New Delhi: Red Bull car racer Max Verstappen won the Formula One (F1) title during the Belgian Grand Prix 2022 (GP) at the Spa Francorchamps circuit on Sunday, August 28, 2022.
The formation lap saw Carlos Sainz from Ferrari in the lead, followed by Red Bull racer Sergio Perez, Fernando Alonso for Alpine, and Lewis Hamilton, and George Russell for Mercedes, respectively.
Verstappen said in a pre-race interview, “The aim is to stay out of trouble and see where we end up. You cannot have a car that is on pole in Budapest and suddenly be almost be 2 seconds off, so, we need to look into the data, dig deep and find out. I think it is clear from the reaction from Lewis that the car was un-driveable yesterday. So, we need to find the right compromise between finding out what is happening and focusing on next year’s design.”
The first lap began with Sainz in the lead as Alonso, Hamilton, and Russell steamed past Perez. The high octane drama came to the fore when Hamilton and Alonso tried to gain the second place. However, the tussle didn’t end well and the two racers ended up getting ploughed in the gravel.
Though the cars returned during lap two, they were brutally damaged. Meanwhile, sparks emanated from under Hamilton’s Mercedes right after going into turn 16 and his team immediately informed him to stop. Hamilton was ultimately removed from the race.
On the other hand, Sainz is in the lead, closely followed by Perez, Russell, Alonso, and Vettel, respectively, whereas Verstappen managed to reach place eight on the leader board by lap four. Racers Alonso and Russell were pitted against each other for the third position by lap six, whereas Verstappen smoothly fund his way to rank five on the leader board. Meanwhile, Charles Leclerc was struggling in position 16 by lap eight.
Verstappen left Alonso and Russell behind as he raced past position three, and grabbed the second spot by lap ten. The top five by lap 16 in chronological order were Verstappen, Sainz, Perez, Leclerc, and Russell.
The Dutch made a pit stop at lap 18, thereby giving the lead to Sainz as Russell overtook Leclerc for the fourth place. Red Bull race Verstappen was leading the Belgian GP followed by compatriot Perez, Sainz, Russell, Leclerc, and Alonso respectively by lap 22.
Things took a heated turn once again when Russell overtook Sainz for second place and became the quickest driver by lap 38. Despite trying his best, Leclerc is predicted to stick with 05th position by lap 40.
However, Verstappen, Perez, Sainz, Russell, and Leclerc became the top contenders for the title during the last four laps of the racing event. Leclerc pitted in lap 43 and this gave Alonso an opportunity to rank a place higher. Verstappen cruised into the final lap and clinched the title.
The racing event ended with Verstappen in first place, followed by Perez and Sainz at rank two and three respectively. The race also marked the retirement of Sebastian Vettel.
(Avya Mathur)
