Max Verstappen chases his eighth-straight win: Live updates on the Belgian Grand Prix

Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images

Before the summer break, Verstappen and Red Bull are aiming for another win. Will anyone stop them?

In the final race before the summer shutdown, Max Verstappen is aiming to inch one win closer to Sebastian Vettel’s all-time mark of nine-straight Formula 1 victories.

But to get his eighth-straight win, Verstappen will need to make up some ground on the track.

Despite qualifying for pole position Friday, Verstappen will start the Belgian Grand Prix in sixth position, due to a five-place grid penalty he incurred after the team changed his gearbox ahead of qualifying. That is the fifth gearbox the team has used on Verstappen’s RB19 this season, one more than the four each team is alloted under the rules.

Instead, it will be Charles Leclerc starting up front Sunday, with Sergio Pérez rolling off the line in P2. Behind them will be Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes in P3, with Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz Jr. in P4.

Hamilton got hit with a penalty of his own in the Sprint race on Saturday, after it was judged that he caused a collision with Pérez. That dropped Hamilton from a fourth-place finish in the Sprint race to a P7.

Returning to Verstappen, as the driver himself pointed out after qualifying on Friday, starting from sixth might seem easy compared to where he was a year ago. At last season’s Belgian Grand Prix Verstappen also qualified first, but due to similar grid penalties he was dropped to P14 to start the race.

He was back in the points by the end of the opening lap, and in the lead by Lap 12.

It might not take him as long today.

We’ll have live analysis and updates throughout the race on Sunday, getting rolling in the hours leading up to lights out. The 2023 Belgian Grand Prix gets underway at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Sunday, so check back early and often!