After a month’s vacation and much movement amongst the driver market, Formula One racing returns with the already intense championship battle set to resume in the Ardennes Forest in Belgium. Join The Roar for a live blog of the race, starting from 11:10pm AEST.
The scenic Spa-Francorchamps circuit lends its iconic 7km circuit to the long-running Belgian Grand Prix, blending stunning undulation with exceptional high-speed corners.
With a single lap of Spa, one of the longest on the Formula One calendar, the Belgian Grand Prix is comprised of 44-laps – though they are always quite eventful laps.
24-points is the difference between the two title protagonists in Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel, who have won five and four races in 2018 respectively. Hamilton’s record at Spa boasts three wins, whilst Vettel has two to his credit.
Ferrari have not won in Belgium since 2009, which was the fourth victory in Belgium for Kimi Räikkönen. The Scuderia has penetrated previous Mercedes AMG strongholds this season, such as Canada and Silverstone, so could Spa be an addition?
Qualifying saw the two title protagonists lock out the front-row, as it was Hamilton who took advantage of the wet conditions to take pole position ahead of Vettel.
Behind the silver and red duo, it was a trio of midfield cars that found themselves in the top five, with Esteban Ocon claiming an emphatic third for the new Racing Point Force India team.
Despite having surrendered their constructor’s points for 2018, the Pink Panthers will start from the second row of the grid, with Sergio Perez qualifying fourth.
Romain Grosjean placed his Haas ahead of Räikkönen’s Ferrari too in fifth, with the Finn’s side of the garage having made a strategic error towards the end of Q3.
The Red Bulls locked out the fourth row of the grid, in what was a disappointing session for them – given that the rain should have aided them.
Valtteri Bottas meanwhile will drop to the rear of the grid from tenth, having incurred penalties for going over the limit of allocated power-units.
One-stop strategies have been the trend in 2018 and Spa could be no different. Medium, soft and supersoft tyres are on hand provided that the race is dry – though there is a strong chance for showers to intervene.
With breaktime over, the championship is set to rage on. Tune in on The Roar from 11:10pm AEST for live blog coverage of the Belgian Grand Prix and the next chapter in this 2018 title race.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
That was the race that the championship needed then, with a response from Vettel and Ferrari. What will be the outcome in seven days time when F1 heads to Monza and the home race of the Scuderia? Thanks again for tuning into this live blog of the Belgian Grand Prix on The Roar and until the next race in Italy, it's good day!
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
-------- DRIVER'S -------- 231 - Lewis Hamilton 114 - Sebastian Vettel 146 - Kimi Räikkönen 144 - Valtteri Bottas 120 - Max Verstappen 118 - Daniel Ricciardo 52 -- Nico Hulkenberg 49 -- Kevin Magnussen 44 -- Fernando Alonso 40 -- Sergio Perez 37 -- Esteban Ocon 30 -- Carlos Sainz 28 -- Pierre Gasly 27 -- Romain Grosjean 13 -- Charles Leclerc 8 --- Stoffel Vandoorne 6 --- Marcus Ericsson 4 --- Lance Stroll 2 --- Brendon Hartley 0 --- Sergey Sirotkin
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
----- CONSTRUCTOR'S ----- 375 - Mercedes AMG 360 - Scuderia Ferrari 238 - Aston Martin Red Bull Racing 82 -- Renault Sport 76 -- Haas Ferrari 52 -- McLaren Renault 30 -- Red Bull Toro Rosso Honda 19 -- Alfa Romeo Sauber 18 -- Racing Point Force India Mercedes 4 --- Williams Mercedes
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
RACE REPORT Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari have come out of the mid-season break firing, as they claimed an emphatic victory at the Belgian Grand Prix, to reduce the lead of Lewis Hamilton atop the championship. Starting from second, having been out-qualified by the Mercedes AMG in a wet Q3, Vettel avoided the first lap chaos to immediately blast past Hamilton down the Kemmel Straight and then kept that lead following a Safety Car restart. The Safety Car was brought out on the first lap, following a horrific crash involving Nico Hulkenberg, an airborne Fernando Alonso and the Sauber of Charles Leclerc, who’s Halo head protection device even suffered a whack. All three drivers walked away from the crash, but the collateral from the first corner chaos spilled over to damage on Kimi Räikkönen’s Ferrari and even Daniel Ricciardo – who despite re-joining the race, had eventually retired. A regulation one-stopper saw Vettel extend his lead over Hamilton to 10-seconds in the back half of the race, leaving the Silver Arrow gasping in the might of the Prancing Horse. Max Verstappen started from seventh, but finished a lonely third, having avoided the chaos that ensued around him at the start of the race. The Dutchman, with the support of his army of fans in orange, wasted little time in passing the new Force Indias en route to the podium. Having come to Spa as a new entry, Racing Point Force India have opened their new account with a solid fifth and sixth from Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon. With their constructor’s points having been reset to zero, the Silverstone squad has already jumped Sauber and Williams in one race. A solid recovery effort from Valtteri Bottas has seen the Finn finish a commendable fourth, having started from seventeenth following a demotion to the rear of the grid – with a complete change of power-unit beyond the allocated three. Double points for Haas complimented the range of midfielders who scored amidst the high-profile retirements. Pierre Gasly was ninth for Toro Rosso, as the Honda power-unit held its own against the more powerful rivals. Brendon Hartley also proved to be competitive prior to his late stop, having had a spectacular exchange with Marcus Ericsson – who ultimately claimed the final point in tenth. With a short turnaround to the next race in Ferrari’s backyard of Monza, Vettel has now cut Hamilton’s lead to 17-points – with the championship leader full of concern over the raw pace of the red car.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
POST-RACE INTERVIEWS - Hosted by Martin Brundle VETTEL - "More wins than Alain..." "Seems like it was better this year and timing was crucial." "As soon as I was ahead, I was relieved." HAMILTON - "Congratulations to Seb." "He drove past me like I wasn't even there on the straight." "They have a few trick things going on in the car." VERSTAPPEN - "Initially it was a bit chaotic and we stayed out of trouble." "Before we had been a bit unlucky and today I'm really happy."
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
RESULTS FROM THE 44-LAP BELGIAN GRAND PRIX 1 S. Vettel 2 L. Hamilton 3 M. Verstappen 4 V. Bottas 5 S. Perez 6 E. Ocon 7 R. Grosjean 8 K. Magnussen 9 P. Gasly 10 M. Ericsson 11 C. Sainz 12 S. Sirotkin 13 L. Stroll 14 B. Hartley 15 S. Vandoorne 16 D. Ricciardo RET K. Räikkönen RET C. Leclerc RET F. Alonso RET N. Hulkenberg
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
SEBASTIAN VETTEL WINS THE BELGIAN GRAND PRIX! It's the championship leader in Lewis Hamilton who has to settle for second. And in front of the adoring Belgian and Dutch fans, it is Max Verstappen who completes the podium for Red Bull.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 44/44: FINAL LAP
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 43/44: Seb's now all of a sudden extended his lead to 10 seconds over Hamilton! Such has been the speed advantage of the Ferrari during this race.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 42/44: 3 LAPS TO GO
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 41/44: Verstappen gets a bit of overtaking action then, albeit he is lapping the Toro Rosso!
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 40/44: The move complete then by Bottas going into Les Combes on this occasion. Perez drops to fifth.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 40/44: 5 LAPS TO GO
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Roar Guru
Lap 39/44: DRS engaged then for Bottas, as he doesn't quite get close enough down the Kemmel Straight to Perez.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 38/44: Bottas cuts the gap to Perez down to 1.5 seconds and is nearing the DRS range of the Force India.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 37/44: VET HAM VER PER BOT OCO GRO MAG GAS ERI SAI SIR STR HAR VAN is the order then, with a handful of laps to go. The retirees are Ricciardo, Räikkönen, Leclerc, Alonso and Hulkenberg.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 36/44: Bottas honing in onto the Force India of Perez, with that 3 second gap coming down. A stellar race it must be said for Force India, if they still finish fifth and sixth at the end of the race.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 35/44: Hartley then had made his pit-stop a couple of laps ago and has dropped down to P14 now. A relief for Ericsson, who looks to be established in tenth now.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 34/44: 5 second lead now for Vettel over Hamilton, as it appears the Silver Arrow has no answer to the sheer pace of the Ferrari with 11-laps to go.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 33/44: Max in his lonely third place is asking over the radio whether there is any rain coming. No surprise considering he is 25 seconds behind Hamilton and 26 seconds ahead of Perez,