SPA, Belgium — On Sunday afternoon, Max Verstappen was the man to beat in Belgium.
Not even a grid penalty that relegated him to 14th starting position could deter the reigning world champion as he drove his Red Bull Racing machine to victory in the Belgian Grand Prix.
“This whole weekend has been incredible. It’s never easy though, it was quite a hectic first lap staying out of trouble, so many things were happening in front of me and everyone was trying to maintain their spot,” Verstappen said. “We made our way forward by picking the right places to overtake and we could look after our tires. Now we need to keep on working hard and focus on each race ahead of us.”
Sergio Perez, Verstappen’s teammate, secured second place, giving Red Bull Racing a 1-2 finish at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps.
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz started from pole position, leading the field into lap one.
Not even a lap later, Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton and Alpine’s Fernando Alonso tangled, ending Hamilton’s run in Belgium. However, the contact between the two unavoidably helped Verstappen move up to eighth place by the restart.
On lap eight, the Red Bull driver was making fast passes on his way to third, with Perez and Sainz within reach ahead of him. A pit stop by Sainz and a mistake by Perez allowed Verstappen to charge into the lead, which he never relinquished.
Verstappen crossed the finish line with a 17.841-second gap over Perez, with Sainz maintaining a podium spot in third.
Mercedes’ George Russell slid into fourth, while Alonso recovered from the early contact with Hamilton to finish in fifth.