The 13th round of Formula 1 of the 2023 season is not the easiest to assess: two classifications, two races, difficult conditions… Consequently, our assessment once again runs the risk of breaking its own record for subjectivity.
Max Verstappen – 10
A truly perfect weekend for Max. Over 0.8sec clear of everyone in qualifying on Friday, a confident sprint win (against Piastri) and a move from sixth to first in 17 laps. This time, there is nothing to complain about.
Oscar Piastri – 9
The rookie continues to amaze, and now not only the paddock, but also Lando Norris. In 11 previous qualifications, Oscar fell behind his teammate 10 times, but at Spa he overtook her twice. As a result, it was the shootout that brought Piastri to second place in the sprint – the McLaren in front pitted first. Sainz seized Sunday’s opportunity from the Aussie who was already in the first turn: Piastri could theoretically finish in the top 5, and on Friday, Oscar turned out to be too self-confident and made a blemish late in final Q3. attempt.
How was the Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix:
Another act of dominance: Verstappen has already won 10 of the 12 races this season!
Carlos Leclerc – 8.5
In qualifying and the race, Leclerc achieved the maximum that Ferrari allowed him, but on Saturday Charles did not work out in the best way. Due to an error in the penalty shootout, the Monegasque was behind Sainz and therefore he could not immediately switch to intermediate tires and be in the top 3. In other words, the blurry turn in the morning cost him two points in the general classification.
At Spa, Leclerc was on the podium for the third time in the 2023 season
Photo: Dan Mullan/Getty Images
yuki tsunoda-8
After the failure in Hungary, where Tsunoda looked worse than Riccardo, who sat behind the wheel of the Alpha Tauri for the first time, it was extremely important for the Japanese to surpass his teammate. Dan’s mistake in qualifying was helpful, but Yuki himself did a good job and earned a point, only the third for the Faenza team this year.
The paddock is actively discussing possible transitions:
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Lewis Hamilton – 7.5
Hamilton had a good weekend in Belgium, achieving almost everything Mercedes was capable of and passing Russell for the sixth time in the last seven qualifying. But in the sprint, Lewis still went too far in the fight against Perez, receiving a deserved penalty and missing three points in the championship.
Pedro Gasly – 7.5
Gasly was unlucky at the start of the race on Sunday: he got stuck behind a slowing down Piastri and dropped back to 16th place. Against the background of the forced transition to a pit stop tactic, it was not possible to recover, although a little over two seconds wasn’t enough to make it into the top 10. But it’s worth noting that the Frenchman did a great job in qualifying, twice ahead of Okon, and came third in the sprint.
Heads rolled at Enstone:
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Alejandro Albon – 7.5
On the fifth lap of Sunday’s race, Albon took seventh place and was unable to hold it due to rapid tire degradation by the Williams drivers. Alex led the race with three pit stops but was unable to finish Zhou, who was running on more worn tyres, below the finish line.
Albon after the Belgian Grand Prix
Photo: Dan Mullan/Getty Images
fernando alonso-7
Fernando Alonso also made some mistakes: the former champion went off the track in the sprint, but to be fair, we noted that there were no chances for points (thanks to Stroll) that day. Otherwise, the Spaniard made the most of the available equipment and finished in fifth place, which would have been seventh were it not for the meetings of Piastri and Sainz.
In the days of the Belgian Grand Prix, Alonso turned 42:
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Lando Norris – 7
Norris twice in one weekend was inferior to his teammate in qualifying, and this cannot be a coincidence. In Belgium, Lando was not satisfied with the behavior of the car, but on Sunday, when the Briton switched to “smooth”, the car “came to life” and allowed him to start in seventh place. At the same time, Piastri showed the day before that McLaren was capable of more.
Valtteri Bottas – 7
In Spa, the Alfa Romeo cars were not looking their best: Valtteri Bottas started 13th and came to the finish line 12th, and the technique could barely take over. However, the Finn himself did not perform miracles either: he did not play anything at the start, he was one of the first to go to the pits and predictably got stuck in traffic.
Audi can reject Bottas:
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George Russell – 6.5
The Briton made mistakes in both qualifying (and prevented Hamilton from doing so in one of the episodes), and at the start of the race on Sunday he lost three positions, glued to a slowed down Piastri. In the end, the pilot, who managed to proclaim himself Hamilton’s heir in the Mercedes, got into sixth place. But if he had qualified at the level of Lewis, he would have fought Leclerc for the podium.
In recent races, Russell is inferior to Hamilton
Photo: Francois Nel/Getty Images
Sergio Perez – 6
On Sunday, Cheko finished second, and this is the only good news. In qualifying Perez lost almost 0.9sec to Verstappen, in the sprint he took a hit from Hamilton, which could have been avoided if Sergio had started at least seventh. Finally, on Sunday, the Mexican was 22 seconds behind his teammate in 26 laps.
Pérez again disappointed in the context of Max:
Ferrari is back, Pérez is getting closer to being fired. Belgian Grand Prix results
Esteban Ocon – 6
Ocon’s advance from 14th at the start to 8th on Sunday looks impressive indeed. If you don’t remember that Esteban ended up so far down the grid because of his own mistake at Stavelot, and in the first turn two opponents retired from the race at the same time. Against this background, eighth place doesn’t seem like much of an achievement.
Nico Hulkenberg – 6
Friday’s qualifying ended with technical problems for Hulk, on Saturday the strategists did not have time to send the driver to the fastest lap and on Sunday the German suffered increased tire wear over the entire distance. Therefore, he can assess the weekend from him only in the first attempt in Q1, and in it he was 0.4 seconds slower than Magnussen.
Sesame Street Grand Prix:
Formula 1 took care of the children. It honestly looks like this
Kevin Magnussen – 5.5
After a botched start, the Dane dropped back to 18th and walked behind his teammate, who started from pit lane. Magnussen was able to get ahead of the Hulk only due to the German’s late first pit stop, and at the finish line Kevin was only 15th, slowing down Riccardo and not putting pressure on Albon.
Haas pilots look helpless again
Photo: Mark Thompson/Getty Images
Carlos Sainz – 5.5
Throughout the weekend, Sainz was able to overtake Leclerc only once (in sprint qualifying), and the Spaniard destroyed Sunday’s Grand Prix for himself in the first turn. Carlos rightly reproached Piastri for his inexperience, but a moment before the blow, the Spaniard -especially due to the height of his experience- had the opportunity to avoid a collision, but the Australian had nowhere to go.
Unexpected parallels of football with F-1:
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Spear Walk – 5
The Canadian completely spoiled the entire team on Saturday, crashing the car and depriving Alonso of attempts. As a result, in the sprint both Aston Martin drivers started with no chance of points. On Sunday, the Canadian rehabilitated himself a bit: he salvaged 10th place without the most successful tactics, but on Friday he was a second slower than his teammate. So overall the weekend turned out to be very mediocre.
Daniel Ricardo – 4.5
Starting from the back row, the Alpha Tauri riders had no chance of points, but Ricciardo ended up there due to his own mistake in the Radiolon. Tsunoda showed that this weekend he had a chance of breaking into the top 10, but the cut in the second segment on Friday actually scratched it all.
Domination always ends:
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Guanyu Zhou – 4
In the race, the Chinese driver recovered four positions, and starting from 13th place, this would have allowed him to get into the top 10. However, Zhou did not drop out of Q1, losing more than 1.3sec to Bottas and only 17th on the grid. On Saturday, things looked better for Guanyu, but not much: in the penalty shootout, he lost half a second to Valtteri and didn’t even expect points in the sprint.
Logan Sargent-4
Throughout the weekend, the American experienced problems. It all started with a start in training, then there was a 1.2sec loss to Albon in the main qualifying and a setback on Saturday. Also, in the sprint, Logan topped the speed in pit lane, and on Sunday he stayed at the back of the pack for most of the time.
