Belgian GP weekend kicked off the third triple-header of the season. Unfortunately even more dark clouds had gathered upon the Red Team at chilly Spa Francorchamps. The SF1000 went absolutely nowhere in the straights, and the FP3 saw Charles in poor P17 and Sebastian at the very back of the pack! That wasn't a good omen for the qualifying.
It took a lot of effort from the red-suited drivers to even get through to Q2. Actually Charles made it just barely, as he was the last driver in safety, with a teeny-tiny margin of 0.087s. Mercedes, on the other hand, continued living their fairy-tale. They could easily afford to opt for the medium compound in Q2, as did Verstappen in his RB16. It was a bit surprising to see both Racing Points come out on the medium compound as well. At this point, the gaps seemed quite small. Hamilton on top was only a tenth quicker than his teammate Bottas, and Verstappen in third was four tenths down on the Briton. Renault were the perky surprise of the qualifying, as Ricciardo and Ocon both showed excellent pace. Spa Francorchamps, which is known as a true power circuit, seemed to be the worst-suiting track for the Red Team this far. There was no way either Sebastian or Charles was able to make it among the top ten! P13 (Charles) and P14 (Sebastian) were all the Red Team got this time.
Q3 was another sequel to Mercedes' success story. Hamilton had laid his hands on provisional pole by half a second to his teammate. Ricciardo was stunning third after his first run, but Verstappen was lurking only a hundredth of a second behind his ex teammate. In spite of his flawless first flyer, Hamilton managed to cut two tenths off his first benchmark, whilst teammate Bottas proved unable to match his teammate's pace. So it was well-deserved 93rd pole for the reigning world champion. Verstappen came close to make it on the front row, as the flying Dutchman was only 0.015s off Bottas' pace. Ricciardo qualified fourth for Renault, Albon fifth for Red Bull and Ocon sixth in the sister Renault.
The top three started to the race on the yellow-marked medium rubber. Outside the top ten, AlphaTauri's Gasly opted for the white-marked hardest compound. The Scuderia drivers were on differing tyre strategy, as Charles was on softs and Sebastian on mediums. Pre-race drama was faced by McLaren's Sainz, who was hit with an exhaust failure, which proved impossible to be be fixed in time for the start.
Hamilton took a flawless start. Teammate Bottas was right there in the lipstream, but had to lift his foot off the throttle for a fleeting moment. This meant, that the Finn wasn't close enough in the Kemmel straight to make a move on Hamilton. Verstappen, who had started to the race from P3, was in trouble with Renault's Ricciardo, who was on soft Pirellis. The Australian made it ahead of his ex teammate, but it was nothing but a temporary moment. From then on, P3 was firmly in Max's hands. Ocon had taken an impressive start, as the Frenchman had passed Red Bull's Albon.
In spite of his modest grid slot, Charles had a promising start to the race. The Monegasque had taken an aggressive start, and he had made his way up to P10 already. But the race was a struggle, as Charles complained on the team radio about the lacking straight line speed. McLaren's Norris saw his chance and was easily able to pass Charles, snatching P10.
Lap 11 saw dangerous-looking drama. Alfa Romeo's Giovinazzi, who was driving outside the top ten ahead of his teammate, ended up pushing too hard, which made him lose the rear of his Alfa Romeo. The Italian was thrown into the wall. Although this should never have happened, the rear-left tyre was cut loose, hitting Williams' Russell. The Briton did everything he could to avoid the airborn tyre, but it was a mission impossible. Russell, too crashed into the wall. The track was completely covered with debris, and safety car was deployed. Everyone else rushed into the pits, except for AlphaTauri's Gasly and Racing Point's Perez, who opted to stay out. Mercedes made a double stop, which proved risky for Bottas. The Finn was just barely able to keep his W11 ahead of Verstappen's RB16, when exiting the pits. Tyre strategy was quite straightforward; all top drivers switched to the hardest rubber.
Hamilton was still in charge, with Bottas second and Verstappen third. Due to staying out, Gasly was fourth and Perez fifth. The restart took place on lap 14. Hamilton's restart was as flawless as his first one; there was no chance for Bottas to challenge his teammate for the lead. Lap 16 saw a sad moment; Kimi in his Alfa Romeo passed Sebastian easily, robbing the German of P12. It was difficult to believe my eyes, as last year Charles had taken his maiden win in F1 at Spa Francorchamps! In just a year spraying champagne had turned into driving with the backmarkers. Lap 19 saw a wheel-banging battle between the Ferrari drivers for P13. They even slightly made contact, but Sebastian stubbornly defended what was his.
The script for the race proved boring; Hamilton controlled the race from the start till the chequered flag. It was highly predictable win number 89 for the invincible Briton. Again Bottas had to settle for playing the second fiddle. Verstappen completed the podium, like he has done in five previous races as well. The comet of the race was definitely Ricciardo, who finished fourth. The ever-smiling Australian took the extra point for the fastest lap time under his belt. Ocon in the sister Renault had made impressive job, too by overtaking Red Bull's Albon on the very final lap. Norris finished 7th for McLaren, and finally Gasly was left in P8. However, the Frenchman was voted as the Driver of the Day by fans. Sebastian and Charles finished the race in P13 and P14! The current situation is utterly unbearable!
Hamilton's lead in the drivers' championship standings keeps growing. The imperious Briton now has 157 points to Verstappen's 110. Bottas is still third with 107 points. Albon has now dropped Charles down to P5; Norris, too now equals Charles' 45 points. Awaiting are back-to-back races on Italian soil. There will possibly be two humiliating weekends for the Red Team, if they continue their crawling like this. It really breaks my heart to see the legendary and iconic Red Team struggle so bad! They are so lost with their car. It is so difficult at the moment, but better days will come.
With passion for racing red,
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