Max Verstappen supreme in Belgian Grand Prix: 'Had a great car'

Published on 30 July 2023 by Misha van der Kroon

Max Verstappen has won the Belgian Grand Prix in a dominant manner. He started the race from P6, due to a grid penalty, but was in P4 after a great start. Verstappen overtook Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc in the early stages of the race, and passed his teammate Sergio Perez after his first pitstop. After this he never relinquished first place. With a lead of 22 seconds on Perez, Max won for the tenth time this season, and it’s the eighth win in a row for the Dutchman. Perez made it a one-two for the team of Oracle Red Bull racing, while Charles Leclerc finished P3 in his Ferrari.

“It’s a new spot for sure, P6,” Max says after the race when asked if he can win from every grid position. “I knew that we had a great car, it was just about surviving turn one. I could see that it was all getting a bit tight, ahead of me some cars ran into each other. I’ve been in that position before myself as well, so I was going to stay out of that. That worked out, and from there onwards we made the right overtakes. In the beginning I just got a bit stuck in a DRS-train, but once that cleared I could do my own pace.”

After his first pitstop, Max made up two seconds in two laps on his teammate Perez, and then easily passed the Mexican. About this, Verstappen says: “The in-lap was quite okay, and with the out-lap I pushed a little more. The tyres could handle it. I had to come from P6, and in the first stint I was a bit stuck. Once you’re in the lead, you can control a bit more and I could ride at my own pace in clean air.” 

Over the on-board radio, Max was asked by his engineer Gianpiero Lambiase in the last stint to slow down a bit to spare his tyres. Max explains: “We had the choice to drive slowly to the end, which we eventually did. Or I could push a bit harder, do an extra pitstop and then keep pushing again. That is more fun to do, but in the end it was all fine and I slowed down. Of course we look at the numbers and tyre wear. This track is super hard on the tyres, you don’t want to do any unnecessary things, so we didn’t.”

The drivers can now enjoy the summer break. Despite the fantastic results, Max is ready for a holiday, before we head to the Dutch Grand Prix on 27 August: “As it is now, it can continue. But it is always nice to take a break for two weeks and enjoy some time off.”

After a very wet Friday and Saturday, it is dry at the start of the 44-lap race on the legendary circuit of Spa-Francorchamps. The top four start the race on the soft tyre compound. Oscar Piastri on P5 is the first driver with medium tyres on his car. Max also starts on the soft tyres from the sixth place on the grid, while Nico Hülkenberg starts from the pitlane. 

It is very busy at the first corner, after the lights have gone out. Oscar Piastri gets hit by Carlos Sainz’ and the two crash into each other. This gives Max the chance to move up to P4. Perez overtakes pole sitter Charles Leclerc on the Kemmel Straight, taking over the lead from the Ferrari driver. Piastri suffered significant damage from the incident with Sainz, and the Australian is forced to stop his car between turns 13 and 14, making him the first driver to retire from this race. The Ferrari of Carlos Sainz is also damaged, and lap after lap the Spaniard loses positions, falling out of the top ten. 

Verstappen overtakes Hamilton in lap 6, climbing to P3. He continues pushing and closes the gap to Leclerc, who he overtakes in Les Combes. After this overtake, Verstappen is three seconds behind his teammate Perez. 

On lap 14, Perez makes his first pitstop and the Mexican driver rejoins the track in second, behind Verstappen. One lap later Max also pits, and the Dutchman switches the soft tyres for a set of mediums. He comes back on track in P2, behind Sergio Perez. The two-time World Champion pushes and quickly closes the gap to his teammate. With some help of DRS, Max passes Perez easily on lap 17 on the Kemmel Straight.

It starts to drizzle, which causes Max to have a scary moment when he almost loses control of his car at Raidillon. Verstappen gets off with a scare, and can continue on his way. It continues to drizzle for a few more laps, but the track is still dry enough for slicks. On lap 23, Sainz has to park his Ferrari in the pits, because of damage from his run-in with Piastri at the start. 

It stops raining and the sun breaks through again. Verstappen pits for the second time this race on lap 31, switching back to the soft tyres. He rejoins the race on P1, with a gap of more than 8 seconds to Sergio Perez. In the remainder of the race, the win is no longer in danger for Max, who eventually crosses the finish line with a lead of 22 seconds ahead of Perez. The Mexican driver takes P2, making it the fifth one-two finish for Red Bull this season. Leclerc takes the final spot on the podium. Hamilton finishes P4, followed by Alonso in P5. George Russell takes P6, and Lando Norris, Esteban Ocon, Lance Stroll and Yuki Tsunoda complete the top 10.

Results Grand Prix Belgium: