With the Qualifying for the main race tomorrow already concluded, the Sprint Shootout and Sprint were held today, and it was current Drivers’ Standings leader Max Verstappen who emerged as the winner, taking home eight points.
Red Bull has stayed unbeaten in all 14 races held so far this season (including Grand Prix races and Sprints).
The race start was delayed due to rain, and the formation lap was started behind the Safety Car with all 20 drivers on wet-weather tyres. A total of five formation laps were run followed by a rolling start, with the race reduced from 15 laps to 11 laps. Half of the drivers went straight into the pits to switch to Inters, while the other half went in a lap later. The pit resulted in Piastri moving to P1 ahead of Verstappen – the first time the Australian led a Formula One race.
The Safety Car was called back on after birthday boy Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin spun at Turn 11, beaching his car and thereby ending his race. While it was about time Verstappen overtook Piastri to regain the lead of the race, his teammate Perez was having a bad day at work, losing out multiple spots back to back after coming in contact with Hamilton.
With pressure building on, the Red Bull driver went into gravel making matters worse for himself, dropping down to 16th. In the end, RBR decided to retire Perez’s car after discovering a hole in his sidepod. Meanwhile Hamilton was handed a five second time penalty for causing a collision with Perez, and as a result, was demoted to seventh after the race.
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Here is a list of all the eight point scorers at the 2023 Belgian Grand Prix Sprint race:
1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
2. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
3. Pierre Gasly (Alpine)
4. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)
5. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
6. Lando Norris (McLaren)
7. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
8. George Russell (Mercedes)
Do note that the result of the Sprint race does not have any impact on the main Grand Prix race set to take place tomorrow. For the 2023 season, the Sprint format has been established as a separate race, which will be held on Saturdays. Remaining Sprint races this season include Qatar, USA and Brazil.
As for tomorrow’s GP, Charles Leclerc starts on Pole, ahead of Sergio Perez and Lewis Hamilton in P2 and P3 respectively. Leclerc’s partner Sainz takes P4, while Piastri (P5) and Verstappen (P6) will be sharing the third row. Lando Norris, George Russell, Fernando Alonso, and Lance Stroll will be lining up from seventh to tenth respectively.
Stay tuned to TOI Auto for the 2023 Belgian Grand Prix race report tomorrow!