Yahoo Autos Verstappen Wins F1 Belgian Grand Prix from 14th, Remains On Track to Wrap Up Title Early
Max Verstappen made up 13 positions in as many laps to romp to a ninth victory of the season at Formula 1’s Belgian Grand Prix. It was his 28th career win in F1 and it might just have been his most dominant to date.
Autoweek runs down the key talking points from Spa-Francorchamps.
An Absolute Max-terclass
The entire weekend was a totally emphatic performance by Verstappen and Red Bull Racing.
Verstappen was buoyant over the feel of his RB18 from the very first lap of practice—not something that he frequently finds—and cruised to pole position by over six-tenths of a second, despite not having to bother 100% given his engine penalty.
From 14th on the grid, Verstappen moved up to eighth at the start, and swiftly picked off rivals, including two on one lap, to hit the front by lap 12. Verstappen seized control on merit, given respective pit stop cycles, on lap 18, which was still before the race reached mid-distance. He simply romped off into the distance. At times Verstappen was over a second faster than anyone else on track and ultimately cruised home 17 seconds clear of Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez.
Ferrari's Carlos Sainz completed the podium in third.
On whether it was the most dominant display of his Formula 1 career, Verstappen replied: “I think if you look at the whole weekend, yes, the car has been incredible from FP1—I don’t think we expected it to be like this. We knew we had our difficulties, starting P14, but we stayed out of trouble in lap one, which wasn’t easy as it was very hectic.
“I think our car is very efficient and I think this track suits it perfectly. Some tracks coming up might be a bit more difficult, but this track seemed to be perfect for the car.”
Perez said no one had a chance against Verstappen on this day.
“Max was flying, he was on another planet today,” said Perez.
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner was in an understandably delighted mood.
“I think this circuit has played to our strengths, we have a very efficient car, we have found a very good set-up, and Max has just been in phenomenal form,” said Horner. “Max hit the front far quicker than we could have ever expected. It’s probably one of the most dominant performances we’ve had as a team since 2010 or 2013, I think it’s right up there with that period. I don’t think we’ve ever won a race starting 14th on the grid, so a phenomenal performance.
"Max was simply in a league of his own. He smashed it out of the park. Max has taken another step since winning the title, it’s in many ways released him, he’s driving at an incredible level.”
The Points
Verstappen’s ninth win of the year means he is now 93 points clear of Perez, with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc 98 back in third place in the Drivers' Standings.
It is now possible for Verstappen to wrap up the title in Singapore, with 138 the magic number. That would mean he would clinch the title with five races remaining in the season, which is a far from from last year when he one the title on the last lap of the last race of the season.
More realistic for a title clincher is the following race in Japan, where an advantage of 112 would be sufficient for Verstappen to be crowned a double champion on Honda’s home soil.
Horner, though, continued to play it cool.
“As far as the championship tables look, they look healthy, but things can change quickly,” he said. “Our prerogative is on each race one at a time and the championship will take care of itself.”
