Red Bull’s Max Verstappen won the 2023 Belgian Grand Prix in yet another snoozefest, leading a Red Bull 1-2 finish over his teammate, Sergio Perez, with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in the third and final podium position.
Even though Verstappen won the qualifying session for pole position, Leclerc began the race on pole due to Verstappen incurring a five-place grid penalty for adding a new gearbox, but it made no matter as Verstappen gradually worked his way through the field and by Lap 17 of the 44-lap race, found himself in his usual first place slot.
The only drama of the race occurred early on when McLaren’s Oscar Piastri – starting in fifth alongside Verstappen – clipped the wall on the first corner and effectively ended his race while Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, Jr. suffered side pod damage in the first lap, first corner scuffle and the damage eventually forced him out of the race after dropping down to 18th position by Lap 23.
Shortly after that, on Lap 31, Verstappen was the final driver of the podium contenders to pit and the finishing order of the top five drivers did not change for the final 15 laps of the race – only being interrupted on the final two laps when seven-time Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes made a late pit stop to claim the bonus point for fastest lap, wrenching it away from Verstappen.
With the victory, Verstappen pads his lead in the 2023 F1 driver’s standings with 314 points to the distant second of his teammate, Perez, with 189 points while the third place battle gets considerably tighter with Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso clinging precariously to a one point advantage over Hamilton – 149 points to 148 points.
2023 Belgian Grand Prix Top 10 Finishers
1] Max Verstappen Red Bull
2] Sergio Pérez Red Bull
3] Charles Leclerc Ferrari
4] Lewis Hamilton Mercedes
5] Fernando Alonso Aston Martin
6] George Russell Mercedes
7] Lando Norris McLaren
8] Esteban Ocon Alpine
9] Lance Stroll Aston Martin
10] Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri
