Round 12: The Spa Grand Prix, the last before the summer break
The last Grand Prix before the summer break was the Belgian Grand Prix at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit over the weekend of 28-30 July. A sprint race was also scheduled during this weekend.
Qualifying on the Spa-Francorchamps circuit
Qualifying for the race was already scheduled on Friday, as Saturday was all about the sprint race. Qualifying started wet, but the track gradually dried up. Max Verstappen only just made it to Q3, but then took pole position. He edged Charles Leclerc by 0.8 seconds. Sergio Perez placed third. Verstappen did incur a grid penalty, which meant he had to start from P6 during the race.
View the full results of qualifying in Belgium here.
Sprint race in Belgium
The Sprint Shootout on Saturday was postponed, due to wet conditions. Later it started anyway and it was slipping and sliding for a while. Oscar Piastri drove a rock-solid qualifying, but was narrowly beaten by Max Verstappen. The Red Bull driver edged the Australian by 0.011 seconds. Piastri was soon followed by Carlos Sainz who took third place with a difference of 0.025 seconds. See the full results of the Sprint Shootout here. After an exciting sprint race, Max Verstappen managed to cash in on his pole position and ran away with the win. It was exciting for a while though, as Oscar Piastri seemed to be leading the race for a while, as he could go in earlier for the intermediate tyre. He finished in the top three for the first time in his F1 career. Sergio Perez dropped out due to a collision with Lewis Hamilton and Frenchman Pierre Gasly took third place.
See full results of the sprint race in Belgium here.
F1 Belgian Grand Prix 2023
With Charles Leclerc in first place, due to Max Verstappen's penalty, the Belgian Grand Prix kicked off. Soon Sergio Perez grabbed the lead and Oscar Piastri dropped back, due to damage to his wing. Unfortunately, this resulted in a retirement. A setback after the successful sprint race the day before. Carlos Sainz also suffered damage to his Ferrari and also ended up being recalled. On lap 17 of the race, Max Verstappen takes the lead and manages to win by 22 seconds ahead of his teammate Sergio Perez, who comes second. Leclerc completes the podium and Yuki Tsunoda also manages to grab a point in 10th position with his AlphaTauri.
View the full results of the 2023 F1 Belgian Grand Prix here