Verstappen was on the brink of failure. And in the end, he defeated everyone again!
Evgeny Kustov July 28, 2023, 19:36 Moscow time
The Dutchman could easily be left out of the top 10, but the rivals decided not to interfere with the new dominance.
Contrary to fears, the main classification of the Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix took place on Friday. Yes, the start of the session was postponed by ten minutes due to wet track, but the main thing is that the races were carried out with adequate visibility and even under the sun that was peeking over Spa-Francorchamps, it happens.
P1: Riccardo’s mistake and Hulkenberg’s problem
Despite the delay with the start of the session, there could be no alternative to the intermediate tires in the first segment. At the same time, it was clear to everyone that since no new rain load is expected, the last few laps of the segment will be decisive. And so it happened.
This time we have not lost any of the favourites. Yes, Charles Leclerc only made it to the top 15 towards the end, but he still made it and by a huge margin. So among the losers were only the middle peasants. Niko Hulkenberg was the first to leave the fight: in his Haas, after the first attempt, they discovered a leak in the hydraulic system. However, the German was released, but it was too late to have time to go to the fastest lap – 20th place.
Nico Hulkenberg had no chance to advance
Photo: Mark Thompson/Getty Images
19 was Daniel Ricardo. He went further, but lost the fastest lap: the Alpha Tauri car was shot down at the start of the Radiolon, and the Australian went completely off the track. Unfortunately, Dan’s first serious mistake after returning.
In addition to two former partners at Renault, Albon (last lap start), Zhou and Sargent made no further progress. After the accident in training, Logan’s car was already prepared during qualifying, but the miracle did not happen: the American lost to his teammate by more than a second. Well, Zhou couldn’t get ahead of Bottas this time.
Q2: Verstappen on the brink of failure
As in the case of the first segment, everything had to be solved by the second attempts. After the first one, all the drivers agreed that the track allows you to switch to slicks, and they rushed to the pits for the “software”. True, at first it was not easy – there were almost no green sectors in the first circles, but two incidents happened at once.
First, Ocon had a small accident: he slipped, his car hit the wall at the Brussels turn. The front suspension miraculously survived, but the wing was badly damaged. Then, in the same place, Magnussen flew into the gravel. The Dane slid down the side of the road and hit the advertising banners, previously ripped off by Okon, with his rear wing. Unlike Okon, however, Kevin avoided damaging the car and even managed the final fastest lap.
Perhaps Magnussen’s wheels were no longer in perfect condition after the incident, and this is what prevented the Haas driver from making a splash by knocking Max Verstappen out of the top 10. The Dutchman had a weak final lap and was on the verge of relegation , but neither Magnussen nor Pierre Gasly, behind the Dutchman, managed to knock out the Red Bull driver and give us an interesting race with a breakthrough of the championship leader.
As a result, again there were no sensations. Tsunoda was in 11th position, followed by Gasly, Magnussen, Bottas and Okon. Another Alpin failure against the background of the removal of the entire current leadership. Well, Kevin still has a trial for the explicit blocking of Charles Leclerc: why Magnussen refused to move from the trajectory, a Haas driver knows. By the way, in theory, a fine also threatens Hamilton: after a start at the Radiolon, he dangerously returned to the track ahead of Russell. However, we can assume that everything here will cost a notice.
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P3: Ferrari, McLaren… And murder of Verstappen
The decisive segment was already on a completely dry track. And the first attempts were suddenly left to Ferrari: Leclerc was ahead of Verstappen by a tenth and a little bit, and Sainz in third position, four tenths behind. Piastri and Norris were close (the Australian looking quicker than the experienced Brit), but the Mercedes did not look like pole position candidates: Hamilton was almost a second behind and Russell drove the first lap half a second slower.
In the second attempts, different configurations of the leaders became apparent: Ferrari shone on the first and third sector straights, McLaren noticeably pulled ahead of the Scuderia in the second. And then Verstappen drove the circle from him, and he just picked up the fastest three sectors. A complete defeat for Max: he was eight tenths ahead of Leclerc, who became second! Finally, a decent qualification from Pérez: yes, he lost almost nine tenths with his teammate, but at least he was third.
Hamilton is in fourth position: the Mercedes driver lost only tenth to Leclerc, and Lewis managed to get ahead of Sainz, Piastri and Norris. At the same time, the newcomer to F-1 is three tenths faster than Lando! Russell showed just eighth time, seven-tenths behind his team-mate, and two Aston Martin drivers were on the fifth row of the grid. Alonso edged out Stroll by a second.
Let’s remember that Verstappen should receive a penalty for changing the gearbox, so the Dutchman will start the main race in this case in sixth place, but Leclerc and Pérez will be in the front row. Sunday’s Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix starts at 4:00 p.m. Moscow time, but tomorrow we will have the sprint part of the weekend: first, sprint qualifying at 1:00 p.m. and then the sprint at 5:00 p.m. :30.
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