The 2023 F1 season is just about to head on their hard-earned summer break, but before they do there’s the Belgian Grand Prix weekend which has two races to sort out. To do just that is our 2023 Belgian F1 Grand Prix Result for both the Sprint Race and the Main Event.
This 2023 Belgian Grand Prix Result, Lap by Lap, Review & Summary gives you just enough to catch up with. With just a hint of cynicism, bias, opinion and colour. The perfect bite sized review for those who couldn’t be bothered, or don’t have enough time. And you get it for both the main race on Sunday and the Sprint Race on Saturday. So read on.
READ MORE:
2023 Belgian Grand Prix Preview
2023 Hungarian Grand Prix Review
Our 2023 F1 Calendar & Results
2023 Belgian F1 Grand Prix Result Sprint Race Summary
Didn’t see the race live? Don’t have time to watch the whole race? Well here are the top laps where stuff happened. We write these live as we go, sort of like a minute by minute for the football, but marginally more interesting.
Setting the scene – Just add water….another wet qualifying didn’t quite shake up the first place on the grid for the sprint race, but at least gap has closed and the queue for next best is ever-changing. For the record Max Verstappen took pole, but only by 0.011 seconds to Oscar Piastri. About the same distance further back is last year’s pole sitter Carlos Sainz in third and Charles Leclerc was fourth in a good day out for Ferrari. Sergio Perez disappointed with 8th. And a few drivers that could have caused some top ten sprint nuisance were wiped out by Lance Stroll’s early attempt on slick tyres on a wet track which ended Q2 a few minutes early.
So the rain returns for the Sprint Race delaying the start. Fair enough on safety grounds, but you do have to question why would you tempt fate with two race at the circuit famous for unpredictable weather. Especially given one race last two laps a few years ago. But it is sunny, which may helps us see some action. Hopefully.
Eventially, when the sprint race was scheduled to finish, the race starts….
GRID (Starting Order) – VER PIA SAI LEC NOR GAS HAM PER OCO RUS
Lap 0 – The race begins behind the safety car with five Formation laps as the drivers and officials try and work out how safe it is. As the safety car pulls away the cars bunch up and Max Verstappen flies away.
Lap 1 – Most of the field comes in for wet tyres before they cross the line for the restart including Oscar Piastri, Carlos Sainz, Sergio Perez and more. Max Verstappen stays out with Charles Leclerc, Lando Norris, Esteban Ocon and George Russell. Even Logan Sargeant staus out and is sixth from his unusually high grid slot of 13th. This could really work out for Oscar Piastri and the pitstop crew.
ORDER – VER LEC NOR OCO RUS SAR ALO TSU MAG ZHO – PIA (11th)
Lap 2 – Max Verstappen pits after building a four second lead on just the first lap. Will he get out in front of Piastri? The answer is Yesssssssss. Although with thanks to the F1 TV crew we actually missed the moment to see a Ferrari going slow in the pitlane. Absolute clowns. The cars that stayed out were all affected and dropped places, those that pit made good progress. A bad pitstop didn’t help Lando Norris. But Oscar Piastri leads his first grand prix, and his higher downforce setup will work a treat in these conditions.
ORDER – PIA VER GAS PER HAM SAI LEC NOR RIC OCO
Lap 3 – Max Verstappen hounds Oscar Piastri, but the rookie Australian is taking none of his crap for now. The TV coverage eventually shows the replay of Piastri taking the lead. Clowns.
SAFETY CAR DEPLOYED
Lap 4 – Fernando Alonso is off the track and stuck in the gravel trap. This brings out the Safety Car. It was a beautifully choreographed double spin off the track for Alonso. Safety Car allows us to see another replay of Piastri taking the lead from the view of Verstappen’s car. Clowns.
SAFETY CAR EXITS
Lap 6– Piastri holds onto his lead from the restart but Max Verstappen is right on his tail and overtakes him on the Kemmel straight in the early part of the lap. Too easy really. That Red Bull is quick. No change for the rest of the top ten, although Lewis Hamilton attempted to overtake Sergio Perez on the inside of a 200 kmh+ corner, they touch but continue. By the time they make it to the first corner Hamilton gets past Perez. Before the next corner Sainz is past. Not long after Leclerc is by too. Half a lap later he slide off into the gravel but continues. Quality for Perez.
Lap 8 – Max Verstappen is three seconds ahead of Piastri, who looks comfortable enough in second. Lewis Hamilton continues to fly and is on Gasly’s tail. Coincidentally after Perez’s off, that means Daniel Ricciardo moves up into the points.
ORDER – VER PIA GAS HAM SAI LEC NOR RIC OCO RUS
Lap 9 – Gorge Russell and Esteban Ocon battle for 9th. Eventually Russell gets the place. In other news, Lewis Hamilton receives a five second penalty for his clash with Perez. Seems harsh. This will currently drop him to 7th.
Lap 10 – Another Ashes victory as English George Russell steals the final point from Australian Daniel Ricciardo. Lewis Hamilton is trying to get past Pierre Gasly to reduce the punishment of five seconds. The other cars around hope Gasly can hold him up and they can get within five seconds. Gasly holds on going into the final lap.
Final Lap – Max Verstappen cruises to victory, he really is the best out there. A good car helps. A good car also helps rookie Oscar Piastri shine in the wet and he takes second and well deserved. Joy to for Alpine as Pierre Gasly finishes third. Less joy for Lewis Hamilton who drops from 4th across the line to 7th for his “clash” with Perez. Speaking of which, not sure how bad that ended up. A quick look shows a DNF on lap 8.
ORDER – VER PIA GAS SAI LEC NOR HAM RUS OCO RIC
| Pos | Driver | Time |
| 1 | Max VERSTAPPEN | 11 Laps |
| 2 | Oscar Piastri | + 6.677 behind |
| 3 | Pierre GASLY | + 10.733 behind |
| 4 | Carlos SAINZ | + 12.648 behind |
| 5 | Charles LECLERC | + 15.016 behind |
| 6 | Lando NORRIS | + 16.052 behind |
| 7 | Lewis HAMILTON | + 16.757 behind |
| 8 | George RUSSELL | + 16.822 behind |
| 9 | Esteban OCON | + 22.41 behind |
| 10 | Daniel RICCIARDO | + 22.806 behind |
| 11 | Lance STROLL | + 25.007 behind |
| 12 | Alexander Albon | + 26.303 behind |
| 13 | Valtteri BOTTAS | + 27.006 behind |
| 14 | Kevin Magnussen | + 32.986 behind |
| 15 | Guanyu Zhou | + 36.342 behind |
| 16 | Logan Sargeant | + 37.571 behind |
| 17 | Nico Hulkenberg | + 37.827 behind |
| 18 | Yuki TSUNODA | + 39.267 behind |
| DNF | Sergio PEREZ | DNF Lap 8 |
| DNF | Fernando ALONSO | DNF Lap 2 |
2023 Belgian F1 Grand Prix Result Main Race Summary
Didn’t see the race live? Don’t have time to watch the whole race? Well here are the top laps where stuff happened. We write these live as we go, sort of like a minute by minute for the football, but marginally more interesting.
Setting the scene – It’s dry, for now. And for a change Max Verstappen starts the race in 6th place after taking pole position but also taking a five place penalty for a gearbox change. That leaves Charles Leclerc on pole, and Sergio Perez beside him. The Mexican had a shocker in the sprint race yesterday, so will be keen to prove something. Perez’s combatant from the sprint race Lewis Hamilton will also be annoyed after receiving a five second penalty for hitting Perez in the sprint race and dropping from 4th to 7th. McLarens look quick and they sandwich Max Verstappen. One does wonder what lap, not if he will take the lead. Or perhaps, Max might find himself in first corner trouble that happens further back down the grid. We say lap eight is when he takes the lead.
GRID (Starting Order) – LEC PER SAI HAM PIA VER NOR RUS ALO STR
Lap 1 – Good starts from the top two sees Charles Leclerc and Sergio Perez through the first corner safely. Not so great start from Carlos Sainz leaves him open to attack from Oscar Piastri who has a mini lunge into the first corner but ends up with a broken front wing and drops dangerously down the field heading into Eau Rouge. Further up the straight Sergio Perez overtakes Charles Leclerc for the lead into Les Combes after the long straight, and does it easy. Max Verstappen takes advantage and is up to fourth behind Lewis Hamilton. That could be fun. Sainz has damage but stays out. Yuki Tsunoda and Alex Albon were the big first lap winners.
ORDER – PER LEC HAM VER SAI ALO NOR TSU STR ALB
Lap 2 – Oscar Piastri’s McLaren stops out on the track in a dangerous position in the last third of the track. It was due to damage in the first corner clash with Carlos Sainz, which on replay looks like the Ferrari driver’s fault. He locked up going into the first corner then jinked right and squeezed Piastri into the corner wall. A racing incident, but still unfortunate for the Australian. Carlos Sainz is suffering though, as the right hand side of his car is flapping around.
Lap 3 – Yuki Tsunoda continues his grand progress by overtaking Lando Norris for 7th. Alonso keeps hounding Carlos Sainz, which he manages to pass on lap four.
Lap 5 – Lando Norris loses places to Albon, Stroll and Russell and is 11th in a terrible race for McLaren. Their set up would be beneficial in the wet, but that may not help if he is dead last. At least he’ll have Daniel Ricciardo for company, like old times in 2021 and 2022.
Lap 6 – A bunch of midfielders and backmarkers put for new tyres, including Lando Norris. A bit further up the road Max Verstappen passes Lewis Hamilton for third. And boy was there some speed differential going into Les Combes. For the record, Verstappen is 3.5 second behind his team mate in the lead.
ORDER – PER LEC VER HAM ALO TSU ALB STR RUS SAI
Lap 8– Logan Sergeant overtakes Carlos Sainz, which is proof enough that he needs new tyres or he needs to retire his damaged car.
Lap 9 – Max Verstappen overtakes Charles Leclerc for second into the same corner as he did Lewis Hamilton on. With the same amount of pace from the long preceding straight. Perez is just three seconds up the road.
Lap 11 – A miserable race for McLaren continues, as Daniel Ricciardo overtakes the remaining car of Lando Norris for 14th. Alonso is the first of the top five to pit.
Lap 13 – Lewis Hamilton pits and remains fourth, he is racing Charles Leclerc for best of the non Red Bulls.
Lap 14 – Sergio Perez pits from the lead along with Charles Leclerc from 3rd. Just before the stops Max Verstappen is heard sort-of arguing with his team radio. Again. He had quite the dummy spit in qualifying on Saturday. A lap later his team radio discuss whether to wait for his pit stop for potential rain in ten minutes. Verstappen replies with he can’t see the radar, which is a fair enough point.
A quick check of the radar, and there’s no doubt it’s going to rain, in our opinion.
ORDER – PER VER LEC HAM STR RUS ALO GAS TSU ALB
Lap 16 – The Red Bulls are now close together with Max Verstappen sniffing all around the rear end of Perez. Which sounds worse than we meant it, but too lazy to change.
Lap 17 – Max Verstappen overtakes Sergio Perez for the lead, and does it easy too. He is on his way to an eighth straight win. A lap later he is one and a half second in front with a fastest lap. George Russell does an even better job getting past Lance Stroll for fifth.
Lap 18 – On go the rain jackets in the crowd, it is officially raining, and let the fun begin. This will work out nicely for the drivers who have not yet pit – Stroll, Gasly, Russell.
Lap 21– Max Verstappen radios to say it is raining down quite a bit now. So Aston Martin pit Lance Stroll for new dry weather tyres. Interesting. The track not quite being wet enough for Inter tyres. Max wasn’t lying either, replays shows his car weaving and shaking on the most dangerous part of the circuit. Good save, and Max might need a change of tyres and underpants at his next stop.
Lap 23 – George Russell pits as the rain is a little harder in pit lane and takes new dry tyres. That leaves just Pierre Gasly without a stop, which is all good if he wasn’;t overtaken by the impressive Yuki Tsunoda for sixth.
ORDER – VER PER LEC HAM ALO TSU GAS ALB OCO MAG
Lap 26 – The sun is shining, so the rain didn’t really affect too much in the end.
Lap 28– Lewis Hamilton pits, followed by Leclerc a lap later and they aren’t too far apart after the stops with an un-stopped Fernando Alonso in the group too. Sergio Perez pits on lap 30 and rejoins in second place. Alonso pits too and keeps fifth.
Lap 33– Great battle between Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon. Gasly wins and gets 11th.
Lap 35 – Max Verstappen has a decent gap of 13 seconds over Perez, he has enough time to inquire about a potential pit stop. The team say no again. Maybe they need a holiday from each other in the next four week break of F1.
Lap 41 – A bit of midfield racing that is just keeping us awake to do this report. Max Verstappen is 19 seconds to the good out in front.
Lap 43 – Lewis Hamilton pits for the last lap to steal fastest lap away from Max Verstappen.
Last lap – Max Verstappen cruises to the win, with his team mate delivering a decent second place after leading in the early stages. Lewis Hamilton (4th) misses out on the podium but not Fastest Lap.
FINAL ORDER – VER PER LEC HAM ALO RUS NOR OCO STR TSU
| Pos | Driver | Time |
| 1 | Max VERSTAPPEN | 44 Laps |
| 2 | Sergio PEREZ | + 22.305 behind |
| 3 | Charles LECLERC | + 32.259 behind |
| 4 | Lewis HAMILTON | + 49.671 behind |
| 5 | Fernando ALONSO | + 56.184 behind |
| 6 | George RUSSELL | + 1:03.101 behind |
| 7 | Lando NORRIS | + 1:13.719 behind |
| 8 | Esteban OCON | + 1:14.719 behind |
| 9 | Lance STROLL | + 1:19.340 behind |
| 10 | Yuki TSUNODA | + 1:20.221 behind |
| 11 | Pierre GASLY | + 1:23.084 behind |
| 12 | Valtteri BOTTAS | + 1:25.191 behind |
| 13 | Guanyu Zhou | + 1:35.441 behind |
| 14 | Alexander Albon | + 1:36.184 behind |
| 15 | Kevin Magnussen | + 1:41.754 behind |
| 16 | Daniel RICCIARDO | + 1:43.071 behind |
| 17 | Logan Sargeant | + 1:44.476 behind |
| 18 | Nico Hulkenberg | + 1:50.450 behind |
| R | Carlos SAINZ | DNF Lap 24 |
| R | Oscar Piastri | DNF Lap 2 |
Here we go through the field and highlight the very best (Great) of the race, and the plodders, the over-ambitious, the out of luck, and simply hopeless (Grape).
These points get added to our Driver of the Season scores. points for a great nomination, and -5 for the worst or grapest driver in the pack. Then it is +2 /-2 for honourable or dishonourable mentions.
THE GREAT-EST – MAX VERSTAPPEN
An eighth win in a row, equaling a record set by Sebastian Vettel driving for the same team. Won the sprint race too, and got the main race chocolates from sixth on the grid. Extends the Championship lead, and breaks his team mate’s spirit just a little.
HONOURABLE MENTIONS
CHARLES LECLERC – Not quite a Red Bull, but he did well to be best of the rest for the weekend, and avoided the kind of trouble his team mate found.
SERGIO PEREZ – A better Sunday all round for Sergio Perez, but still he is underwhelming at times, especially when the weather changes and he can’t keep up. Remains Bottas-level.
LEWIS HAMILTON – Another solid job for not much reward, except for his name right here.
YUKI TSUNODA – After an underwhelming Hungarian Grand Prix which coincided with the return of Daniel Ricciardo to the grid, the Japanese driver turned it around in Belgium. Raced in the top ten for the majority of the race, and was well ahead of his new team mate.
THE GRAPE-EST – OSCAR PIASTRI
More of a case of what could have been. After a glorious second place in the Sprint Race, his main race experience lasted less than lap. His car damaged in the first corner by Carlos Sainz. A real shame as this was his real breakthrough race for the season.
DIS-HONOURABLE MENTIONS
CARLOS SAINZ – Not too bad a weekend without being great prior to the race. Threw it away at the first corner and spent the rest of the race driving around with a damaged car.
DANIEL RICCIARDO – Could have had a much better weekend, had he not had a time deleted for going over track limits. A real shame as he was well inside the elimination just before that lap was taken away.
WILLIAMS – Plenty of promise for Williams, and especially Alex Albon, but they ended up pointless, and almost a pointless race in general.
Was it a good race, loads of action, tense, or just a big, fat, snooze-fest.
We rate the big race itself so we know which races to go back and watch in the off season or one to simply remember the winner for the post season quiz nights.
Note: this is for the combined races.
SEASON IMPORTANCE – 5 / 10
The drivers championship is effectively over with only 3-4 disasters needed for Max Verstappen for anyone to get close enough. There’s still best of the rest up for grabs for the rest of the season. And suppose you could run a pool on which race Max wins the title
ON TRACK ACTION – 6 / 10
A first corner accident and some overtaking among the top five early in the race showed promise. There was some good midfield battling with drivers on different strategies and abilities. Rain came and went without any real effect. Shame.
ENDING 3 / 10
Not much happened late, some midfield battles and Lewis Hamilton pissing off Max Verstappen by stealing fastest lap.
OVERALL RATING 14 / 30
It was an OK race. Max Verstappen and Red Bull’s penalty for a gearbox change which made him start the race from sixth on the grid delayed the inevitable in the early stages. Once he hit the front, the TV Cameras went further back to see battles of mild interest. The rain that came mid race wasn’t enough to cause any real problems.
2023 F1 Season Power Rankings
Stay tuned for our Power Rankings from the race soon as it is currently being calculated and will be ready on Monday.
Who not check out last race which includes the season ratings so far: Hungarian Grand Prix and 2023 Driver Ratings.
