Six talking points from the Belgian Grand Prix

Hamilton closes on seventh title

We should be used to Hamilton domination by now, but he seemed to find yet another gear at Spa. Qualifying more than half a second quicker than Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas on Saturday, his only concern on Sunday was vulnerability to attack on the opening lap run from La Source up to Les Combes. But he successfully kept out of the Finn’s range along the Kemmel straight, and from there managed the gap to secure his 89^th Formula 1 career win – now just two behind Michael Schumacher’s record – and his fourth at Spa.

The long stint on Pirelli’s hard compound did give him a few concerns late in the race, as both he and Bottas ran out of grip into the final chicane. But for all of Spa’s wonderful challenges it is not as hard on tyres as Silverstone, and Hamilton was free to extend his world championship lead to 47 points over third-place finisher Max Verstappen – a gap almost the equivalent of two clear victories. That seventh world title to equal another Schumacher record looks close to inevitable, barring the most dramatic turn of events. If he stays fit and well, Hamilton appears unbeatable.

George Russell’s luck escape

“Feeling unlucky and lucky right now,” said George Russell following a frightening moment for the Williams driver. “Really glad we have the halo on these cars now or it could have been much worse.” Ahead of him, Giovinazzi had crashed his Alfa Romeo after losing control out of Fagnes and as Russell approached the scene an errant wheel, its safety tethers having apparently failed, bounced towards his cockpit. What a moment that must have been for George as the tyre headed straight for him, then rebounded harmlessly off the Williams as he crunched into his unavoidable accident. As he said, he’d been unlucky to be in the wrong place at the wrong time – but mostly incredibly lucky all at the same time.

Gasly and Perez go long

The accident on lap 10 triggered the rash of single pitstops, committing the majority to worryingly long final stints. The exceptions were Pierre Gasly and Sergio Perez, who stayed out and thus rose briefly to fourth and fifth behind the two Mercedes and Verstappen’s Red Bull. The ploy appeared to backfire when the safety car departed on lap 15 and Perez plummeted down the order on lap 18 when he switched from soft tyres to hards. Gasly didn’t come in until lap 26, but then used his fresher rubber to rise back through the field to secure an eighth place finish after another assured drive for AlphaTauri. Perez too put in a fine comeback to follow home Racing Point team-mate Lance Stroll in 10^th, on a weekend when the pink cars found themselves overshadowed by Renault and McLaren.

Strong weekend for Renault

Daniel Ricciardo’s signature smile was more than justified at Spa after the Aussie qualified and finished an excellent fourth for Renault, in a car that is clearly well suited to a low-downforce configuration. Without the early safety car interlude, Ricciardo even reckoned he could have given Verstappen something to think about, as he chases a first podium for Renault – and a bet that involves team principal Cyril Abiteboul and the inking of a tattoo…

To complete Renault’s strong weekend, Esteban Ocon performed well to beat Alexander Albon’s Red Bull to fifth place. The Frenchman qualified sixth, one place behind Albon, then passed the Thai in the early moments of the race. But he lost the position in the pitstops during the safety car period, as he was forced to ‘stack’ in the pitlane behind Ricciardo. Red Bull chose to gamble against the grain and switch Albon to medium tyres for his long 33-lap stint – and it backfired, as Ocon took his chance to claim back fifth position. He left it late, but his DRS-assisted move along the Kemmel straight on the last lap left Albon powerless to defend on his softer and well-worn tyres.

A mixed day for McLaren

Lando Norris put in another decent performance to rise from 10^th on the grid to finish seventh for McLaren, just behind Ocon and Albon. But team-mate Carlos Sainz Jr. didn’t even get to the start after an exhaust problem on his sighting laps ruled him out. The Spaniard’s luck has generally been awful so far this season, and his mood can’t have been improved much at Spa by the performance of the team he’ll be joining in 2021.

Ferrari slumps to new low

F1’s most famous cars suffered a truly awful weekend at Spa. The Ferraris qualified just 13^th and 14^th, Charles Leclerc ahead of Sebastian Vettel – and that’s where they finished, Vettel ahead of Leclerc. The latter at least made a storming start to run eighth at the end of the first lap, but his slide backwards as driver after driver picked him off with ease up Kemmel only highlighted just how slow the red cars are in a straight line. A year ago he won at Spa, in a Ferrari that was clearly the class of the field – but that was before ‘ the deal’, agreed in confidence with the FIA over the winter to stop them doing whatever it was they shouldn’t have been doing last year. Some might say the reds have got their comeuppance.

It’s Monza this coming Sunday. Ricciardo and Ocon in their slippery Renaults can’t wait. Leclerc, Vettel and everyone else at Ferrari would surely rather be anywhere else.

Images courtesy of Motorsport Images.