Pole: Max Verstappen
Winner: Max Verstappen
Fastest Lap: Lewis Hamilton 1.47.305
1-10
Leclerc gets away well and is able to hold off the red bull of Perez but is able to take the lead later on in the lap. Piastri and Sainz clash into the first corner as on lap 2 Piastri stops on track with damage after Sainz locked up and pushed him into the corner. Verstappen is up to P4 as Perez sets the fastest lap. Alex Albon has done very well and is now up to P8 overtaking Norris on lap 4. Stroll and Russell make it past Norris on the main straight. Stroll and Russell are now battling it out as they head up through Eau Rouge. Lap 6, Verstappen has got past Hamilton and now starts his charge to the front. In the final chicane Russell gets past Sainz who is struggling with damage from lap 1. Already we have seen various different teams come into the pits to swap tyres with limited running over the weekend the tyres don’t seem to be lasting long. Lap 9, Verstappen has got past Leclerc using DRS and is now chasing his team mate. Lap 10, Ricciardo has made it past Norris in P15 and the McLaren is struggling with everyone at McLaren trying to keep him out and avoid a double DNF.
10-20
Lap 11, Hulkenberg capitalises on stronger tyres in the DRS zone to get past Alonso for P8. Lap 13, Hamilton comes into the pits for the medium tyres as does Hulkenberg. Lap 14, Perez has pit and Hamilton seems to be under investigation for weaving on the straight as we hear Verstappen debating with his engineer on the radio. Lap 15/16 Russell is chasing the Aston Martins. Lap 17, Verstappen is now in P1 as he breezes past his team mate. Russell gets past Stroll using DRS and just squeezes past the Aston Martins to take P6. Lap 18, and multiple drivers reporting rain at turn 15. Lap 19, Gasly has got passed Aston Martin of Stroll for P7. The following lap Tsunoda gets past Stroll for P8 is struggling with tyres.
20-30
Lap 21, Stroll has pit for soft tyres but it is a slow stop with a problem on the rear and comes out in 18th. Lap 22, Bottas has got past Ricciardo on the kennel straight. Lap 23, as we see Norris get past Sargeant Russell comes into the pits followed by Ricciardo. Yuki Tsunoda has been doing well as he is now up to P6 on the medium tyres. Lap 24, Russell is firing up his tyres well and has now got past Zhou for P12 and is now chasing Norris for P11. Lap 25, lots of drivers are in the pits as we see Russell overtake Norris on the kennel straight. Lap 28/29 Hamilton and Leclerc have both pit and are going to be fighting for the final podium position. Lap 30 Perez has pit for fresh tyres and is followed by Verstappen with a 27 second gap.
30-44
Lap 33, Albon and Gasly have a respectful battle as Gasly gets past for P11 but Albon is still chasing Gasly heading up Eau Rouge. Lap 34, Albon is in the pits as Verstappen’s race engineer warns him to manage his tyres. Lap 39, Ocon makes a brilliant move down the inside of Yuki Tsunoda and takes P9. Lap 41, there have been a couple of moves from Zhou and Albon making overtakes further down the field as Verstappen looks comfortably in the lead to win the race. Lap 43, Hamilton has pit for fresh tyres to go for the fastest lap. 2 overtakes in 2 laps for Albon has he takes Magnussen into the final lap for P14. Lap 44, Verstappen crosses the line to bring it home followed by his team mate Perez and Leclerc. Hamilton has taken the point away from Verstappen with a stunning fastest lap on the medium tyres.
Comments