F1 Grand Prix race results: Verstappen wins Belgian GP

From 14^th on the grid, Verstappen surged through the field to take the lead after just 12 of the 44 laps.

Early leader Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) briefly retook P1 after the first pitstop cycle, but Verstappen was on much fresher tyres and hit the front again on Lap 18. Sergio Perez’s Red Bull also passed Sainz to finish second.

2022 Belgian Grand Prix race results

Cla	Driver	Chassis	Laps	Time	Gap	Interval	km/h	Points
1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	44	1:25'52.894			215.216	26
2	Sergio Perez	Red Bull	44	1:26'10.735	17.841	17.841	214.473	18
3	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari	44	1:26'19.780	26.886	9.045	214.099	15
4	George Russell	Mercedes	44	1:26'22.034	29.140	2.254	214.006	12
5	Fernando Alonso	Alpine	44	1:27'06.150	1'13.256	44.116	212.199	8
6	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	44	1:27'07.830	1'14.936	1.680	212.131	10
7	Esteban Ocon	Alpine	44	1:27'08.534	1'15.640	0.704	212.102	6
8	Sebastian Vettel	Aston Martin	44	1:27'11.001	1'18.107	2.467	212.002	4
9	Pierre Gasly	AlphaTauri	44	1:27'25.075	1'32.181	14.074	211.434	2
10	Alex Albon	Williams	44	1:27'34.794	1'41.900	9.719	211.042	1
11	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	44	1:27'35.972	1'43.078	1.178	210.995
12	Lando Norris	McLaren	44	1:27'37.633	1'44.739	1.661	210.928
13	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri	44	1:27'38.111	1'45.217	0.478	210.909
14	Zhou Guanyu	Alfa Romeo	44	1:27'39.146	1'46.252	1.035	210.868
15	Daniel Ricciardo	McLaren	44	1:27'40.057	1'47.163	0.911	210.831
16	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	43	1:25'53.332	1 Lap	1 Lap	210.305
17	Mick Schumacher	Haas	43	1:25'56.152	1 Lap	2.820	210.190
18	Nicholas Latifi	Williams	43	1:26'03.792	1 Lap	7.640	209.879
	Valtteri Bottas	Alfa Romeo	1	2'05.651	43 Laps	42 Laps	197.117
	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	0
View full results

 

How the Belgian Grand Prix unfolded

Sainz, who started on soft tyres, held his pole advantage on the run to Turn 1, leading ahead of Fernando Alonso (Alpine) and the Mercedes duo of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell, as Perez slipped back to fifth from the front row.

Hamilton and Alonso clashed at Les Combes on the opening lap, the contact sending Hamilton flying up in the air and allowing Perez – who passed Russell right behind them – to vault back up to second. Hamilton was forced to pull off at Blanchimont, with his car smoking profusely. Soon after that, Nicholas Latifi spun his Williams and took out Valtteri Bottas’s Alfa Romeo at Les Combes on Lap 2, causing a safety car.

Verstappen was up to eighth by the end of the opening lap, two spots ahead of Leclerc – but Leclerc pitted under the safety car after reporting smoke from his right-front corner, dropping him to 17^th. The team confirmed a helmet visor tear-off had got stuck in his brake duct.

The race restarted in the order Sainz, Perez, Russell, Alonso, Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin), Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren), Alex Albon (Williams) and Verstappen.

Verstappen, who started on soft tyres, quickly picked off Albon at Rivage and Ricciardo at the final chicane.

By Lap 7, Verstappen was up to fourth after passing Vettel and Alonso in smart succession. He then DRS-ed past Russell for third on Lap 8. Meantime, Leclerc was having to battle his way through the backmarkers, rising to 12^th by Lap 10.

Leader Sainz just managed to stay out of DRS range from Perez, who was oddly holding up the charging Verstappen at this point. Sainz pitted for fresh mediums on Lap 12, moments before Verstappen passed Perez for the lead, and rejoined mired in traffic – having to lunge past Ricciardo at Pouhon as Verstappen ran in clear air out front.

Perez stopped on Lap 15, behind Sainz but ahead of Leclerc – who he shoved wide onto the kerb approaching Les Combes. Verstappen pitted a lap later, rejoining 4.7s behind Sainz but on much fresher medium tyres.

Verstappen DRS-ed past Sainz to retake the lead on Lap 18, and Perez took second from Sainz three tours later.

Sainz pitted again on Lap 26, taking hard tyres until the end, with Leclerc also stopping to take more mediums. Leclerc passed Vettel for fifth, which was the best he could manage after his unfortunate early delay.

Both Red Bulls also stopped again, with Verstappen winning by 17s over Perez. Russell closed up on Sainz in the closing stages until he ran wide at Stavelot with four laps to go, which let the Ferrari driver keep his spot on the podium.

Behind Russell in fourth, Leclerc stopped again for a bid to get fastest lap on soft tyres, but this allowed Alonso past him. He repassed Alonso on the final lap to snatch fourth but his last lap was still some six-tenths off Verstappen’s best, and – to add insult to injury – Leclerc was given a 5s penalty for speeding in the pits, that dropped him behind Alonso anyway.

Behind Alonso was his teammate Esteban Ocon – who twice overtook two cars in one move in his Alpine – Vettel and Pierre Gasly, who finished eighth ninth for AlphaTauri, despite a pit-lane start. Albon took the final point in 10^th.

2022 Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix fastest laps

Cla	Driver	Chassis	Laps	Time	Gap	Interval	km/h
1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	32	1'49.354			230.575
2	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	44	1'49.984	0.630	0.630	229.255
3	Sergio Perez	Red Bull	29	1'50.764	1.410	0.780	227.640
4	George Russell	Mercedes	31	1'50.793	1.439	0.029	227.581
5	Lando Norris	McLaren	31	1'51.678	2.324	0.885	225.777
6	Esteban Ocon	Alpine	36	1'51.717	2.363	0.039	225.698
7	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari	32	1'51.977	2.623	0.260	225.174
8	Nicholas Latifi	Williams	38	1'52.256	2.902	0.279	224.615
9	Zhou Guanyu	Alfa Romeo	30	1'52.317	2.963	0.061	224.493
10	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri	32	1'52.436	3.082	0.119	224.255
11	Sebastian Vettel	Aston Martin	40	1'52.515	3.161	0.079	224.098
12	Mick Schumacher	Haas	35	1'52.646	3.292	0.131	223.837
13	Fernando Alonso	Alpine	35	1'52.868	3.514	0.222	223.397
14	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	29	1'52.880	3.526	0.012	223.373
15	Pierre Gasly	AlphaTauri	24	1'53.002	3.648	0.122	223.132
16	Alex Albon	Williams	28	1'53.055	3.701	0.053	223.027
17	Daniel Ricciardo	McLaren	34	1'53.080	3.726	0.025	222.978
18	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	29	1'53.332	3.978	0.252	222.482
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2022 Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix pitstops

Cla	Driver	Chassis	1		2		3		4
1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	S	15	M	15	M	14
2	Sergio Perez	Red Bull	M	14	M	13	H	17
3	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari	S	13	M	14	H	19
4	George Russell	Mercedes	M	13	M	16	H	15
5	Fernando Alonso	Alpine	M	11	M	14	H	19
6	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	S	3	M	22	M	17	S	5
7	Esteban Ocon	Alpine	M	12	H	20	M	12
8	Sebastian Vettel	Aston Martin	M	15	H	19	M	12
9	Pierre Gasly	AlphaTauri	M	10	H	12	M	22	S	0
10	Alex Albon	Williams	M	10	H	16	M	18
11	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	M	16	M	12	H	18
12	Lando Norris	McLaren	M	13	H	16	M	15
13	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri	H	18	M	12	M	14	S	0
14	Zhou Guanyu	Alfa Romeo	M	14	M	14	S	16
15	Daniel Ricciardo	McLaren	M	12	H	20	M	12
16	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	M	11	H	16	M	16
17	Mick Schumacher	Haas	M	14	H	16	M	13
18	Nicholas Latifi	Williams	M	3	M	13	H	19	S	9
	Valtteri Bottas	Alfa Romeo	S	1
	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	M	0
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