A day at the Spa

The Belgian Grand Prix

Article by Finley Ever

Our favorite 22 F1 drivers took a trip to Spa-Francorchamps for the Belgian Grand Prix. Let’s discuss the highlights.

The grid

Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)
Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
George Russell (Mercedes)
Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari)
Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls)
Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi)
Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls)
Pierre Gasly (Alpine)
Franco Colapinto (Alpine)
Nico Hulkenberg (Audi)
Lando Norris (McLaren) (10 place grid penalty)
Carlos Sainz (Williams)
Oliver Bearman (Haas)
Alex Albon (Williams)
Esteban Ocon (Haas)
Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac)
Sergio Perez (Cadillac)
Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) (10 place grid penalty)
Isack Hadjar (Red Bull) (Back of the grid penalty)
Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) (Back of the grid penalty)

The start

At the start of the race, Kimi had a good launch off the line, but unfortunately for the young Italian, so did Max Verstappen. Max overtook Kimi for first very quickly in the midst of the first lap madness. Moments later, Kimi was able to retake first from the Dutchman, and Charles, who already made his way up to third, was quick to take advantage of the stunned Max to pass him for second!

George Russell, who started in third but lost the position, found himself behind his old teammate, Lewis Hamilton, in the first lap. George attempted to overtake the Brit in red, but with all the drivers clumped up, an overtake was extremely challenging. Lewis and George collided, spinning the Mercedes driver into the gravel and out of the race. Not even a full lap into the race, and the yellow flag was waved, turning into a safety car while the marshals retrieved George’s car. The drivers in the back of the field drove into the pit lane to get a pit stop, but everyone out front stayed out. Lewis Hamilton received a 5 second time penalty for the collision.

Around the same time as George’s fiasco, Esteban Ocon, celebrating 10 years in F1 with a Spiderman Brand New Day helmet, slightly collided with his teammate, Ollie Bearman. Which resulted in the Frenchman getting a puncture.

Passes for important positions

In lap 5, Lewis Hamilton sneakily passed Oscar Piastri for fourth place. Oscar retook 4th at enormous uphill speed.

A lap later, the other Ferrari of Charles Leclerc had to deal with four-time WC Max Verstappen behind in third. Along a straightaway, Max reclaimed his starting position of second from the Monegasque.

In lap 8, with a Ferrari behind him and a Ferrari in front, Oscar inched forward as much as he could into Charles Leclerc’s left-hand mirror, he tried his best to claim third, but third wasn’t his for the taking! Charles defended so hard that into the next turn of the track, the Aussie turned slightly, causing slight contact between the two! A bit of debris flew onto track, the collision was noted by race directors, but no further action was taken.

1 lap later, Lewis Hamilton went back into the battle with Oscar Piastri, regaining 4th.

Lando passes again and again

The reigning world champion, Lando Norris, qualified P3 in qualifying yesterday, but started the race in P13. After McLaren used up all three of the provided and legal battery components for Lando’s car, the fourth one issued the papaya driver a ten place grid penalty. Lando quickly went to work to make up for the penalty, though, in the course of the first 12 laps, he was able to make up 7 places, so as of lap 12, he was P6. What a drive!

Box Box

In lap 19, the leader of the race, Kimi, pitted for fresh rubber. The Mercedes team was able to get him in and out of the pit in 2.6 seconds. Kimi reentered the race in 5th behind Lando Norris, now in fourth. Charles Leclerc took the lead of the race!

In the same lap, the two McLaren drivers gave us a flashback to last year. Lando and Oscar had a short-lived battle that resulted in Lando’s hard tire compound being quicker than Oscar’s medium. Lando to third. Seconds later, the yo yo effect came back into play, and Oscar passed Lando for third yet again.

Chaos in the pit lane

Lap 21 of the race, the Virtual Safety car was deployed so marshals could run out on track and pick up some debris. The top three in the race decided it was perfect for a pit stop. Charles, Lewis, and Oscar made their way into the pits. Charles with a stop time of 2.3 seconds, superb. Oscar with a 2.8, and then Lewis, who had to serve his five second penalty before the pit crew could even touch his car! With an unsafe release, one of the mechanics got slightly dragged by Lewis’ tire. Lewis saw the green light and immediately thought he was good to go. Well, that little incident resulted in a fine of 30,000 euros for Ferrari after the race’s conclusion.

Charles was able to exit the pit lane with perfect timing! As Lando took first in the race, Charles came out right behind him, and right in front of none other than the WDC leader, Kimi Antonelli! This was a crucial moment in Charles’ race. Since Kimi had already served his mandatory one pit stop, Charles had much fresher tires than the teenager, so him rejoining the race ahead of him was fantastic! Oscar reentered in 5th, and Lewis did in 6th.

A lead short lived

Lando’s few moments of glory didn’t last too long on his 23 lap old hard tires. Charles Leclerc quickly passed him in lap 23 for first.

3 laps later, Kimi Antonelli in third also passed Lando, taking him into second.

Argentina Pride

In lap 30 of the race, Alpine driver Pierre Gasly worked fast and hard to overtake the Racing Bulls of Liam Lawson on the Kiwi’s left-hand side. Then out of nowhere, Gasly’s teammate, Franco Colapinto, passed both Liam and Pierre from the right! What an overtake! Argentina may have lost the World Cup today, but the racing side of the country rejoiced with their sole F1 driver!

Lando finally pits

In lap 31, Lando finally got called into the pit to change his old and weary tires, 31 laps old! Lando was going to extend the strain on the hard tires longer in hopes of a Safety Car, but he was quickly dropping in the places, so it was time for a change. Unfortunately, his pit stop wasn’t as smooth as his teammate’s earlier on. The back left tire was having trouble, so Lando’s pit was a total of 7.8 seconds. The overtaken drivers started overtaking him, and he reentered the race in 7th position.

Kimi Antonelli wins!

An easy overtake on Charles Leclerc in lap 34 carried Kimi across the finish line in first 10 laps later! In that time, Lewis Hamilton also passed Oscar Piastri for fourth position.

Kimi dedicated his sixth win in Formula One to his dad, who was celebrating his birthday! What an outstanding race for the Italian! Charles Leclerc, fresh off his win in Silverstone, finished the race in second, and Max Verstappen rounded out the podium.

Race Results

Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)
Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari)
Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
Isack Hadjar (Red Bull)
Lando Norris (McLaren)
Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi)
Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls)
Franco Colapinto (Alpine)
Pierre Gasly (Alpine)
Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls)
Nico Hulkenburg (Audi)
Ollie Bearman (Haas)
Alex Albon (Williams)
Carlos Sainz (Williams)
Esteban Ocon (Haas)
Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac)
Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) (DNF)
Sergio Perez (Cadillac) (DNF)
George Russell (Mercedes) (DNF)

Next up, Hungary!