F1 | Belgian GP | Hamilton cruises to 89th win as Ferrari endures a debacle
Lewis Hamilton comfortably won the Belgian GP ahead of Valtteri Bottas and Max Verstappen. Renault impresses with Ricciardo in P4 followed by teammate Ocon.
Lewis Hamilton utterly dominates the Belgian GP, fending off teammate Valtteri Bottas in second and Max Verstappen in 3rd. Thanks to this success, the Briton cruises to his 89th race win and extends his lead in the standings to 47 points.
A dry and mostly drama-free race took place at Spa Francorchamps, as the top 6 finishers were the same as yesterday. Carlos Sainz did not start the race after suffering an exhaust failure on his way to the grid, leaving the 7th slot empty.
The race start turned out rather clean, with Verstappen and Ricciardo engaged in an exciting battle for 3rd resulting in the Dutchman successfully defending his position. Charles Leclerc seemed to be in for a strong recovery, jumping up to 8th at the end of the first lap, but the Monegasque lamented a number of power issues shortly after.
Lap 11 was interrupted by a massive shunt at Fagnes, as Antonio Giovinazzi hit the wall and one of his tyres was caught by George Russell. Both drivers were ruled out of the race and the Safety Car entered the track to even the odds. The majority of the drivers took advantage of it to pit while the track was being cleared.
At the restart Lewis Hamilton managed to maintain the lead ahead of Bottas, while Max Verstappen failed to challenge the Mercedes duo from the get-go. Renault, on the contrary, delivered an extremely pleasing display with Ricciardo in fourth and Ocon in 5th, fully committed to catch Albon (P6) until the checkered flag. Daniel Ricciardo was the author of an incredible charge at the end as Verstappen was slowing down, which allowed the Australian to seal the fastest lap at the very end.
Lando Norris closed in P7, ahead of an impressive Pierre Gasly, who surprisingly managed to rebuild his race following a poor strategy call. The Frenchman blitzed the opposition at the start, moving up to 8th from 12th, and was eventually the last one who pitted from the Hard tyre. However, the Alpha Tauri driver came alive again towards the end of the race, reclaiming his P8 ahead of Stroll and Perez.
Daniil Kvyat crossed the line in P11 ahead of Kimi Raikkonen, who clamorously overtook Sebastian Vettel. Ferrari endured a significantly tough race, with Vettel and Leclerc respectively in P13 and P14 ahead of Grosjean, Latifi and Magnussen.
