F1: Hamilton Takes Unrivaled Belgian Grand Prix Victory

By
Brandon Dawe
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1
1811
Lewis Hamilton took a lights to flag victory through the forests of Belgium, his fourth in Spa. Image sourced from @MercedesAMGF1 via Twitter.

Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton leads 1-2 in Belgium GP.

Untouchable

Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton claimed a fourth win at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps.

The reigning world champion led from start to finish, leading home Valtteri Bottas to secure another 1-2 for the German manufacture.

Hamilton: “It wasn’t the easiest of races. The tyre temperatures were slowly dropping. It was a bit of a struggle.”

“No matter how much success we have we keep our heads down. It’s an incredible mentality to work around.”

One Shot

The Brit’s only challenge came on Lap 1 when Bottas had look into Le Combe but ultimately backed out of the move.

Finnish native Bottas cruising home to second place in his W11.

Mercedes pair Hamilton & Bottas congratulating eachother in Parc Fermé after the grand prix. Image sourced from @MercedesAMGF1 via Twitter.

Bottas: “The start was a big opportunity but Lewis played it well. I couldn’t catch him on the straights. Those two things were the difference.”

“Lewis was faultless today and he was good yesterday too. I’m happy that there’s another opportunity next weekend.”

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen took the final place on the podium with third, in a relatively quiet race.

Max Verstappen on the podium at his home GP after holding off a late charge from Renault’s Daniel Riccardo. Image sourced from @RedBullRacing via Twitter.

Verstappen: “I couldn’t really keep up with the Mercedes. We finished P3, any more was not possible.”

Behind came Renault duo Daniel Ricciardo & Esteban Ocon crossed the line in a fourth and fifth respectively.

Don’t Poke The Badger

With Riccardo picking up the point for fastest lap after a late charge from the Honey Badger in the final few laps.

The Australian crossing the line just over three seconds off former team-mate Verstappen.

Alexander Albon in the sister Red Bull was sixth, holding off McLaren’s Lando Norris in seventh.

Scuderia Squeeze

The Ferrari saga continues as the Italian outfit failed to score any points for the first time this season.

As Sebastian Vettel & Charles Leclerc almost colliding at Les Combe while battling for a somber twelfth place.

Both limped home in thirteenth & fourteenth respectively, finishing behind their customer team of Alfa Romeo with Kimi Räikkönen at the helm.

A pace deficit which team boss Mattia Binotto assures “Only a track related problem.” As we head into the Scuderia’s home race at Monza next weekend.

“I guess if he says so, then he is right.” said Vettel.

“Hopefully the problems are Spa-specific. There are a lot of lessons from this weekend & we have 2 important races coming we need to focus on. The package is what it is. We need to stay optimistic and see the good things, even if there are not many.”

Shocking Crash

Antonio Giovinazzi & George Russell were both involved in a jaw dropping crash at Les Fagnes, bringing out the one and only safety car of the grand prix.

Giovinazzi spun his Alfa Romeo on the exit of the corner, careering into the barrier.

“I was pushing just a little too much.” said Giovinazzi.

“Just too much on the limit, and when you are always on the limit sometimes it will happen, so it’s just this.”

With nowhere to go, the Williams of Russell hit a wheel from Giovinazzi’s car, adding to the shower of debris.

Russell: “It is frustrating, I was in the wrong place at the wrong time and there was nothing we could do.”

“I went to the left to avoid Antonio’s car and then his wheel came from nowhere and hit the front of my car which pushed me into the wall. It was quite a big impact.”

Fortunately both drivers emerged unscathed.

For Anthoine

Despite a late pitstop dropping him to second last.

Pierre Gasly performed an immaculate recovery drive in his AT01.

The Frenchman stormed through the pack to claim eight place for AlphaTauri. Gasly subsequently securing driver of the day as a result of his efforts.

Lance Stroll took ninth, while fellow Racing Point driver Sergio Pérez battled back from an inconvenient strategy to round out the top ten for the final point.

McLaren’s Carlos Sainz was the only non-starter of the race, as an exhaust failure ended his chances while the Spaniard was on his way to the grid.

Sainz: Not happy at all.”

Second engine with issues this year. We missed another good chance of scoring big points. Second year in a row I can’t start the race. We’ll move on, but I’m very far from happy.”

Race Highlights

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