-to-back podiums! It feels good to be back where we belong, but we still have more work to do to keep it consistent for the rest of the season. I'm looking forward to racing in Spa. It's one of my favorite tracks and it should be a good circuit for us. Of course, it can be challenging depending on the conditions, but we will do our best to finish the first half of the season in a strong position".
Toto Wolff declares himself happy to have used the weekend in Hungary to consolidate his second position in the Constructors' Championship:
"Hungary it was a weekend of highs and lows. Our pace was strong on Saturday and Sunday, but we didn't maximize that across the weekend. Lewis produced a brilliant lap to take pole position. However, on Sunday, we were too conservative with some of ours decisions and ultimately missed out on a podium. George meanwhile was compromised in qualifying but drove a strong race from P18 to take P6. We also encountered cooling limitations across both cars; we likely had the second-fastest car, but we must execute better if we are to deliver our full potential. Nevertheless, we scored good points with both drivers, and consolidated our P2 championship position. We will be aiming to turn those learnings into actions for this weekend. Spa-Francorchamps is a classic venue and a true challenge for both the cars and drivers, especially in the Sprint format with such limited practice time on a long and challenging lap. We will be bringing updates this weekend as part of ours ongoing development program. We hope this will be another small step forward in improving the W14. As we have seen at many races this year though, it is hard to predict where we will be relative to our competitors. Wherever the true peace of our car is here, we want to maximize the outcome in this final race before the summer shutdown".
At Red Bull Racing, strongly anchored in first place in the classification world builders, Max Versteppen declares:
"I'm looking forward to the Sprint race in Belgium. It looks like it's going to be quite a rainy weekend, so we'll see what impact that'll have as it always makes it a bit more interesting and chaotic. Spa is of course my favorite track on the calendar so I'm looking forward to racing there and seeing the fans, it should be a fun weekend. It will be interesting to see how our car will perform in the higher speed corners too.I have good memories from Spa and coming off the back of a great Team result in Hungary, I hope we can deliver this weekend, it's the final push before summer break".
Checo Perez claims:
"It was a great Team win in Hungary, it's incredible to be part of such a historic moment in Formula 1. I'm proud to be a part of this Team and what we are achieving together. Everyone did an incredible job across the weekend and worked so hard, the reward was the end result. For me Belgium is about taking a step up in performance and being up there from the start of the weekend until the end.The weather will be tricky, as it always is in Spa, and we have the Sprint format to contend with so running could be very limited. I have to keep pushing and, as always, the aim is to deliver the best result possible".
In Ferrari, Team Principal Frédéric Vasseur declares that in the last two races, the italian team have not been able to exploit full potential of the SF-23 due to one approach too cautious and of some errors committed. Therefore, the goal for the Grand Prix of the Belgium will be to return on the direction undertaken in Canada:
"At the last two races, we weren't able to make the most of the SF-23s potential, because we adopted too cautious an approach, as well as making a few too many mistakes. Therefore, our goal for the Belgian Grand Prix, at one of Formula 1's truly great venues, is to get back to the path we had embarked on Canada. Charles and Carlos are two of the best drivers on the grid, but we have to give them the right tools with which to express their talent. Behind Red Bull, it's all extremely close with five teams battling it out to the nearest thousandths at every race. We therefore have to study every last detail of the weekend from Friday free practice to the last lap on Sunday, because one tenth of a second can mean a difference of one or two places. We know what our technical weaknesses are and ours rivals are not just killing time either. So, in Belgium and for the rest of the season, we must apply maximum concentration and be willing to take risks".
The World Championship continues in Spa, Belgium. Scuderia Ferrari comes to the historic circuit with the hope of getting a good result. Clearly, Charles Leclerc is also looking forward to the start:
"It's going to be a busy weekend, as always with the Sprint format. I like to have to deal with this sort of weekend occasionally, as it rewards those who have done their homework and usually, our team is very good at preparing for races. There's just one free practice session and then it's straight into qualifying. Finding the right set-up quickly could be the key to this Grand Prix. It looks like it will rain at least until Saturday, so the track conditions, especially in terms of visibility will well very unpredictable. That's why qualifying well will well even more important. Then recently, we have seen that the fight behind the Red Bulls is very close. There are at least ten cars, as now McLaren is in that group too, all fighting for places between third and twelfth. For our part, we have a lot clear plan of what is needed and what we have to do over the coming weeks and even in the longer term. For now, we need to get back to working the way we did in Canada and Austria to maximize ours car's potential and I see a team with everyone pulling together determined to do that".
Similarly, Carlos Sainz Jr. will also want to continue the positive trend, hoping to be able to catch up with Red Bull Racing:
"It will be a particularly tough weekend for all the drivers. The Sprint format means the program will well very compressed and we have just one free practice session, which it's not very much time to fine tune the car on such a difficult track. But it's the same for everyone, I know en will be important to apply maximum concentration to ours work, especially given how close so many of the cars are this year. We did not pick up the results we should have done, given our potential, but I'm sure we are working well and personally, I feel I am driving better than last year. We must continue to push in this direction because I believe it's the right way, as we saw in Canada and Austria. We must get back on track and I'm sure we have everything in place to do that".
As always, the sprint format mandates for just an hour of free practice on Friday, which in Belgium does not yield meaningful results as the session is showered by incessant rain, which increases in intensity in the final part. Still, teams and drivers exploit these sixty minutes to gain data and confidence on these conditions, as the unpredictable Belgian weather could definitely bring out the rain again in qualifying and in both races, making the first free practice very useful to define a good wet set-up. In the first stages many drivers do some exploratory laps to ‘taste’ track conditions and consequently determine a workplan. As expected, the wet track surface and the cold tyres produce some accidents, from which some drivers escape, others not. For example, Alex Albon goes out at turn 18 and then at turn 5 but manages to use the escape road both times. His teammate Logan Sargeant is unluckier and after aquaplaning at Les Combes he hits the barrier on the left as the car goes straight even with him steering completely to the right. This causes a brief red flag. Guanyu Zhou runs wide at turn 8, crosses the gravel trap and brushes the barrier with the front wing. Another victim of aquaplaning turn 18 is Pierre Gasly, who chooses the tarmac run-off area not to flat-spot his tyres while hard braking for the Bus Stop chicane. In the second part of the session visibility further deteriorates with more rain and track action is reduced to a minimum. Aston Martins have a try with intermediate tyres but immediately go back in.
In the end the highest number of laps completed in FP1 is just nine and just a small group of drivers reach it. Among those Carlos Sainz, who sets the fastest lap in 2'03"207 on intermediate tyres. The Spaniard is followed by the McLaren pair of Piastri (+0.585), Norris (+1.277), then Leclerc on full-wet tyres (+4.941), Perez, Albon, Tsunoda, Magnussen, Ricciardo, Hulkenberg, Alonso, Hamilton, Russell, Bottas, and Zhou. As previously said, lap times are not very meaningful though, since starting from Pérez the gap from the leader exceeds five seconds. Sargeant (because of his accident), Stroll, Gasly, Ocon, and Verstappen finish the session with no time. In the afternoon, the track is still wet, and qualifying is going to be a very delicate session, with the track steadily improving and the high risk of accidents. In Q1 Lando Norris demonstrates this theory by going out at Paul Frère curve after a snap of oversteer and running into the gravel trap at high speed. Leclerc is the last one to improve and sets the fastest lap under pressure with 1'58"300. Ricciardo temporarily makes it through, but his time is deleted due to track limits at turn 4 (cutting on the inside at Raidillon on top of the hill) and he is demoted back to P19 and is eliminated together with Albon, Zhou, Sargeant, and Hulkenberg in P20. In Q2 the track is drying up and the drivers gamble with slick tyres in the final stages of the session. Ocon catches a patch of wet out of line and hits the barriers at turn 9, resulting in front wing damage. First Tsunoda then Piastri sets the fastest time at the chequered flag with 1'51"534. Among the last to cross the finish line, Verstappen sets the P9 best time and gets pushed down to P10 by Leclerc improving, putting him at risk. Despite managing to make it through, Verstappen is furious and has a word with his engineer Gianpiero Lambiase on the radio, who quickly responds by implying that that was the best strategy possible. During the session, Magnussen goes drifting in the gravel at turn 9 and then impedes Leclerc at turn 12.
Hence, he will be given a 5-place grid penalty for Sunday’s race. The drivers eliminated are - in order - Tsunoda, Gasly, Magnussen, Bottas, and Ocon. In Q3 the track improves significantly, and drivers can comfortably use slick tyres. Leclerc sets momentarily the fastest lap with 1'46"988. After a purple middle sector Piastri goes third fastest behind Sainz, who completes his lap right after his teammate, but remains behind by less than two tenths of a second. Norris goes P4 fastest, then Alonso P5. But then comes Max Verstappen: the Dutchman is in a league of his own with all purple sectors and sets the best time with 1'46"168, eight tenths quicker than Leclerc. Hamilton goes in P3 but is immediately pushed down to P4 by Perez. Russell improves to P8 position to be ahead of both Aston Martins. Due to Verstappen’s 5-place grid penalty for changing some additional gearbox components, the pole position goes to Charles Leclerc, the P20 of his career and the second this season, in a situation which reminds everyone of the 2019 Mexican Grand Prix. Hence, the final classification is Leclerc, Perez, Hamilton, Sainz, Piastri, Verstappen, Norris, Russell, Alonso, and Stroll, Tsunoda, Gasly, Magnussen, Bottas, Ocon, Albon, Zhou, Sargeant, Ricciardo, Hülkenberg. After the chequered flag, Verstappen apologizes on the radio to his engineer for his poor behaviour at the end of Q2. And if the defending world champion competes in a class apart, this qualifying is the demonstration of how the new regulations have helped to narrow the gaps between the contenders, since from P2 to P6 they are all enclosed in less than four tenths of a second. Despite being forced to lose his pole position in favour of Charles Leclerc, Max Verstappen certainly does not lose confidence in a good result on Sunday, especially considering the incredible race he had in Spa last year. The Dutchman is also very motivated to do well in front of many of his fans in what he considers a second home race given his mother’s Belgian nationality:
"It was quite tough out there today; the conditions were tricky and there was only one dry line. Q2 was close, I had to abort my first lap because I went wide, we then did a slow lap and lost quite a bit of temperature in the tyres, the track ramped up pretty quickly so it was very close. The final lap in Q3 went well, we had to risk it all and to be on pole here feels great. We obviously have a very good race car and even in these tricky conditions we were able to show that again today. We have a gearbox penalty for the race on Sunday, last year we had more penalties and started even further back but the car is better this year, so I am still targeting a win. It definitely feels like a second home race, I grew up not far from here and it’s great to see so many fans. It was tough out here with the rain but everyone got stuck in and that’s great to see, so thank you very much".
Sergio Perez does his fair share of work and despite some difficult conditions the Mexican keeps up with his teammate and qualifies only behind him and Charles Leclerc, who is an excellent one-lap specialist:
"Every qualifying has its challenges, the conditions were super tricky: it took all Q1 to dry up and then the tyres were too warm in Q2 but then it all came together in Q3. We really needed to find the limits today and I am pleased to have finished in the top three. For the Sprint race tomorrow, we have good information about the crossover times and have a very busy day ahead of us. On Sunday, I will try my best and try to get Charles at the start which is always hard! But it is a long race, with high degradation and anything can happen. We certainly have a good position and are looking forward to it".
Red Bull’s Team Principal Christian Horner is satisfied with the outcome of Belgian qualifying. His drivers both remain the favourites for the win of this Grand Prix, even though on of them is starting from further on the grid:
"Weather wise, it was all over the place again. Torrential rain to start and finishing in bright sunshine certainly made things interesting from a strategy point of view, but that’s Spa. In terms of the racing, it was a great performance from both drivers. Max was on brilliant form once again, showing exactly why this is his favourite track while Checo delivered in the fashion we all know he is capable of for qualifying, finishing a couple of hundredths off Charles - earning what will become his first front row since Miami. The penalty drops Max down the grid. Starting in 6th and with Checo carrying his momentum on to the front row, will make for a good race on Sunday".
Ferrari comes back as the second force on the grid in the Belgian Grand Prix. Charles Leclerc does what he excels at and qualifies behind an unstoppable Verstappen in such a frantic session, earning pole position de facto. The Monegasque even manages to beat one of the Red Bulls in a car that is clearly inferior to the Anglo-Austrian bullet. However, Leclerc does not delude himself and is conscious both Red Bulls have a chance to win on Sunday:
"On the one hand, it feels good because I struggled quite a bit in these conditions up until a few races ago and the hard work I put into my driving has paid off. I really felt at ease in the car. In Q3, we may have gone out a bit early, but at the end, it’s always down to risk versus reward, and we wanted to avoid any yellow flags. Our result is good, and we wouldn’t have been able to finish in front of Max (Verstappen) today. I expect him to catch up in the race on Sunday and with Checo in the mix, it will be a good challenge".
Carlos Sainz Jr. is a bit disappointed with his last attempt, but manages to see the positive side of starting from a decent position, given the fact that Spa often provides quite unpredictable race, especially because of the ever-changing weather:
"Tricky qualifying today with the changing conditions. Every time we were going out we found a completely different track. We managed to go nicely through Q1 and Q2 but in Q3 I didn’t put together my best lap, having a moment in T8-9 which cost me some positions. We’ll start P4 on Sunday, which isn’t bad, and anything can happen this weekend with the weather, so we’ll see what we can come up with for the race".
Ferrari’s Team Principal, Frédéric Vasseur, is happy with his team’s work but also reckons that there are many variables to account for, which makes predictions for Sunday’s race very difficult. According to Vasseur, different set-ups and very little practice demand ignoring the rivals and focusing on one’s race to hope for the best outcome:
"Qualifying today was a bit chaotic, as we had to put everything together in just one lap in Q3, but overall it was a good session for us, if you take Max out of the equation, as he was flying, but we will start from P1 and P4 on Sunday which is a good starting point. We have not really been able to look at race set-up, because free practice was really wet and then we went into quali on Inters before finally being able to use slicks. But that was the case for all the teams, and it’s much better to start at the front than from the back. We saw huge differences in top speeds today, which means teams have gone for different options for Saturday and Sunday and we must wait and see what the weather will be for the rest of the weekend. I don’t want to make any forecasts for Sunday. We just have to do our best and try and get the most out of the car and the drivers. So far, I think the team has done a very good job, so on Sunday, we will focus on our own race rather than on what any others behind Charles might do".
104 pole positions are not scored easily, so when a complicated qualifying is waiting ahead, rest assured that Lewis Hamilton will be ready to take on the challenge. The seven-time World Champion will start from third place on Sunday thanks to a good lap, even though he thinks some more lap time can be found, especially in the middle sector:
"I'm happy with today's result. It was a hectic session as it was consistently drying up. It was very slippery at the beginning and visibility was a challenge. You know that every lap you are going to be improving as it dries up, so you need to maximise it. That's why we were waiting at the end of the pitlane each session and the Team did a great job of getting us out there and finding clear track. I kept my head down and focused on maximising as much as I could. At the end, we were a good chunk off Max and his lap was pretty impressive. We're pleased with where we are starting though. I'll now have Max behind me on Sunday, but the aim is definitely to fight for a podium and chase down the guys ahead. No one got any real running in FP1 so I'm hoping that we have decent long run pace. Setting the car up ahead of qualifying was a bit of a guessing game. The car felt pretty decent, but we lost a lot of time in the middle sector. We'll go away, study it, and see where there is time to be found. We will work on making any improvements we can, and we'll be giving it everything we've got for the rest of the weekend. So far though, it's a good start".
George Russell completes a positive day for Mercedes. The young Brit recovers from a terrible performance in Hungary, where he even failed to qualify for Q2 while his teammate claimed pole position. Same as for Hamilton, also for Russell there is some work to be done to improve the overall performance, since he laments some lack of pace throughout qualifying:
"It was a dynamic session. We were a bit off the pace for the entire session and struggled throughout; I'm not sure why. I usually love those transitional conditions between wet and dry, but on every lap we were nowhere. There's plenty to review and try to understand. We know qualifying isn't everything around here, but we would of course have liked to be higher up the order. The lack of running in FP1 wasn't too much of a factor as it's the same for everyone. You always want to do more laps to further your understanding, but the car didn't feel too bad. There's a decent amount for us to try and understand overnight".
On Saturday July 29, 2023, it is raining on the circuit before the Shoot-out qualifying and the first Sprint race in Spa. Heavy rain delays the start of the sprint shootout. Indeed, there is no rush in the boxes and all the drivers chat with their mechanics. After 30 minutes, it is announced that the SQ1 will start at 12:35 a.m. time as the rain will stop at that time. Drivers position their cars in line in the pitlane, waiting for the safety car to complete his drive around the circuit. Hamilton is the first on the line. The green light turns on and there are 12 minutes for the drivers to make through the SQ2. All drivers opted for inters. None likely will choose the soft tyres for this SQ1. Ten minutes to go and all the drivers are on the track. Hamilton opens the dances and scores purple first sector (34.039s), 1'30"243 in the second, and decides the pace in 2'02"297.
Russell scores 34.097s, 1'30"233, fastest second sector so far, but unfortunately loses a lot in the last sector and closes his best in 2'05"067. Bottas puts his car between the two Mercedes in 2'03"432. Norris goes second and puts his car between the two Mercedes (+0.547), while Zhou takes P4 (+2.389). Leclerc is completing his first best and goes first in 2'01"438. Piastri scores 54.388s in the second sector and takes the lead from Leclerc in 2'01"311. Albon goes third in 2'01"933, and Sainz Jr. eighth (+3.358) at Stroll’s back (+1.577). It’s Verstappen’s turn. He scores -0.826 in the second sector, compared to Piastri’s 1'29"016, and goes first in 2'00"352. Ricciardo makes a good first try and goes fifth in +1.181. Checo Perez manages to take P3 (+0.694), followed by Gasly (+0.734). Leclerc tries again and goes second (+0.255). Sainz scores a 33.364s in the first sector, -0.004 compared to Verstappen’s time, and goes first in 1'59"981. Race control announces that an impeding incident involving Hamilton and Verstappen has been noticed in turn 8 but there will be no investigation. Verstappen tries again and goes first in 1'58"958. Hamilton scores a 33.222s, -0.183 in the second, and goes second, until Perez takes P2 back (+0.404). Piastri goes fifth (+1.089). Currently eliminated from SQ2 are Norris, Stroll, Sargeant, and the two Haas cars. One minutes to the end. Leclerc improves in the first sector 33.241s (+0.671), and goes third +0.617. Sargeant scores -1.590 in the second sector and goes sixth (+1.073).
Albon gets the first sector at 33.088s and goes second +0.240. Verstappen improves in 1'58"135. Alonso goes second (+0.080). The countdown ends and Max Verstappen takes P1, with the time at the 1'58"135, followed by Hamilton (+0.804), Alonso (+0.903), Albon (+1.063), Perez (+1.227), Sainz (+1.279), Leclerc (+1.440), Ocon (+1.749), Sargeant (+1.896), and Gasly (+1.897). Piastri is in P11 (+1.921), followed by Ricciardo (+2.042), Norris (+2.301), Stroll (+2.325) and Russell (+2.340). Drivers eliminated are Tsunoda (+2.433), Bottas (+2.816), Magnussen (+2.944), Guanyu (+3.295), and Hulkenberg no have a time. Green light at 12:54 a.m. and SQ2 starts. Ten minutes to go and only Ricciardo and Norris are on the track. Ricciardo is the first to start and scores a 1'26"394 in the first sector, and goes first in 1'57"687. Norris scores a purple in the second sector and goes first in 1'56"828, at five minutes to the end. Yellow flag in the 3rd sector, as Sargeant lost his car in turn 15 but now track is clear as he manages to come back to the warm up. Gasly takes the lead but it lasts a few because Hamilton starts his best -0.906 in the first sector, -0.712, and goes first in 1'55"823. Verstappen goes first in 1'55"200, followed by Hamilton +0.623), Gasly +0.935, Leclerc +1.065, Piastri +1.192, Sainz +1.357, Norris +1.628, Ocon +1.851, Russell +.2193, Ricciardo +2.487 in P10. Perez goes third +0.678. Ricciardo chooses new inter while Stroll is the only one with medium tyres. Says Lance Stroll:
"It’s too early ***".
One minute and 30 seconds to the end. Stroll tries his first best with medium tyres. He scores +0.872, but loses the car and hits the barrier in turn 9. It’s the end of the session. Verstappen is in P1 1'55"200, followed by Hamilton (+0.623), Perez (+0.678), Gasly (+0.937), Leclerc (+1.065), Piastri (+1.192), Sainz (+1.357), Norris (+1.628), Ocon (+1.851), and Russell (+2.193). Drivers eliminated are Ricciardo (+2.487), Albon, Sargeant, Stroll, and Alonso with no time. SQ3 starts and drivers have 8 minutes. The two Ferrari are the first to start. Five minutes to the end before the drivers will try their best to get the best spot on the grid. Leclerc on soft scores 32.035s, 1'23"052, and goes first 1'52"525. His teammate Sainz Jr. scores 32.076s, 1'25"669, and goes second with the time of the 1'55"374. Norris takes P1 from Leclerc in 1'51"546 but this lasts a few as Hamilton crosses the finish line in 1'51"198, followed by Verstappen 1'51"286. Drivers opt for a cool down before the last try at 2 minutes to the end, except for Ocon, Gasly, and Perez. Hamilton is in P1, followed by Verstappen, Norris, Leclerc. Piastri is in P5, followed by Sainz, Russell, Gasly and Ocon. Perez scores a 48.628s in the second sector, finds traffic jam but manages to go first in 1'50"303. Gasly scores a purple in the second sector and goes first in 1'49"700. This lasts a few as Sainz manages to take pole position in 1'49"081. Leclerc gets -0.161s in the first sector (31.352s), goes straight and loses a bit of time and scores -0.151s, and takes P2 in +0.170s. It’s the McLaren’s turns and Norris goes third. Piastri does an amazing job and gets P1 in 1'49"067. The session is almost finished and the last driver to cross the line is Verstappen, who goes first in 1'49"067. Verstappen is in pole position 1'49"056, followed by Piastri, Sainz Jr., Leclerc, Norris, Gasly, Hamilton, Perez, Ocon, and Russell.
It is time to get serious. The sky is grey on Spa for the first sprint on this circuit but the third over this 2023 season. The sprint race start has been already delayed at 5:05 p.m. but since it is expected 20 minutes of full rain, it is announced that the formation lap will start at 5:12 p.m. local time. Still no indication on the tyres. All the teams are already on the track, and all the cars are placed on the grid under the tents. It is again announced that the start will be delayed. After more than 30 minutes the safety car drives through the circuit to assess the track condition. The Aston Martin safety car is raising many waters from the track and this could be a relevant data for the Race control. The Race control has yet indicated whether full wet would be required. The only indication is that the formation lap will start at 5:35 p.m.. Says the Alfa Romeo team to Guanyu Zhou:
"The next heavy shower is expected in 2 to 3 minutes".
And says the Scuderia Ferrari team to Leclerc:
"So, this rain should stop in five minutes, then we have a gap of an hour with no rain".
Indeed, weather seems to improve. Still the question remains on the track condition. Finally, all the teams opt for the full wet. A new indication arrives that the formation lap will be started behind the safety car on wet-weather tyres. The formation lap starts and a lot of water raises from the track. Track conditions are good but from the drivers’ perspective, it seems that visibility might be a bit tricky.
"Yeah, it is definitely inters".
Says Russell.
This sprint race will see 4 laps behind the safety car and only 11 laps for the sprint race. Safety car drives in 3'02"38. Says Max Verstappen:
"It’s drying quick. You could definitely already drive, I think, with inters".
Finally, Safety Car enters pits and rolling start procedure takes place. All the mechanics of Red Bull and Aston Martin are ready for a pitstop. Max opens the dance and a giant water cloud spreads all over the circuit. Max, Piastre and Sainz exits this one close behind the other. As soon as the cars reach the pitlane, half drivers go to the boxes and the other keep driving. The teams have differentiated the strategy. Piastri, Sainz Gasly, Hamilton, Perez, Albon, Stroll, Ricciardo, Bottas and Hulkenberg enter the pitlane for a pitstop for inters. We will have two different races. At Lap 1 Verstappen has the lead, followed by Leclerc, Norris, Ocon, Russell, Sargeant, Alonso, Tsunoda, Magnussen, and Zhou. Behind in P11 Piastri, Gasly, Perez, Hamilton, Sainz, Ricciardo, Stroll, Albon, Bottas, and Hulkenberg.
"We need to box this lap".
Says Max Verstappen:
"Confirm, box this lap".
Leclerc is at 3.971s to Verstappen. He enters the pit lane and Leclerc enters as well. Pit stop of 3.2s for Max while Leclerc remains stuck in the traffic jam. Leclerc almost risks to hit a car that was driving on the pit lane. There is a lot of confusion right now as the drivers risk to hit one each other. At lap 2, the scenario is completely different. Piastri has the lead and Verstappen is at 1.566s, followed by Gasly, Perez, Hamilton, Sainz, Leclerc, Norris, Ricciardo, Ocon, and Stroll. Russell is in P11, followed by Albon, Bottas, Alonso, Hulkenberg, Sargeant, Tsunoda, Magnussen and Zhou. Verstappen keeps to follow closely Piastri’s car. Gasly slows down and gives perez an opportunity to attack him. At lap 3, Piastri loses nine tenth compared to Max as he loses a bit the rear of his car. Max is at +0.795s. Sainz Jr. seems to slow dow a bit at +1.733s to the two drivers on the top. Suddenly, yellow flag starts to wave in sector 2. It’s Fernando Alonso who hitted the barriers in turn 11 and it is safety car at lap 4.
"Ok, Max. So, inter Piastri left hand side tyre is already suffering".
Says Lambiase to Verstappen.
"Yeah, I’m not surprised. He’s drifting everywhere".
The race control announces that the turn 2 incident involving Alonso and Hulkenberg will be investigated after the sprint for impeding. Safety car ends at lap 5 and Piastri will dictate the pace for the first time in his F1 career. Meanwhile, the race control announces an incident involving Sargeant for speeding behind safety car. Safety car enters the pitlane and Piastri open the dances. Verstappen follows closely and has no intention to give up. Perez hits Gasly. Again the yellow flag appears in sector 3 this time in lap 6 but the track is immediately declared clear after a few. Verstappen is close and Piastri tries to defend its P1. Both are wheel-to-wheel and Max passes easily him. The race control decides to punish Sargeant with a +5 seconds penalty. Suddenly, Hamilton tries to overtake Perez. Hamilton goes on the outside, and they hit each other. Some debris fly from Perez’s car. Perez looks in troubles but Lewis raises his foot from the pedal but has no intention to give up. Leclerc and Sainz get closer to Lewis and Checo. Hamilton manages to overtake Perez before the rouge turn and Sainz takes advantage of the situation and goes wheel-to-wheel and overtakes him. Hamilton and Sainz go up to P4 and P5. Verstappen scores the fastest lap in 1'58"943. It’s not done yet for Checo. In lap 7, Leclerc goes overtakes him taking P6 and Lando Norris attacks Perez as well who seems not able to defend his position. Indeed, Perez has a huge whole on his car due to the incident with Hamilton. Norris tries to overtake him and Perez goes out the track, losing his car. In lap 8, Perez slips to P16 quickly but the team decides has yet taken the car out to the track. Piastri is at +3.055s to Max, and Gasly and Hamilton are fighting for the P3. Sainz Jr. is not so far at +0.999s, followed by Leclerc, Norris, Ricciardo, Ocon, Russell, Stroll, Albon, Bottas, Sargeant, Magnussen, Hulkenberg, Perez, Zhou, and Tsunoda. Three laps to go and Perez’s car is finally retired. Hamilton is under the attack of the Ferrari driver Sainz. Russel and Ocon hunt Ricciardo, who tries to defend its P8. Ocon tries to take P9 from the outside at turn 6 but Russell defends his position. In the meantime, the race control announces a 5 seconds penalty to Lewis Hamilton.
"The brakes are pretty *** I can’t really wake them up".
Says Max with a 4.933s gap from the other drivers.
"Understood".
Meanwhile, Leclerc has some troubles with overheating of tyres and moves all around the track to cold his tyres.
At Lap 10, Russell overtakes Ricciardo in P8 in traction on the finish line. It’s the final lap 11. Russell is pushing to arrive to P7, thanks to Lewis’ penalty. Unfortunately, Ricciardo could not be so lucky and will be excluded from the score zone. Max Verstappen crosses the finish line and wins the sprint race of Belgium, with Piastri behind, Gasly, Hamilton, Sainz, Leclerc, Norris, Russell, Ocon, Ricciardo, Stroll, Albon, Bottas, Magnussen, Zhou, Sargeant, Hulkenberg, and Tsunoda, while Alonso and Perez are out. Max Verstappen finds today was tough due to the weather conditions:
"It wasn’t a straightforward race today, we made the safer call with the pit stop because there was a lot of risk in pitting straight away, I opted to stay out for another lap. After that, as soon as I came out on the intermediates, I could see that we had a lot of pace, it was just a matter of time. The weather of course was challenging today, it was okay from my position, but I understand that the people behind me were still struggling to see. There are some improvements to be made with the visibility, but I think race control did the smart thing today, they took some time to analyse everything and that was wise. At the moment, it looks like our car is fast on the wet and the dry so I’m pretty chilled and looking forward to the race tomorrow".
Sergio Perez has the same mind:
"It was a shame that we had to retire from the race today and get no points for the team. The conditions were tricky and Lewis ran out of grip and crashed into the side of me. I had massive damage to the sidepods and floor and once we realised the extent of this, we had to retire. It is unfortunate, as today we had some good opportunities and had a great strategy. The race pace was good and I think we could have caught Pierre Gasly. All in all, I think everything was managed well today by race control and we have been really strong the whole weekend and had the pace to fight for pole today. Ultimately, we lost a few points today but we look forward to tomorrow".
And tne Red Bull team principal and Ceo, Christian Horner, adds:
"We brought Checo in immediately for the tyre change and he got a great release that jumped both Mercedes and Ferrari’s, elevating him to 4th. Unfortunately there was the contact with Lewis that caused significant damage to his side pod causing a significant loss in down force that meant we had no choice but to retire the car. For Max, it was another clinical performance. We chose to bring him in after the first lap which ended up putting him in 2nd, just behind Piastri. While it was a very strong drive from Oscar today, Max was able to bring it home and covert the win following the safety car. We regroup now and prepare for tomorrow's race, Checo on the front row and Max in 6th following the gear box penalty. So, another challenge and no doubt the weather will play a part but both drivers are sharp and on their toes and we look forward to some good racing".
Lewis Hamilton explains his perspective on the incident with Checo:
"The conditions were very tricky out there and we're all trying our best. I think the contact with Perez was a racing incident. He went wide and was slow through turn 14 and I got a great exit - I was more than half-a-car alongside him and we ended up just coming together. Naturally it wasn't intentional, but I got a penalty for it. Ultimately, it doesn't make a huge difference. The difference between fourth and seventh in a Sprint where you don't get a lot of points means it's not punishing. The positives are that our pace has been good. Today in the Sprint Shootout, we would have been fighting for the front-row without the issues on our final lap. We would have been right up there battling with Max, but it wasn't meant to be. We now start third tomorrow and I hope I'll be able to fight with the Ferraris and Perez".
George Russell finds that today they achieved the maximum they could:
"I think P8 was the maximum we could achieve from a shortened Sprint today. The car was really quick; I think we were probably the second fastest out there behind Max. Unfortunately after a bad qualifying session this is all you can really get. It also wasn't easy out there in those conditions. It was my decision to pit one lap after the safety car had come in and that was perhaps not the correct one. We came out P12 after the pit stop and got back to P8. To recover those positions in such a short race is positive. With two more laps, we could have possibly got up to P5, but it is what it is, and I'm relatively satisfied".
Toto Wolff, Mercedes’ Team Principal & CEO says that:
"The car was good today. I would rather have a quick car that is doing good things and have a less optimal position in the Sprint, than benefitting from other's misfortunes and being lucky. Given everything that happened today that we didn't optimise, I'm OK with how our race played out. Both Lewis and George had great pace; George overtook several cars and was closing on Norris who was much further ahead, so he had a good recovery. The contact between Lewis and Perez I saw as a racing incident more than penalty worthy. They were side-by-side and we want to see people racing. Nevertheless, that was the decision, and we now move on to the Grand Prix tomorrow. If we take similar pace into the race, we will be in a good position to fight for a decent result".
Carlos Sainz Jr. is a bit disappointed
"We had good pace with the Inters but we missed out on a better result. The pit stop was crucial today and unfortunately, we lost some valuable positions there. We will look into it, but apart from that it was a solid Saturday for the team and I felt good in these conditions. Now we focus on tomorrow: it's difficult to know how our pace will be during the race so I prefer to be cautious. However, I’m looking forward to putting everything together and finishing this first part of the season with a good result. Let’s race again".
Charles Leclerc finds that they have not maximized Ferrari’s package today:
"We didn’t maximise our package today. Starting on the Wets like everyone else, I pitted one lap after Carlos, which I think was the right choice because we would have lost more time stopping right behind him. Unfortunately, we lost time in the pitlane and as a consequence we lost some positions there. The race tomorrow will depend a lot on the weather, as teams have set up their cars for different conditions. It’s always a bit of a gamble here, not just in terms of strategy, but you need a bit of luck too. In any case, it should be a good fight and I look forward to getting back in the car".
Frédéric Vasseur, Ferrari’s Team Principal, finds fair the race direction decision concerning the time and modalities for the start:
"Firstly, I think the race direction took the right decision about the start procedure. We have to put safety first and visibility has been the main concern. As for our race, we were unlucky to lose places with both Carlos and Charles, because both their pitstops were affected by traffic in pit lane, which meant we were unable to release our cars back into the fast lane. Unfortunately, it is always a bit risky when you are near the pit lane entry as you cannot see who is coming in from the track, so we didn’t want to take too many risks. Now we must focus on tomorrow. No one has been able to work on race pace and today’s Sprint did not provide any particularly useful information. From what we have seen so far, out performance seems quite good, on both the wet weather tyres and the dry ones and tomorrow’s weather could be a bit better with a lower chance of rain. Starting from first and fourth, we need to make the most of this opportunity".
After a rainy Sprint day, Sunday, July 30, 2023, everyone is ready for the race at Spa Francorchamps. Verstappen has moved up from P1 and will start P6 because of the new gearbox mounted on his Red Bull, Magnussen, who was P13, is now P16 due to an impeding to Leclerc in qualifying, while Hulkenberg will start from the pit lane for a host of power unit and gearbox changes. Tyres are revealed: the poleman Leclerc, Perez, Hamilton, Sainz and Verstappen are on the soft compounds, while Piastri, Norris, Russell, Alonso and Stroll go with mediums. At 3pm local time lights are out and the Belgian Grand Prix starts. Leclerc manages for a few seconds to mantain the first place ahead of Perez, while Sainz and Piastri bang wheels at La Source. Immediately, Perez passes the Ferrari number 16 along the Kemmel Straight, while Piastri has a damage because hit the wall in his skirmish with Sainz and is now last in the ranking. At the end of lap 1, Perez leads Leclerc by more than a second, ahead of Hamilton and Verstappen, while Sainz stays fifth for the moment, telling the team to have a damage, with Alonso, Norris, Tsunoda, Albon, and Stroll closing the top 10. Piastri did not manage to go back to the pits due to the damage and the yellow flag is triggered.
"I don’t know what he was doing".
He says to his team on the radio. At the same time, Carlos Sainz is told to fix his aero balance, while Alonso makes a move on him; behind them, Tsunoda and Albon pass Norris. A little after, Tsunoda and Albon are the next to pass Sainz, while Norris continues to lose places, having problems on his set of medium tyres, so decides to make an early stop to swap to hards, together with Magnussen and Ricciardo. Verstappen passes Hamilton into Les Combes. On lap 7, Sainz is 10th, almost out of the points area, while Sargeant passes the Ferrari driver at Blanchimont. Albon, Sainz and Zhou pit, while there is a side-by-side moment between Ocon and Norris while they go back on track, while the Mercedes pit wall says to Hamilton:
"Potential rain on the radar, 20 minutes away - not very strong".
On lap 9, Verstappen inserts his car into the slipstream behind Leclerc down the Kemmel Straight and passes him at the outside of Les Combes, completing the Red Bull one-two in the lead. Perez has now an advantage of 2.5 seconds over Verstappen, while Leclerc, Hamilton, Alonso, Stroll, Russell, Gasly and Hulkenberg the still having to pit. Alonso stops on lap 11 and emerges just ahead of Hulkenberg, before losing out to the Haas down the Kemmel Straight. Tsunoda passes Albon for the final point. At the front, Leclerc is 3.5 seconds far from Verstappen and Hamilton is another 4.5 seconds behind the Ferrari, before pitting for fresh tyres at the end of lap 13. A lap later, Perez swaps softs for mediums, while Verstappen is told by his engineer to:
"Please follow my instructions".
On strategy after raising some questions. The Dutchman is then told that rain can arrive in 10 minutes:
"I can’t see the weather radar, can I?"
He comments before pitting for mediums. Also Leclerc stops, so only Stroll, Russell and Gasly have to pit yet. Verstappen arrives on the rear of his team mate’s car at the end of lap 17 and takes the lead between La Source and Les Combes. Leclerc and Hamilton remains P3 and P4, followed by Alonso and Stroll, who is now ahead of Russell’s Mercedes, while Gasly, Tsunoda and Ocon complete the top 10. Norris pits again at the end of lap 19 for softs, while Sainz says on the radio that it is now:
"Raining at Turn 15".
And Ferrari confirm that there will be a few spots before a 10-minute long shower. As the rain intensity increases, the drivers start to slip on track, waiting the teams for a call to swap slick tyres for intermediates. Stroll stops for softs as the rain is not quite heavy enough to force the switch to intermediates. Verstappen almost loses the car through the Raidillon/Eau Rouge complex. Russell pits for softs, while the blue sky starts to appear bewteen the clouds. Verstappen leads Perez by six seconds while Leclerc holds third from Hamilton, Alonso, Tsunoda, Ocon, Magnussen, Norris and Russell. Sainz pits to retire because of the significant damage. Ocon and Magnussen pit and drop out of the points again. On lap 28, Hamilton stops again and put on softs, emerging fifth, between Alonso and team mate Russell. A lap later, the Briton regains P4 with a move on Alonso, while Leclerc pits and stays ahead of both. On lap 30, Perez pits for a second time, along with Alonso; Verstappen, Russell, Stroll and Gasly are the only drivers with only one stop. Verstappen pits a lap later, emerging almost 10 seconds ahead of Perez, with Leclerc still holding third from Hamilton, Alonso, Russell, Norris, Stroll, Tsunoda and Ocon. Red Bull is concerned about degradation levels on the soft tyres Verstappen fitted several laps earlier. Williams drop to the back of the field with third stops for Sargeant and Albon. Ocon goes around the outside of Tsunoda at Les Combes, before doing the same with Stroll and rising to eighth. Verstappen wins the Belgian Grand Prix with a margin of 22 seconds over Perez. Leclerc is another 10 seconds down in third, while Hamilton makes a late pit stop to earn the fastest lap bonus point, finishing fourth, followed by Alonso, Russell, Norris and Ocon. Stroll ends up ninth, Tsunoda 10th. Max Verstappen managed to get his eight straight victory after starting sixth:
"I knew that the car was going to be quick today, and this is one of the best tracks to drive when you have a good car. GP and I were just having a laugh today, we’re honest with each other and that’s how we operate, there’s no need to worry. The first half of the season has been much better than anyone would have ever dreamt of, how we are performing as a Team and winning so many races in a row is incredible. We’re definitely enjoying the moment, but we also want to keep this momentum and level for a long time, so hopefully after the summer break we’re strong again in Zandvoort".
After a great start, Perez held the lead until the first round of pit stops, when his teammate took his place:
"Today was a good day for the team. The race started really well and then Max came through strong, especially on the second stint where he pulled away. After he overtook, it was all about bringing it home for the team and managing the pace until the end, that was the main objective. I ended up slipping on turn 11 due to the tricky conditions so we wanted to then look after the car, manage the tyres and keep the position. Two podiums in a row now and our main objective is to continue to stay on the podium. We have the summer break to make sure we stay on top of things and have some time to reset. Max did a tremendous job and it overall was a great team result. I am looking forward to the summer break and going into the second half of the season to come back even stronger".
Christian Horner, Red Bull’s CEO and Team Principal, is satisfied with this 1-2 for the team:
"We could never have dreamt of getting to summer break unbeaten, that’s never been achieved before. It’s all about teamwork and everybody doing their bit and that’s what has happened through the first 12 races of the year. For Max it’s another masterful win. He managed the race after making his way from P6 to take the lead in the second stint. Checo also had a brilliant first lap, taking the lead of the race and in the end bringing home our fifth 1-2 of the season. All credit to everybody back in Milton Keynes, this result is their result and the way they’re applying themselves is the reason that we’re making the history we’re currently making. We need to keep the intensity but for now, everyone deserves the break and then we come back hard in Zandvoort".
Leclerc was the only Ferrari racing at a certain point, due to the retirement of his teammate. He lost out to the Red Bull duo, but managed to get the podium:
"Third was the best result we could have achieved today. We knew that the Red Bulls would be quicker than us, so our target was to maximise points with the package we have, and we did that. We had to base our strategy on Lewis'. He had a good pace and we had to make sure we kept him behind us. The Red Bulls in front then had to react to our moves, so we were all on the same strategy. In terms of tyre management, we didn't have too much degradation and we have been doing a good job in that area for the past few races. The team has done an amazing job to bring updates ahead of schedule and let us take steps forward faster than we thought we would. It's good to finish this first half with a podium and hopefully we can maximise our package at the upcoming races after the break too".
Bad day for Sainz, who collided at the start with Piastri atTurn 1. From that moment he had a damage and, despite trying to continue, was forced to retire:
"Not the way I wanted to finish the first part of the season. Hamilton stayed behind Perez and I attacked him on the inside. Then came the contact with Oscar and that was it, a racing incident, but in my opinion Oscar was way too optimistic as he was never side by side with me and making that move from behind has never really worked here in Spa. I’m disappointed, but it’s also part of racing. On a positive note, it looked like the pace was good today so congrats to the team and Charles on an encouraging result. We need to keep pushing hard to make sure we come back strong after the break and have a good second half of the season".
Frédéric Vasseur, Ferrari’s Team Principal, is happy for what they earned, despite Sainz’ accident:
"We are happy with Charles’ podium, it was well deserved and it’s a nice way to head into the summer break. Apart from that, I’d say the weekend in Belgium had several other positives. The pace was good all weekend, on rain tyres and slicks, both the Medium and Soft. We made the right strategy calls and all the pit stops went well. Overall therefore, I think we have made a step forward and we must start off from this point when we are back on track, because only with this attitude can we aim to beat our closest rivals. It’s a shame for Carlos because he too could have got a good result given that his pace was similar to Charles’ all weekend. The first corner here is often tricky and racing incidents after the start are always a possibility and that’s what happened. We opted to keep him out on track until the rain shower in the hope there might be a red flag which would have given us the chance to fix the car, but then it became clear that wouldn’t happen so we decided to retire him. This first half of the season has seen many highs and lows, but today it was clear we have reacted well after recent races that had not gone the way we wanted. The team all deserve the break, having worked so hard at the track and back in Maranello over the past months and when we come back, I want to see that same sense of determination".
Hamilton was fourth for most of the race, never able to pass Leclerc. At the end, he got the bonus point for fastest lap:
"It was a non-eventful race for me today with not a huge amount going on. I was unable to keep up with the cars ahead of me and was struggling in the beginning. We know the rear end is our biggest issue and then we had some bouncing this weekend. At the end, I was keeping the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc within a few seconds, but I couldn't get any closer. It was nice to have the gap to the car behind and to attempt to go for the fastest lap. It was gusty out there today and difficult to keep it on the track, but my lap was decent. We know we have more work to do to close the gap to the front. We'll work with all the data we've accumulated and try to figure out what we can do for the next race after the summer break".
At the end of the race, George Russell managed to get P6:
"I really felt that I could have been up there with Lewis fighting for a podium for the Team today. Unfortunately, I was boxed in on the opening lap behind Oscar when he picked up damage at the first corner. That cost me a couple of positions and compromised my Grand Prix. After that it was a good race for us, and we have opened the gap in the Constructors' by 51 points to third place. It has been an intense first half of the season for everyone in the Team, so we are looking forward to the break and the chance to switch off for a few weeks before we get back racing again at Zandvoort. We know our goal is to win races, and I still believe that we can do that this season".
Toto Wolff, Mercedes’ Team Principal & CEO, adds:
"We struggled with the car at points today and experienced some bouncing. That was the main limiting factor this weekend, so we've got some work to do to understand that more. We've got the shutdown coming up, but we will get our heads down this week, review the data, and see what we can do to make progress. Going into the summer break, I feel that we are on the right trajectory overall. There is so much hard work going across the Team to upgrade the car and help us to make those important steps forward. I believe we are making progress and the direction we are going in is the right one. We will go away, recharge over the summer break and come back refreshed and re-energised".