Verstappen to win the 2022 F1 Belgian Grand Prix from 14th position.
Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen drove a fantastic race in the 2022 Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix, moving from 14th on the grid to first by the end of the race. [Ferrari's pole-sitter Carlos Sainz finished third, some 26.8 seconds behind the winner.
When the green light came on at sun-drenched Spa-Francorchamps, Sainz was comfortably in the lead despite the hard work of Perez, who also started from the top grid. Alpine's Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) and Mercedes-Benz AMG's Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) also quickly passed Perez, but Hamilton's aggressive move brought him into contact with Alonso. Hamilton ended the race on the first lap, and a lap later the safety car was brought in after Alfa Romeo's Valtteri Bottas spun trying to avoid Nicolas Latifi's Williams.
Meanwhile, Verstappen, who qualified first on Saturday, started the race from 14th due to a penalty for switching to a new power unit. When the race resumed on lap 3 after the safety car was introduced, Verstappen was already in 8th position.
Perez then handed over second place to Verstappen, and Sainz lost the lead to Verstappen on lap 19. Sainz was then overwhelmed by the Red Bull's pace and lost second place to Perez just two laps later.
Mercedes' George Russell finished fourth after starting fifth, while Alonso finished the race in fifth after falling back early on.
It was another unlucky day for Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari. Early in the race, debris got into his brake ducts, forcing him to make an unscheduled pit stop and dropping him back to 17th. However, by the end of the race he managed to move up to 6th place.
After this weekend, Verstappen's lead in the 2022 drivers' championship has widened further, and the Red Bull driver now has 284 points. Perez drops to second place with 191 points, while Leclerc is in third place with 186 points. In the constructors' championship, Red Bull leads with 475 points to Ferrari's 357 and Mercedes' 316. The next race is scheduled for next weekend at the Dutch Grand Prix.
Below are the complete results for the 2022 F1 Belgian Grand Prix. 2) Sergio Perez (Red Bull Racing) +17.841s 3) Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) +26.886 seconds 4) George Russell (Mercedes-Benz AMG) +29.140s 5) Fernando Alonso (Alpine) +73.256s 6) Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) +74.936s 7) Esteban Ocon (Alpine) +75.640s 8) Sebastian Vettel, Aston Martin +78.107s 9) Pierre Gasly, Alphatauri +92.181s 10) Alexander Albon, Williams +101.900s 11) Lance Stroll, Aston Martin +103.078s 12) Lando Norris (McLaren) +104.739s 13) Hiroki Tsunoda, Alfa Tauri +105.217s 14) Guan Yu Zhou, Alfa Romeo +106.252 sec. 15) Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren +107.163s 16) Kevin Magnussen, Haas +1 lap 17) Mick Schumacher, Haas +1 lap 18) Nicolas Latifi, Williams +1 lap NC) Valtteri Bottas, Alfa Romeo - DNF NC) Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes-Benz AMG - DNF [19
