Max Verstappen won his eighth consecutive grand prix after overtaking team mate Sergio Perez to win at Spa-Francorchamps.
After serving a five-place grid penalty for exceeding his gearbox allocation, Verstappen overtook Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc before catching and passing team mate Sergio Perez before winning by 22 seconds. Leclerc took the final podium place in third ahead of Lewis Hamilton.The top four drivers on the grid all lined up on soft tyres, with Oscar Piastri in fifth the highest-placed starter on mediums in fifth, ahead of Max Verstappen in sixth on softs. When the race began, pole-winner Charles Leclerc held off Sergio Perez on the short run to La Source to keep the lead. Behind, contact between Carlos Sainz Jnr and Oscar Piastri at the apex of the first corner left the McLaren with heavy damage which ended his race.
Along the Kemmel straight, Perez slipstreamed the leading Ferrari and charged passed him into the lead before Les Combes. Perez led from Leclerc, Hamilton and Verstappen, who benefitted from the clash ahead to move up to fourth. Sainz quickly dropped back from the Red Bull with significant damage on his own, gradually falling down the order.
Hamilton was the first of the leading four to pit at the end of lap 12 for the medium tyre compound, but rejoined just ahead of Lance Stroll still in fourth. Hamilton appeared to make more than one defensive move on the straight, but the stewards determined there was no need to investigate the Mercedes driver for weaving.
Race leader Perez pitted at the end of lap 13 for mediums, with team mate Verstappen following suit a lap later. Verstappen quickly closed the gap to his team mate and began putting him under heavy pressure. He slipstreamed him up the hill of Raidillon on lap 17 and easily drove around Perez to take the lead of the race for the first time.
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Light rain arrived to the south side of the circuit, but with only a short shower expected drivers were all advised to ride out the rain on their slick tyres without stopping for intermediates. Lap times dropped by around five seconds for a few laps, but the rain soon passed, allowing drivers to push at their full pace once more.
The second round of pit stops saw the leaders switch onto soft tyres for the final stint, with Verstappen retaining the lead ahead of Perez, Leclerc under five seconds behind Perez and Hamilton fewer than two seconds behind Leclerc.
Verstappen continued to push – against the wishes of his race engineer Giampiero Lambiase – and extended his lead well over 15 seconds. Leclerc remained within five seconds of Perez in third, with Hamilton unable to catch the Ferrari driver ahead. That dynamic remained until the end of the race, with Verstappen winning by over twenty seconds ahead of his team mate by the chequered flag.
Leclerc claimed the final podium place in third, with Hamilton fourth after pitting with two laps remaining to take fresh tyres and set the fastest lap on the final tour. Fernando Alonso split the two Mercedes with Russell in sixth, with Norris completing a 27 lap final stint on soft tyres to claim seventh place. Esteban Ocon, Lance Stroll and Yuki Tsunoda took the final points finishes.
All 44 laps ran without any Safety Car or Virtual Safety Car interventions, with all 18 drivers running finishing on the lead lap.
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2023 Belgian Grand Prix reaction
- Check back shortly for more race reaction
Edvaldo
30th July 2023, 15:49
Red Bull can tune down their engines and safely go for a full season of wins. It’s entirely achievable with this package.
They are years ahead. They can start focus on the next generation of cars right now, they’ll still be safe for the next couple of years.
Michael (@freelittlebirds)
30th July 2023, 17:00
It’s clear they are not running full pace – literally, Red Bull is telling Max to slow down like the dad in the Incredibles ;-)
miciek (@micio)
30th July 2023, 15:57
What a joke…
1. Second in constructors doesn’t even have 50% points scored by the first. Has it happened before?
2. It’s such a bad PR for the sport when a driver in the first place discusses a possibility of extending his lead over his teammate to 20s just to train pit stops.
No pressure for Max. We can’t even see how does he drive under pressure. We need a change in the second RB seat. It’s such a waste.
Alex (@)
30th July 2023, 16:07
1988 – McLaren had more than 3 times the score of 3rd place
But also 71, 84, 93, 96, 02, 04, 07
What they all have in common is (A) a fast car in first, and (B) competition for 2nd taking points from each other
Josh (@canadianjosh)
30th July 2023, 16:18
It’s not entertaining having Perez in the second seat for us viewers but can you tell me a time in Formula 1 history where a team has replaced a driver who currently sits 2nd in the championship? He’s doing his job. He wasn’t brought in to challenge Verstappen. He was brought in to be the second RB driver and to help win constructors championships. Like I said he is doing his job even if it bores all of us.
Mark from toronto
31st July 2023, 6:20
Well lets say you can find a driver that can challange Max. Who? Maybe Hamilton? So then you have conflict in the team and a Hamilton-Rosberg scenario. How does that help RB? Even when Perez did get a bit close to Max there was some conflict.
Mayrton
31st July 2023, 8:28
Yes, it wouldn’t make sense. And it is a massive risk you are taking when you think you can bring it to Max. Lewis would be destroying his legacy. We all know the car has a massive cut in the success but by now (apart from the ones that will always keep crying) we also know Max is on another level. You’d have to be pretty shy of self-reflection if you think you can bring it.
skydiverian (@skydiverian)
30th July 2023, 16:19
2002 – Ferrari 221, Williams 92.
As an aside, Ferrari finished with the same points total as all the other teams combined.
miciek (@micio)
30th July 2023, 16:33
Sorry @skydiverian @roadrunner. I meant “at this point of the season”.
In 2002 Williams had more than 50% of Ferrari’s points at this point of the season.
Alex (@)
30th July 2023, 16:47
In 1988 when 2nd place finished with less than 33% of 1st, they must have been under 50% for the whole second half of the year.
As I said above, on a full-year basis it’s happened 8 times, so I’m sure it’s happened at least several by the halfway mark.
roadrunner (@roadrunner)
30th July 2023, 16:20
In 2002 Ferrari scored exactly as many points as all other ten teams combined and would have won on the constructors title by 15:1 victories.
roadrunner (@roadrunner)
30th July 2023, 16:21
15:2
DaveW (@dmw)
30th July 2023, 18:53
Maybe unlike those other years now the second place team Mercedes is not consistently the second fastest car. Which means the relative share of points of second place in the WCC is like to fall further.
Dex
30th July 2023, 19:47
I don’t know if it’s bad PR for the sport (having a great champion is usually a good thing for promoting a sport), but he was talking about destroying a guy driving a same car. It only speaks for his own talent.
Mahesh (@m47e57)
30th July 2023, 15:58
I do wonder if they are tuning down Perez’s engine more than Max’s. I find it rather suspect how Max passes him so easily and systematically. I’m sure they’ve got an order 66 to keep Perez firmly in second. When it looks like they might jeorpardise second place, then reduce the handicap. I also wonder about the general set up of Perez’s car versus Max’s. I have no evidence but I think I smell a rat.
Alan Dove
30th July 2023, 16:02
Max had these performances in karting. He really is this good.
Edvaldo
30th July 2023, 16:09
What’s more curious is that he didn’t had that much action over Perez before the pits. They were pretty much leveled.
Then they pit and he’s 1.5s a lap faster.
MadMax (@madmax)
30th July 2023, 16:14
That probably was caused by Max leaving his cruise mode. Obviously Max’ car somehow has more performance, than Perez’. It started after Perez challenged Max in the first races this season…
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
30th July 2023, 20:30
Verstappen however was flying in spa compared to perez in 2022 already, surely they didn’t have a reason to tune down perez’s car back then.
MacLeod (@macleod)
31st July 2023, 8:06
No Max was super in S2 he was slower then Perz in S1 and S3 but in S2 is where he got all his time compaired to the other drivers.
Osvaldas31 (@osvaldas31)
30th July 2023, 17:14
Well, he was following a couple of cars and had some overtakes to do, so he ate up his tyres. Nevertheless, he was on the same level of pace as Perez, who was babysitting his tyres. So when he changed to a new set of rubber, he could push and it turned out he was way more faster than Perez. Not for the first times this or previous season.
Edvaldo
30th July 2023, 18:22
i don’t think Perez was babysitting his tyres all that much. He knew from the go he had no time to lose if he wanted to have a shot at a win today, hence his very agressive start to fend-off Hamilton and attack Leclerc right away.
The gap he opened was a big disappointment though, just like in Miami. Max is much faster, a guy like Perez needs a buffer of at least 5 seconds to at least dream on challenging him as he can turn things around in a snap, like he did again today, completely demolishing Perez in a couple of laps.
Fletch (@fletchuk)
30th July 2023, 16:21
I would love to see some data analysis on this.
Watching the few corners just before he overtook it looked as though they were both getting roughly the same exits out of the corners but then Max would just close right up on Sergio. It seemed to me as though they were on different engine maps or something. Maybe battery charge/deployment?
MacLeod (@macleod)
31st July 2023, 8:07
Check out Peter Winsor on Youtube. Max was much faster in S2 and slower or even in S1 and S3 as Perez.
Mayrton
31st July 2023, 8:41
I noticed exactly the opposite. When Max was more closely following Checo I clearly saw why he is faster. His rotation of the car in the corners and the lines he takes differ massively from Checo. You could literally see him gaining though driving shorter lines. I can not believe Checo doesn’t do better analysis after races. The footage is there. Maybe it is driving style, so Checo knows it but can not replicate it? But overall, some people thinking the team has anything to do with it is a bit tin foil to me. It is blatantly clear Max is not the average driver. He has had these advantages over others throughout his entire career. Why do you think they put him in an F1 car at 17? Not because his dad was so successful or likeable chap in F1. That would have put Mick in an F1 car at 12. People resist in accepting what is being displayed because of the ’21 saga and the strong British press bias. If you look from somewhat more of a distance, it is clear this is the best driver ever. I would suggest to enjoy it even if you might not be a fan of his personality or whatever.
José Lopes da Silva
30th July 2023, 16:34
I acknowledge that stuff like these always have appeared and will always appear, it’s about huma nature.
Anyway, is there any reason for them to be give Verstappen the advantage?
MadMax (@madmax)
30th July 2023, 17:01
Just rewatch brazil and assume what happened afterwards. Obviously there are internal things going on, and Perez no longer gets the same car.
José Lopes da Silva
30th July 2023, 17:18
Yes, but why?
Brazil is a symptom but not a reason. What is the reason?
MattDS (@mattds)
30th July 2023, 17:26
@madmax So what happened afterwards is Perez “was allowed” to win two races in the beginning of the season with Max finishing P2. How does that fit into your narrative?
Also, have you missed the entire 2021 and 2022 seasons? There is no new pattern since Brazil or since Baku. Max is a vastly superior driver and has outperformed Checo since the start. Sure Checo gets a performance in once in a while, often coinciding with some bad luck or the rare off-weekend for Max, but that’s about it.
Nothing “obvious” is going on other than THIS pattern continuing.
This reply also for @m47e57
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
30th July 2023, 20:35
You just have to look at spa 2022, perez wasn’t competitive with verstappen and that was before brazil.
Jonathan Parkin
30th July 2023, 17:04
Keep his Dad happy maybe
José Lopes da Silva
30th July 2023, 17:19
Why?
Why does Red Bull need to keep Jos Verstappen happy?
What will Jos Verstappen do if he gets unhappy?
melanos
30th July 2023, 18:26
Seems like u didn’t get the joke
Jogo
30th July 2023, 17:40
I think most drivers can be very similar in pace if you truly give them equal support and identical cars. Of course if one of them is more talented he will probably win at the distance of the whole season, but it doesn’t necessarily mean the other driver has no chances at all. That’s what happened with Hamilton and Rosberg. Even if Brawn, or Toto, or Lauda wanted Hamilton as their only champion based on pure skills and charisma there were still these german Damen und Herren from Daimler that probably said do what you want but don’t even try to wingman Rosberg as you did already in the second race of 2013, let them race.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udfMhuhofIk
But “let them race” tactics brings problems. That’s why after Rosberg retired Mercedes preferred Bottas. And Toto said he received messages from almost every driver on the grid ready to jump into that seat. Same with Perez. He’s not there to compete with Max. But to guarantee that you have to make the second car a little bit slower. Especially now when Max is going to break records.
David BR (@david-br)
30th July 2023, 18:04
@m47e57 Verstappen is between 3-5 tenths faster on most circuits this year. That’s just him being that much faster than Perez. Spa is 0.5 per lap (minimum) with its large size and fast corners, which favour Verstappen (Perez is maybe equal or sometimes a touch faster in 90 degree corners on other circuits, being generous). So it makes sense. As for the pass, just a question of catching Perez using that extra speed and well-timed use of DRS.
I don’t think any other explanation is needed.
Anthony Blears
30th July 2023, 22:43
Totally. It’s laughable to think RB would deliberately and systematically sabotage the second car.
f12007v (@f1fan-2000)
31st July 2023, 4:30
They definitely did not sabotage the 2nd car or perez would not even finish top 5
Mayrton
1st August 2023, 8:43
The distortion is caused by people focusing on race pace. They forget race pace is not the result of driving skills alone. It’s the approach to the whole weekend, the ability to build up the sessions, to fine tune the car to your liking, tuned to specific track conditions. To challenge your team, even mid race. Imagine if you bring all that extra. And bring it consistently week after week. That will translate into race pace. People are really underestimating what it takes.
Jere (@jerejj)
30th July 2023, 15:58
Good race by Yuki for a change & something needed at this time.
Mayrton
31st July 2023, 8:45
Yes, not sure whether it was Yuki stepping up a notch or Ricciardo’s exposure. Overall very disappointing for Ricciardo and a sign of something I was afraid of when hearing he would return. I hope I am wrong since he is such a likeable chap, but somehow I just don’t see it happening for him.
Esteban
1st August 2023, 3:04
I keep failing to understand this (and no, I’m not new here, I’ve been watching F1 for more than 40 years). Ricciardo is not likeable at all, just watch him being vulgar day in and day out in the Netflix soap opera. Just because someone has a permanent smile product of his own stupidity, doesn’t make him likeable.
Mayrton
1st August 2023, 7:42
Might be. As a true fan I haven’t watched this Netflix circusification beyond 5 episodes, which were enough to clearly see it doesn’t reflect reality and is a clever mixing of fragments taken out of context to suit their narrative. It’s deceiving people intentionally to create revenue. It is unfortunate that fewer and fewer people can pierce through this and blindly believe what is being spoon-fed to them.
Zap (@)
30th July 2023, 16:04
Once the rain ended, and Max had an 8+ second gap, I turned it off. No point in watching with the field so spread out
osnola
30th July 2023, 18:28
That’s a pity because this season, apart from max, the rest is very close.
Several teams are fighting and it is tense on that level.
If you are a real F1 fan you do not only watch the winner.
Mayrton
31st July 2023, 8:49
I survived the last years of the 2014-2020 era by dividing the field. Once I truly didn’t pay any attention anymore to the Mercs (guaranteed 1-2, which isn’t even the case now with RB), F1 became quite likeable and interesting to watch. There is lots going on in the field, close competition and some entertaining wheel to wheel action.
Josh (@canadianjosh)
30th July 2023, 16:22
This season is the first season since I began watching Formula One where the summer break won’t have me shaking and having F1 withdrawal symptoms. So incredibly predictable every weekend.
OOliver
30th July 2023, 17:20
I saw it coming since the last race of 2021.
I remember saying Redbull or Verstappen could win almost every race in a season. I said in 5 or 6 seasons, Versstappen could surpass Hamilton’s tally of wins.
At this rate he will have over 50% of Hamilton’s wins by the end of the season.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
30th July 2023, 21:10
Yes, same for me, no real wet running, no competition ahead and very frequent race weekends.
Bertie
30th July 2023, 16:27
All those DRS overtakes at the end of the long straight just made me sad. No amount of commentator hyping can make that stuff exciting.
But with that said, there was plenty of good content this race, and I’m pretty glad that Max is having fun with his extremely dominant position at least, it makes for light entertainment in race lulls.
CP
30th July 2023, 16:34
The most boring Spa race in the last decade?
Snooze fest….please Perez give us some kind of action. Please RedBull give him equal machinery. I dont care how good Max is, he should not be breezing past a “fighting” teammate in the same car… that overtake looked like a different machine.
Us viewers are the people missing out and it’s a stain on Max legacy.
Michael (@freelittlebirds)
30th July 2023, 16:55
I don’t think it’s up to him really. He’s just given enough power to get P2 with a 20 second deficit. His fight is not with Red Bull – it’s with the rest of the field. They can’t unleash the car because Max would be 1 lap ahead of Leclerc easily so they are both running in slow mode with Max having access to the full car occasionally.
MattDS (@mattds)
30th July 2023, 17:29
So now it’s a stain on Max’s legacy that he’s simply a much better driver than Checo?
Wow. F1 fans never cease to amaze me.
CP
30th July 2023, 18:20
The stain is never winning a title without a question mark.
2021 – do I really need to go into this.
2022 – Car built on budget overspend and smart bookkeeping likely hiding the real overspent.
2023 – see above re illegal car and teammate clearly not given same machinery.
Give him a chance to win without controversy.
osnola
30th July 2023, 18:34
No Asterix.
2021 he won fair and square when Mercedes did not changed his tires
Madi was not correct but there was nothing wrong with what happened on track
The real overspending was 400.000 dollar, the rest a tax story. If a team can build a winning car for that amount of overspending the rest deserves to be beaten.
2023 car is handicapped by a hefty shorter development pat as a result of the penalty.
Even Perez admits he has the same car. So I guess it’s hard to see a real talent beating a former goat, but it’s reality.
MadMax (@madmax)
30th July 2023, 20:19
another delusional comment. 2021 fair – lol.
MattDS (@mattds)
30th July 2023, 18:37
I won’t discuss 2021 any further.
As for 2022: “likely hiding the real overspend” is absurd. There is exactly as much chance they “likely hid the real overspend” as others “likely hid an overspend “. Red Bull had an overspend, we know by how much, we know the amount wasn’t nearly enough to make the difference between winning the title and not, and that’s about it. Everything more is just throwing up FUD for the sake of it.
2023 – reduced windtunnel time further rubishes the “illegal car” argument, and it’s nowhere near “clear” they don’t have the same car. Max has been vastly superior to Checo from the beginning, he is in the form of his life and Checo is hitting a rough patch and has lost confidence.
I mean, do you feel Lewis’s 2008 (Spygate), 2014 (Tyregate) or 2020 (teammate “clearly not given same material”) titles are all stained as well?
I guess not?
CP
30th July 2023, 20:40
Anyone who says 2021 was fair is simply deluded. The FIA came out themeselves and stated it was a “human error” aka someone fudged the rules.
Yet you still haven’t disputed my main point in that he was a no1 driver with Perez his to do what he wanted. Again only need to look at abu final to see how much Perez fought Hamilton vs Bottas vs Ver.
I agree no Astriex, it should be removed from the books.
MattDS (@mattds)
31st July 2023, 0:08
Your “main point” was Perez isn’t getting equal machinery, us viewers are missing out because of it and it’s a stain on Verstappen’s legacy.
I have more than addressed and disputed that fact, by saying Max is simply a much better driver than Checo – saying they don’t have equal machinery is just FUD being spread around. No basis, no grounds, no proof.
Not my fault you wanted to move the goalposts and include a bunch of other stuff after that – but I addressed that too. Except for 2021, granted, that’s already been done to death anyway.
Anyway, no response anymore on 2022 or 2023? Or 2008/2014/2020? I’ll draw my conclusions.
Anuj Chopra
31st July 2023, 7:50
2021 Abu Dhabi – Perez defended against Ham for 2-3 laps with weaker engine and older tyres. Same race, If Hamilton had done even 10% of that defending, He could have stopped Max form passing him for 1 lap.
Ham had panicked, you can hear that from the radio messages and lap times.
miciek (@micio)
30th July 2023, 20:29
It’s not that surprising though.
If you drive a superior car and there is no pressure from the other side of the garage, then there’s no challenge. I think most people agree that a World Championship should be challenging, right? It’s good for everyone, including the future champ.
In terms of legacy, it’s just much better to win when challenged by other great drivers.
Plus, we wouldn’t have to hear any “let’s train pit stops” comments.
MattDS (@mattds)
31st July 2023, 0:13
@micio I don’t see British people talking about stains on Hamilton’s legacy for the titles that came easy and unchallenged. Or that came after rule transgressions or scandals.
Sure Rosberg and Hamilton fought harder. That only indicates Rosberg and Hamilton were closer. So because Max is a lot better than his teammate, that somehow counts against him.
Let’s not kid ourselves here. This is just another comment with the same old adagio behind it that’s been going on for basically 15 years: any title not won by Hamilton must be contested and talked down.
AllTheCoolNamesWereTaken
30th July 2023, 16:46
Me, circa 2020: Please, oh, please … let Hamilton’s dominance end soon. I can’t take much more of this. Please.
2023: Be careful what you wish for.
Edvaldo
30th July 2023, 18:59
some people are completely ok with it because Mercedes and Hamilton won too much.
Imagine that. The third era of domination in 13 years and they want more just because other had it too before.
Life is too short for this.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
30th July 2023, 21:26
Yes, not ok with either domination period, in fact it was good to watch verstappen overachieve in the years before mid 2022.
Pedro
31st July 2023, 16:31
Congratulation to RBR and Max, making a wonderfull job. Its a shame that the other teams are left on a distance. I live on a country where i have to pay to have Access to F1 races (without using streams ir so) and where the living cost os Higher and Higher and i’m thinking not to pay anymore. I have not any Joy knowing that if Max os on the grid regardless the place he’ll get first without been challenge by anyone. Sorry for my thoughts but its reality for me. Its not me that os going to make any difference i’m sure ….but its something that who controla the F1 and the teams Will need to think os that what they want for F1?
Michael (@freelittlebirds)
30th July 2023, 16:52
The way Max’s Red Bull closed on Leclerc’s Ferrari from so far behind was absolutely absurd…
I think Red Bull are trying to slow Max down on purpose because he can probably easily drive 1 second over everyone else.
As for Checo’s car, it’s hard to believe that he’s that slow. He may not be the fastest driver on the grid but he’s certainly not 1 second slower per lap than Max.
Alex (@)
30th July 2023, 17:04
From Perez’s perspective, 2nd was secure and 1st was out of reach, so he managed his race / minimised risk / played percentages to the end – without pushing.
That’s how most formula one drivers and teams approach things: fight when there’s something on the line; ease off when there isn’t. Leclerc was managing fuel just like Perez was managing tyres: push enough to beat Hamilton, but no more. It’s the statistically sensible way to drive.
You see it in plenty of other races too, when someone settles in a moderate pace towards the end, but gets faster when someone tries to catch them.
Max on the other hand was pushing to see what he could get out of the car and tyres. He scared his engineer, but kept pushing. The difference between ‘pushing’ and ‘playing the percentages’ explains the gap.
Michael (@freelittlebirds)
30th July 2023, 21:15
@smalvizier F1 drivers don’t play percentages – they finish 0.1 seconds behind their teammates if that’s the best they can do.
drmouse (@drmouse)
31st July 2023, 15:46
Not really true. There’s the old adage: Drive as slowly as possible to win. The same is true for other positions. If you know you couldn’t gain a position even pushing to the limit, it’s foolish to push more than you need to maintain your position. It increases your risks of having an incident, puts more wear on your engine and tyres, generally just puts you in danger of all sorts of problems. Many of the more experienced and/or talented drivers have shown this thinking when they can.
MacLeod (@macleod)
31st July 2023, 8:14
Just check the sector times and that explain everything S2 is Peres onlmost 1 second slower then Max. Spa is Max favorite track and he can dream it. but eve in the past Max was flying on this track even on lesser machinery.
MichaelN
30th July 2023, 17:04
Props to the Alpine guys (and Albon) for at least making the Highlights worth watching.
The rest is just straight up embarrassing, and that includes Pérez. Nearly a full pitstop behind in half a race… nice!
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
30th July 2023, 21:29
Yes, some nice battling between ocon and albon, 3-4 corners next to each other, reminded me of austria with perez vs sainz, an occasion where sainz managed to defend.
Chip
30th July 2023, 18:27
For all the conspiracy theorists — is Perez a willing participant in driving a slower car, or is he too stupid to realize what you can see from watching on TV?
CP
30th July 2023, 21:00
I think he is just greatful for the drive in a top team.
He was nearly out of f1 right before Rebull stepped in.
They needed a yes man and found a dream In Perez.
Once Ver breaks Vettals record, they will turn the wick up and let Perez win a few just to show it was all fair.
Anyone with eyes saw the speed differential when Max blasted past him, it was not normal.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
30th July 2023, 21:31
Well, he had slipstream and drs, it’s normal to be faster in the straight with those.
Jim from US (@jimfromus)
30th July 2023, 23:03
Yes, VER had DRS and the slip stream when he passed PER but after that VER just sailed into the sunset. PER had clean air a lap later but still couldn’t keep within 20 seconds of his teammate in 20 laps.
I think Red Bull can’t risk PER being close to VER. Look at the way VER drove after he pitted. He was still 5 seconds or so ahead of PER, but he drove so aggressively, he degraded his tires on the outlap to the point where the race engineer commented about it. VER also almost lost control at one point with no one around him. PER’s car is definitely dialed down. He might not be as good as VER but he wouldn’t be 1 second a lap slower in an identical car. HAM was able to do fastest lap in the Mercedes which has no where near the pace of a Red Bull. PER is not as bad as the result showed today. His qualifying showed that.
verstappen (@chadstappen33)
31st July 2023, 0:04
Naahh. Perez himself mocking you conspiracy theorists the other day lol.
MattDS (@mattds)
31st July 2023, 0:16
@jimfromus GP said he had used too much of his tyre in an attempt to keep him calm. Max just went on and had no tyre life issues at all.
The moment he had die t have anything to do with aggressive driving. It was tricky with the rain and it’s easy to have a moment. Happens to all of them.
Lastly, no, it isn’t “definitely” dialed down compared to Max’s car. That’s what some would like to believe.
Mayrton
31st July 2023, 9:02
I must admit I am a bit surprised by the level of conspiracy thinkers on this site. I can understand British Press bias will have a whole set of people on the wrong foot for some time. And 2021 isn’t that long ago and was harsh to take. All fair. But even taking these two elements as mitigating circumstances it must be clear by now Max is not exactly the average driver. He has had these advantages over others throughout his entire career. He wasn’t put in a F1 car at 17 because of somebody doing some one a favour. I can’t see the leverage the family would have had to achieve that. If you look from somewhat more of a distance, it is clear this is probably the best driver ever (or at least at this particular moment in time). And why could that not exist next to another great like Lewis? I would suggest to enjoy it even if you might not be a fan of his personality or whatever. I struggled to sympathise with Schumacher back in the days, but could still appreciate and recognise his talent. There is some truly amazing sport performance being displayed here and I personally feel it is a bit disrespectful to the sport to wave that away and search for other reasons rather than the performance itself.
Gubstar
31st July 2023, 11:01
100% This.
Charlie Racing
31st July 2023, 12:12
@Mayrton +1
CP
31st July 2023, 16:05
Perhaps because Redbull have an illegal car and were leniently “punished” by the FIA a view widely held by practically every other team and pundit – shock horror even outside of the UK!
sethje (@seth-space)
31st July 2023, 21:29
They do not have an illegal car. If that was true the other teams already spoke up long ago. Bit naïeve to think so ;)
They were punished quite harsh knowing it was the first real fia check. and the team was fined $7 million plus given a 10% reduction in aerodynamic testing for 12 months from October 2022.
Mayrton
1st August 2023, 16:11
I am talking about Verstappen. Not RedBull. He would display the same vs his team mate in any other car. On his car he is the first to admit it makes life a lot easier if you have the best car.