Max Verstappen was in imperious form as he came from sixth on the grid to win the Belgian Grand Prix.
The Red Bull driver’s eighth consecutive victory in the final race before the summer break extended his championship lead to 125 points.
Verstappen led Sergio Perez home to a Red Bull one-two but was in another league from his team-mate. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc took third ahead of Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso.
The world champion (starting 6th from a 5 grid place penalty) was up to fourth on the first lap but did not pass Hamilton until lap six and Leclerc until lap nine, both times using the DRS overtaking aid to overtake into the Les Combes chicane at the end of the long Kemmel straight.
Perez, who had passed Leclerc for the lead up the Kemmel straight on the first lap, hung on in front until his pit stop on lap 13. Verstappen pitted the next time around, and only then began to show something like his true potential.
Hamilton’s team-mate George Russell was a few seconds adrift of Alonso, while McLaren’s Lando Norris recovered well from an error in fitting the hard tyres at his first stop, on which he found no grip and dropped close to the back, to climb back through the field to take seventh place.
Alpine’s Esteban Ocon was eighth, ahead of the second Aston Martin of Lance Stroll and Yuki Tsunoda’s Alpha Tauri.
Elsewhere it was a day to forget for Piastri (McLaren) & Sainz (Ferrari) who collided into each other in Turn 1 which resulted with both cars retirong from the race.
