Max Verstappen wins Belgian GP 2023 despite argument with Red Bull engineer

The ease with which Max Verstappen is cantering towards a third Formula One world title was on full show at Spa-Francorchamps, as the Dutchman overcame a five-place grid penalty to take control of the 2023 Belgian Grand Prix within 17 laps.

So dominant is Verstappen this year that there’s a risk he could soon get bored with the regular processions to the chequered flag. His victory in Saturday’s sprint race at least offered some drama as Oscar Piastri came within a whisker of pinching the chequered flag.

But on Sunday Verstappen spent more time testing his race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase’s patience over the radio than keeping his head and seeing out the victory. Lambiase had to be firm with his man, first insisting he didn’t hunt down team-mate Sergio Perez early on, saying: “Max, please follow my instruction and trust it”. Then rebuking the defending world champion for burning up a fresh set of softs. “Use your head a bit more,” said Lambiase

After leader Verstappen suggested he do “a little bit of pit stop training” with 14 laps remaining, the Red Bull engineer cut him short. “No, not this time.”

But these are nothing but niggling conversations between driver and engineer. It’s not the “leave me alone, I know what I’m doing” spat between Kimi Raikkonen and his engineer that was broadcast over the radio 2015.

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Verstappen likes to push himself and his team. And when you’ve already beaten the field before the halfway stage of a grand prix, what else is there to achieve?

Having started sixth after Red Bull wilfully took a five-place grid penalty for using too many gearbox components, Verstappen needed just nine laps to make up four places, overtake Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, and set about taking down leader Perez. That scuffle lasted mere minutes, as Red Bull opted to pit their drivers a few laps apart – during which time Verstappen put his foot down and moved into the lead.

From there he didn’t look back. Not even a brief shower, an overconfident outlap that burned through a new set of softs, and a wobble at the Eau Rouge and Raidillon chicane – which he described as a “sideways moment” – could knock the Dutchman off course. This was a deserved eighth successive race win. That’s 13 in a row now for Red Bull, a streak that goes back to last season.

In his wake Perez, who started second and finished second, was back to his best in Belgium to nail his highest finish since Verstappen pipped him to the flag in Miami.

F1 result: Belgian GP 2023

• 1st: Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
• 2nd: Sergio Perez (Red Bull)
• 3rd: Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
• 4th: Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)*
• 5th: Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
• 6th: George Russell (Mercedes)
• 7th: Lando Norris (McLaren)
• 8th:Esteban Ocon (Alpine)
• 9th: Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
• 10th: Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri)
• 11th: Pierre Gasly (Alpine)
• 12th: Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo)
• 13th: Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo)
• 14th: Alexander Albon (Williams)
• 15th: Kevin Magnussen (Haas)
• 16th: Daniel Ricciardo (AlphaTauri)
• 17th: Logan Sargeant (Williams)
• 18th: Nico Hulkenberg (Haas)
• DNF: 8th: Carlos Sainz (Ferrari), 5th: Oscar Piastri (McLaren)

* Bonus point for fastest lap

Spa has a habit of throwing out freak results thanks to the weather. While the Red Bulls dominated at the front, a patch of rain midway through the race bamboozled the midfield. Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton held their nerve to drive through the mayhem and remain in the top four.

Lando Norris manoeuvred his McLaren from 16th to seventh during an impressive drive in a car that wasn’t set up right for Spa. His team-mate Oscar Piastri limped out early with a broken front wing following a Turn One collision with Carlos Sainz. The Ferrari would eventually retire too.

George Russell held off Norris for sixth, and Hamilton threw on a new set of mediums with two laps remaining in pursuit of the fastest lap. He nailed it as he crossed the line fourth – a good result for Mercedes on an unpredictable weekend in Belgium.

Where the midfield sits heading into F1’s summer break

As we head into the summer break the only thing certain about this 2023 F1 season is that Red Bull will clean up at the end of it. Verstappen is as dominant this year as at any point in Lewis Hamilton’s reign with Mercedes, Sebastian Vettel’s at Red Bull, and Michael Schumacher’s for Ferrari.

What the summer does offer the sport, though, is a chance for the midfield teams to reconfigure their cars in the hope of being the best ‘also rans’ come Abu Dhabi in late November.

Mercedes, Aston Martin, Ferrari, Alpine and most recently McLaren now all see themselves are viable contenders for podium places – even if they won’t beat Verstappen to race victories.

All fine teams have been dropping upgrades are various times over the first half of 2023. More is to come.

Aston Martin said at the start of the season that their car would change by around 60% over the course of the campaign. Fernando Alonso is getting the best out of his machine and the “consistent development” of the car – a phrase coined by technical director Dan Fallows – is working.

McLaren have perhaps witnessed the best mid-season upgrade of all midfield teams. Norris’ MCL60 got his upgrades for the Austrian Grand Prix and two second-place finishes have since followed. McLaren’s car was not set up to get the best out of the Spa track on Sunday yet Norris still managed to climb to seventh. McLaren are now racing their full upgrade package and will only tweak this over the summer.

Ferrari have arguably the best car among the midfield but cannot get the set-up right for Leclerc or Sainz. Qualifying has, until Belgium, been something of a nightmare and Ferrari have bemoaned the cost cap as a reason for fewer upgrades in recent weeks. A new floor is promised but is yet to materialise.

Mercedes unveiled their big developments at Monaco and Hamilton and Russel have felt the benefits, with a far more stable drive than what they’ve been forced to get used to. More developments could come but there’s already a sense that work is beginning on the 2024 car. Mercedes cannot catch Red Bull and look good to finish second in the Constructors’ Championship.

As for Alpine, their rollercoaster season continued on Sunday with Esteban Ocon sneaking into eighth place, while Pierre Gasly finished 11th. Alpine deployed a number of upgrades in Monaco and then Canada, but since then both cars have struggled against Aston Martin, Mercedes, and now McLaren. Spa saw the deployment of Alpine’s new floor but they will need more than this to challenge higher up the race positions in the second half of the season. More upgrades are expected.

We might not have any huge changes to examine when the cars line up for the Dutch Grand Prix on 27 August, but there are tweaks in the pipeline. McLaren have so far won the battle for upgrade superiority, but Ferrari and Alpine could well bite back soon.

Driver of the Day

Verstappen barely put a tyre wrong at Spa but the big drive came from Norris. He qualified seventh, came fifth in Saturday’s sprint, and was getting the best out of his McLaren while Piastri was also driving well.

But he couldn’t get any grip on medium tyres in the early laps of Sunday’s race and was forced to switch onto the hard compound. From there he lingered at the back and exchanged some frank words with his race engineer.

He was then called back to the pits for a fresh set of softs just as the rain was starting to fall. It looked a risky decision as teams pondered flipping onto inters. But it proved inspired as not only did Norris drive fast but he kept his tyres for the rest of the race.

By the midway point he has flicked back into life. He took the Williams of Logan Sargeant in the battle for 16th place, and within three laps was in ninth as everyone else bombed into the pits.

He ended up playing cat and mouse with George Russell but failed to pass the Mercedes.

Still, to land points in a race where he had earlier admitted his car was losing a second on others in the straight, and when his team-mate was back in the garage early, was another impressive display from Norris.

Quote of the day

“I could also push on and we do another stop? A little bit of pit stop training” – Max Verstappen, while leading with 14 laps remaining.

“No, not this time” – Gianpiero Lambiase, who didn’t see the funny side.

F1 2023 Constructors’ Standings

• 1st: Red Bull – 452 points
• 2nd: Mercedes – 223
• 3rd: Aston Martin – 184
• 4th: Ferrari – 167
• 5th: McLaren – 87
• 6th: Alpine – 47
• 7th: Williams – 11
• 8th: Haas – 11
• 9th: Alfa Romeo – 9
• 10th: AlphaTauri – 2