Max on another level in Belgium

August 30, 2022 at 18:21

It’s fair to say that the Belgian Grand Prix was completely dominated by Max Verstappen. After qualifying as fastest with more than 6 tenths faster than Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz, Verstappen started the race in 14th. Max received a grid penalty after changing some motor components. Before the race started Verstappen commented that he was aiming for a podium finish, while most people already felt more was possible. It took him only 12 laps to be driving in first place. After his first pitstop it was lap 18 where he overtook Sainz to take the lead again and to finish the race in first. After 44 laps Max finished almost 20 seconds in front of Sergio.

Lewis 5th DNF during the Belgian Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton was the only driver that didn’t DNF this year, but this all changed at Spa-Francorchamps. While battling with Fernando Alonso in the opening lap Lewis damaged his car too much to continue. This DNF meant the 5th DNF for Lewis Hamilton in total on Spa-Francorchamps.

Sebastian Vettel most laps driven at Spa

In his last year as a Formula 1 driver, Sebastian Vettel broke the record of most laps driven at Spa-Francorchamps. He overtook Michael Schumacher this weekend with a total of 622 laps driven at Spa. Schumacher is now in second place with 20 laps less than Vettel; 602 laps. Worth mentioning since next year there will be another race at Spa, Fernando Alonso is currently in 6th place with 494 laps driven. So if he’ll drive at least 11 laps Alonso will enter the top 5.

Verstappen second consecutive win from 10th or lower

After winning the Hungarian Grand Prix from 10th on the grid and now with his win at the Belgian Grand Prix from 14th, Max Verstappen is the second driver ever winning two races back to back from 10th or lower on the grid. The only other driver who achieves this was Bruce McLaren with two consecutive wins in 1959 and 1960. He won the 1959 United States Grand Prix from 10th and then the 1960 season opener in Argentina from 13th.

Next up: Dutch Grand Prix

This weekend we’re back in the Netherlands, Zandvoort for the Dutch Grand Prix. Can Verstappen continue his winning streak at his home Grand Prix? On paper the circuit looks like a little better suited for Ferrari, but what can we expect after last weekends Red Bull’s dominance?

If we look at history we see that Jim Clark won 4 times at Zandvoort, which makes him the record holder of most wins at the Dutch circuit. Niki Lauda and Jackie Stewart both won 3 times in the Netherlands. There are also a lot of drivers who have won 2 times, namely: Jack Brabham, Alberto Ascari, Alain Prost and James Hunt. Can Verstappen add himself to this list after this weekend?