Ten of the best pictures which tell the story of the 2017 Belgian Grand Prix weekend.
Felipe Massa
It took just three laps for Felipe Massa’s Belgian Grand Prix to go wrong. He took a little too much kerb at La Source and was firedacross the gravel trap into the barrier at the exit. That one mistake cost him an entire day’s running.
Stoffel Vandoorne
A huge crowd turned out to support Max Verstappen but there were plenty of cheers for Stoffel Vandoorne in his first F1 race at home.
Fernando Alonso
A downpour at the end of second practice curtailed the day’s running. During the race Fernando Alonso asked if more rain was coming and, after being told it wasn’t, he reported an engine problem on his car and retired.
Daniel Ricciardo
Daniel Ricciardo kicked up a plume of a different kind in dry conditions: Dust from the track and the plank beneath his car.
Stoffel Vandoorne
A mamoth 65-place grid penalty meant it didn’t really matter how quickly Vandoorne drove in qualifying.
‘Ricciardo’ and ‘Bottas’
Fortunately someone had written the drivers’ names on their overalls so you could tell who they were supposed to be.
Mick Schumacher
Before the race began Mick Schumacher gave a demonstration run in a Benetton B194 of the type used by his father Michael Schumacher to won his first world championship in 1994. The run marked the 25th anniversary of Schumacher’s first grand prix victory in 1992 at Spa, seven years before Mick was born.
Start
While Lewis Hamilton led the field up Raidillon, the Force India drivers had their first of two collisions.
Esteban Ocon, Nico Hulkenberg and Fernando Alonso
As he pointed out later, Ocon was able to run side-by-side successfully with drivers who were not his team mate.
Lewis Hamilton
It was a very successful return from the summer break for Lewis Hamilton: He equalled Schumacher’s all-time pole position record on Saturday and took his fifth win of the season on Sunday.
René (@)
29th August 2017, 14:38
Was great to see lewis so pumped up. That first 3 laps after SC where amazing!
George (@george)
29th August 2017, 21:13
That’s a great picture, looks like the cover of a biography.
JayR
30th August 2017, 6:19
Lewis looked so pumped up even in the podium cool down room. He actually looked like a boxer getting himself psyched up for a bout. I just hope that ding dong battle between the two carries out between the two of them for the rest of the season.
GeeMac (@geemac)
29th August 2017, 16:00
Massa crashed at Malmedy no?
Yeezy918 (@)
29th August 2017, 16:31
Yep, Malmedy.
I had a think and can’t remember the last time I saw someone crash there either…