Max Verstappen Wins Shortest-Ever Formula 1 Race In Belgium

Photo Credit: Steve Etherington for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd.

Despite the best efforts of the 20 Formula 1 drivers and teams, the ultimate winner of this weekend racing at Belgium’s Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps was the weather. Complicating Saturday’s qualifying for the 2021 Belgian Grand Prix by soaking the fast Eau Rouge section of the popular race track, rain continued into Sunday greatly hindering what was supposed to have been a 44-lap event. Instead of pole sitter Max Verstappen leading the field with his #33 Red Bull Racing RB16B race car, the vehicle at the front during the limited laps around the course was the safety car. In fact, the lap count at the end of the Belgium Grand Prix would be a series record for the shortest grand prix ever to be run by Formula 1.

Conditions ahead of the start Belgian Grand Prix instantly signalled how miserable the weather competitors, track workers and race fans would have to endure as Formula 1 attempted to run the race on Sunday afternoon. As drivers took to the grid for the race, the #11 Honda-powered Red Bull Racing car driven by Sergio Perez nosed itself into the tire barrier at turn 8 in at Les Combes. The Mexican driver admitted to making a mistake by hitting a curb but extreme wet weather and low visibility was a massive challenge not only for the two-time grand prix winner but everyone competing.

Photo Credit: Steven Tee/LAT Images/Pirelli

Race Stewards attempted to begin the event about 25 minutes after the originally-intended start time with a few formation laps completed by the field. However, instead of starting the Belgian Grand Prix, a red flag was called. In an attempt to wait out the rain showers, Formula 1 Race Director Michael Masi eventually decided to stop the clock for what was the customary three-hour time limit. During this delay, the Red Bull Racing crew was permitted to repair the #11 car and would return Sergio Perez to the grid when the next attempt was made to salvage the race.

Waiting more than three hours since the originally planned start of the 2021 Belgian Grand Prix, the Race Direction decision was made to call the race completed after just three laps of parading behind the Mercedes-AMG GT R safety car. With the grid position closely mirroring the end results on Sunday, the win of the event was rewarded to pole sitter Max Verstappen. The victory for Dutch driver comes a week ahead of Formula 1's long-awaited return to the Circuit Zandvoort in the Netherlands. After a stellar qualifying performance that placed him and his #63 Williams Racing car on the front row, George Russell scored second. The young British driver’s first Formula 1 podium, the result was William Racing’s first top-three finish since Lance Stroll’s third place at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Photo Credit: Alastair Staley/LAT Images/Pirelli

Taking third place and the final podium spot, Mercedes-AMG driver Lewis Hamilton lost five points to Max Verstappen in the World Drivers’ Championship. Arriving at the Dutch Grand Prix, Hamilton stands just three points ahead of his Red Bull Racing rival.

The rain-shortened event in Belgium was Daniel Ricciardo’s highest finish since joining the McLaren team ahead of the 2021 season. Ricciardo’s teammate Lando Norris started Sunday’s race in 15^th after his team was able to repair his #4 car after a dramatic crash in Q3 of qualifying suffering only a five-grid place penalty after requiring a transmission change. Norris finished 14^th due to Sergio Perez dropping to 19^th place following his pre-race crash.

Sebastian Vettel captured the fifth place spot for Aston Martin Racing ahead of Pierre Gasly who was rewarded with sixth place for Scuderia AlphaTauri. Hungarian Grand Prix winner Esteban Ocon enjoyed a seventh place result for the Alpine F1 Team. The Scuderia Ferrari team cars of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jr. sandwiched the second Williams Racing vehicle of Nicholas Latifi for the final spots in the top 10. Due to the drastically shortened event, only half points were rewarded to the top 10 finishers.

 

The next event for the 2021 Formula 1 schedule is the Dutch Grand Prix with a 72-lap race set for September 5^th.

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2021 Formula 1 Season
Belgian Grand Prix
Race Results
Pos #	Car #	Driver	Team	Engine
1	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing	Honda
2	63	George Russell	Williams Racing	Mercedes-Benz
3	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team	Mercedes-Benz
4	3	Daniel Ricciardo	McLaren F1 Team	Mercedes-Benz
5	5	Sebastian Vettel	Aston Martin Cognizant F1 Team	Mercedes-Benz
6	10	Pierre Gasly	Scuderia AlphaTauri	Honda
7	31	Esteban Ocon	Alpine F1 Team	Renault
8	16	Charles Leclerc	Scuderia Misson Winnow Ferrari	Ferrari
9	6	Nicholas Latifi	Williams Racing	Mercedes-Benz
10	55	Carlos Sainz Jr	Scuderia Misson Winnow Ferrari	Ferrari
11	14	Fernando Alonso	Alpine F1 Team	Renault
12	77	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team	Mercedes-Benz
13	99	Antonio Giovinazzi	Alfa Romeo Racing	Ferrari
14	4	Lando Norris	McLaren F1 Team	Mercedes-Benz
15	22	Yuki Tsunoda	Scuderia AlphaTauri	Honda
16	47	Mick Schumacher	Uralkali Haas F1 Team	Ferrari
17	9	Nikita Mazepin	Uralkali Haas F1 Team	Ferrari
18	7	Kimi Raikkonen	Alfa Romeo Racing	Ferrari
19	11	Sergio Perez	Red Bull Racing	Honda
20	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin Cognizant F1 Team	Mercedes-Benz
2021 Formula 1 Drivers' World Championship Points (After Belgian Grand Prix)
		Driver	Total Points
	1	Lewis Hamilton	202.5
	2	Max Verstappen	199.5
	3	Lando Norris	113
	4	Valtteri Bottas	108
	5	Sergio Perez	104
	6	Carlos Sainz Jr	83.5
	7	Charles Leclerc	82
	8	Daniel Ricciardo	56
	9	Pierre Gasly	54
	10	Esteban Ocon	42
	11	Fernando Alonso	38
	12	Sebastian Vettel	35
	13	Lance Stroll	18
	14	Yuki Tsunoda	18
	15	George Russell	13
	16	Nicholas Latifi	7
	17	Kimi Raikkonen	2
	18	Antonio Giovinazzi	1
	19	Mick Schumacher	0
	20	Nikita Mazepin	0
2021 Formula 1 Contructors' Points (After Belgian Grand Prix)
		Constructor	Engine	Total Points
	1	Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team	Mercedes-Benz	310
	2	Red Bull Racing	Honda	303
	3	McLaren F1 Team	Mercedes-Benz	169
	4	Scuderia Misson Winnow Ferrari	Ferrari	165
	5	Alpine F1 Team	Renault	80
	6	Scuderia AlphaTauri	Honda	72
	7	Aston Martin Cognizant F1 Team	Mercedes-Benz	53
	8	Williams Racing	Mercedes-Benz	20
	9	Alfa Romeo Racing	Ferrari	3
	10	Uralkali Haas F1 Team	Ferrari	0

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