Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images
Recapping the Belgian Grand Prix
The first half of the 2023 Formula 1 season is in the books.
And what a first half it has been for Red Bull.
Thanks to their 1-2 finish in the Belgian Grand Prix, the Bulls head into the summer shutdown miles ahead of the field, sitting in first place in the Constructors’ Championship with 495 points, 202 points clear of Mercedes. For a look at just how far ahead of the field they are, you can take note on this graphic from Formula1Points:
Utter domination.
Red Bull are, as you might expect, big winners from the Belgian Grand Prix. But they are not alone.
Winners: Red Bull
We do start with the leaders in the Constructors’ Championship, who look to have both the Constructors’ title wrapped up, as well as a third-straight Drivers’ Championship from Max Verstappen. Sergio Pérez, under pressure in recent weeks over his struggles, particularly in qualifying, has rebounded and put in back-to-back podium finishes. Pérez finished third in the Hungarian Grand Prix, and followed that with a second-place finish at Spa.
As for Verstappen, we will have more on him in a moment, but frankly, what else is there to say?
Red Bull is running from the field right now, and barring something dramatic, they look to have things well in hand for when the second half of the season gets underway at the end of August.
Winner: Yuki Tsunoda
How about Yuki Tsunoda?
When AlphaTauri announced the shocking move to replace rookie Nyck de Vries with veteran — and Red Bull reserve — Daniel Ricciardo it opened the door to rampant speculation about Tsunoda’s future. Perhaps it meant that AlphaTauri and Red Bull wanted to get a better look at Tsunoda’s form, as he was consistently outperforming De Vries, but was that a matter of his growth, or the rookie’s struggles?
Or it could have meant that Ricciardo, and not Tsunoda, had the inside track on a potential move to Red Bull in the future.
But Tsunoda has certainly responded since the move, and today was the best example. While Ricciardo finished head of him in Hungary, both finished outside the points. Today it was Tsunoda who finished ahead, and in the points, with a tenth-place finish. It was a drive described by the F1TV commentary box as “majestic,” and it comes at a critical time in his career.
He remains the only driver to score points for AlphaTauri this season.
Loser: Oscar Piastri
The rookie driver described it best himself following the Belgian Grand Prix:
Piastri was on track for the best weekend of his young F1 career. He was just nipped by Verstappen for pole position in the F1 Sprint race — by a margin of just 0.011 seconds — and finished on the podium for the first time in his F1 career.
Given his starting place on Sunday, in P5, he had a chance at another podium. But his day ended early, when Carlos Sainz Jr. locked up heading into Turn 1 and dipped in front of him, forcing Piastri to the inside:
Piastri would eventually come to a stop, and his race was over.
It was a brutal break for the rookie, and a tough way to end what was shaping up to be a tremendous week.
Winner: Charles Leclerc
Similar to McLaren, it was a day of split results for Ferrari. On the bright side, Charles Leclerc notched another podium, finishing in third and managing to hold off Lewis Hamilton down the stretch for the final spot on the podium.
And what made it more impressive? It was a team result. Hamilton pitted ahead of Leclerc in the closing stages of the race, hoping to undercut Leclerc and get into P3. When Leclerc made his own subsequent pitstop, the team needed to deliver in the pits to keep his third-place spot on the track.
They did just that, managing to get Leclerc back on the track ahead of Hamilton.
In fact, they build such an advantage that in the final laps Mercedes brought Hamilton in to fit him with a fresh set of tyres, surrendering in the fight for third and aiming to instead pick up an extra point for the fastest lap.
Loser: Carlos Sainz Jr.
On the flip side, it was a bitter day for Sainz.
The contact with Piastri on the opening lap caused some damage to his SF-23. During the race his engineers described it to him as causing “5% aerodynamic damage,” which they went on to describe as “pretty big.”
Ferrari kept him on the track, but he slid back through the field. Eventually his day ended early, his first retirement of the 2023 season.
Following the race, Sainz put the blame squarely on Piastri.
“I was on the attack with Lewis and I think I pretty much had the move done into turn one,” he said. “I hit the apex cleanly and everything.
“But unfortunately I think Oscar was trying to do a bit of an optimistic move on me I think. A bit of a shame because when you review the past races here in Spa and you know what’s been the difficult turn one incidents it’s exactly that,” added the Ferrari driver. “Everyone who tried the inside line into turn one normally generates an incident or a crash and tries to really make it around there normally generates an incident or a crash. And this time it was my turn to receive it.”
“At some point someone needs to back out,” Sainz added. “He’s the guy who is alongside my rear-right that I think needs to back off the move and not me and let him pass me into turn one, especially when I’m pretty much having my move done with Lewis.”
As for Piastri, he thought there was blame to go around, stating “…we both could have done things a bit differently” to avoid the collision.
“I think it’s quite firmly in the category of a lap one, turn one incident,” said Piastri. “I got a good start and put my nose alongside. And then when we got to the braking zone, Carlos moves a bit to the right and locked up and I also had to try to avoid that a bit.”
“From that to the apex, my options were quite limited in where I could go,” added the McLaren rookie. “I’ll look back over it more and see if there was more I could have done but just a shame that we’re standing here and not still on-track.”
Winner: Lando Norris
In the early going it seemed like this day was shaping up to be a disaster for McLaren.
Piastri was knocked out of the race early, and despite starting inside the points, Lando Norris was sliding back through the field. He was one of the very first drivers to pit, coming in on Lap 6 and switching to the hard compound, rejoining the fight all the way back in P17.
But he managed to fight his way back through the field, thanks in large part to a stunning 26-lap run on the soft tyres, and finished in P7:
While that might not seem impressive at first blush, seeing as that is where he started his day, to get back into the points after a difficult start makes him one of today’s winners.
Something he seemed to acknowledge after the Grand Prix:
Incomplete: Williams
It is hard in good conscience to call the day from Williams a loss, but they must feel disappointed coming away without any points.
Their FW45 was one of the faster cars on the track Sunday, particularly in the straights. In the early going they had Alex Albon running inside the top ten, with Logan Sargeant knocking on the door of his first-ever points finish in F1.
But it was not to be. The brief bit of rain was a problem for them, as the FW45 had struggled earlier in the week in wet conditions, and both drivers finished outside the points. Albon came across the line 14th, with Sargeant behind him in 17th.
They are one of the underdogs this season, and coming away with a haul of points would have been huge for them in the standings. Instead they leave Spa empty handed, wondering about what might have been.
Winners: Mercedes
With Red Bull pulling away from the field, perhaps the biggest remaining battle left in the season, when it comes to the Constructors’ standings, is who finishes second.
Heading into the summer shutdown, advantage Mercedes.
Today was another solid day for the Silver Arrows in that fight, as Hamilton finished fourth with George Russell not too far behind him in sixth. Add in their sprint points from Saturday, and you have a 23-point haul for Mercedes on weekend, with likely one more point to be added when Hamilton’s bonus point for the fastest lap is confirmed.
Meanwhile their biggest competition for second at the moment, Aston Martin, earned 12 points on the weekend, thanks to a fifth-place finish from Fernando Alonso and a ninth-place finish from Lance Stroll.
Following the Austrian Grand Prix, Mercedes had just a three-point lead over Aston Martin, and this was after trailing them early in the season. As the first half of the year ends, the Silver Arrows now enjoy a 50-point lead over Aston Martin.
Whether they hold onto that lead or not remains to be seen, but in what might be the biggest battle left, Mercedes has the advantage.
Losers: Haas
Now we look to the other end of the table.
This was a brutal weekend for Haas.
Nine teams brought some sort of upgrade to the track this weekend. Haas was the only team that did not, and it showed. Kevin Magnussen finished 14th in the F1 Sprint race with Nico Hülkenberg behind him in P17.
And in the Grand Prix Sunday, it only got worse. Magnussen finished 15th, with Hülkenberg in 18th.
That might make for a restless summer break for Guenther Steiner and the team.
Winner: Max Verstappen
Earlier I wondered what else is left to say about Verstappen.
However, I have to try and find something.
What Verstappen is doing right now may not be unique to Formula 1, as we have seen dominant stretches before, but it is rather remarkable given the current state of the sport. With elements in place such as the cost cap and the aerodynamic testing restrictions, F1 itself is trying to compact the field as much as possible.
While that process seems to be working in the midfield, as we have seen teams such as Aston Martin, McLaren, Alpine, and others show flashes throughout the season, it has not impacted Red Bull at the front.
And it has certainly not impacted Verstappen, who has now won eight-straight races. That puts him alone into second place in the all-time win streak category, and now just one shy of the record nine-consecutive wins from Sebastian Vettel back in 2013.
A mark Verstappen is likely to equalize when the second half of the season begins, in the Dutch Grand Prix. A home race for the driver.
How easy is it for Verstappen right now? Consider this joke from Hamilton following Sunday’s race:
Certainly the strength of the RB19 is playing a role, but when you look at the gap from Verstappen to Pérez, the car itself is not the entire story.
Verstappen is simply performing at an incredible level, and that does not look to be stopping anytime soon.
