A poignant weekend with probably the right result.
The 2019 Belgian Grand Prix came on a weekend where things were put very much in perspective. On Saturday, shortly after qualifying, F2 driver Anthoine Hubert tragically lost his life following a massive accident at the Raidillon swerves. The Frenchman, who was just 22, suffered a huge 170mph impact from the car of Juan Manuel Correa. Lewis Hamilton saw the incident live on TV whilst being interviewed and you can see in his face that he instantly knew it was not good. But these guys are racers. So come Sunday, they race. It’s all they can do.
Charles Leclerc was a childhood friend of Hubert – as were Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon – so it seems fitting that the next day he should take his maiden F1 victory. It was long overdue anyway.
Under such difficult circumstances, it was an incredibly mature performance. Leclerc got away well from pole position and – after a safety car period caused by a Max Verstappen crash – started to open up a gap as his teammate, Sebastian Vettel, struggled with his tyres. After the German pitted early, on lap 15, the race pace of the Mercedes cars became clear and Hamilton started to close on Leclerc. Whilst Ferrari had held a significant advantage over one lap throughout the weekend, their race pace had always looked less convincing. And so proved to be the case.
When the front two pitted, Vettel inherited the lead but was asked to move aside for the younger Ferrari driver. Credit to Ferrari that they have stuck by their mantra of team orders benefitting whichever driver requires them rather than solely their de facto number one. Whilst Vettel’s status as de facto number one is becoming increasingly under threat, he was still to play a crucial role in this race.
He held the rapid Hamilton behind him for around four laps, in which time Leclerc had stretched his advantage over the world champion to nearly seven seconds. It appeared for a few laps that they had reached something of a stalemate but then the Ferrari tyres began to fade fast and Hamilton was suddenly catching by more than a second a lap. Leclerc kept his head, negotiated back-markers, made no mistakes and narrowly held on for a well-deserved victory. Valtteri Bottas, after a fairly anonymous race, completed a sombre podium as Vettel pitted for new tyres to claim the fastest lap along with fourth position.
Monaco’s first-ever race winner immediately dedicated the victory to Hubert. This is a young man that has already experienced so much tragedy in his 21 years: he lost his godfather and mentor, Jules Bianchi, in 2014; his father died a day before the 2017 Baku F2 race; and now long-term friend Hubert. The fact that he won both races a day after such losses shows the way Leclerc sees the world – he just wants to make them proud.
Yesterday, once again, he did so emphatically.
More Mixed Emotions at Red Bull
Verstappen’s excellent run of results eventually came to an end with a race start more reminiscent of his early 2018 struggles. After another poor getaway, he went for a gap that was closing quickly and very reliant on Kimi Räikkönen, firstly, knowing he was there and, secondly, being pretty generous. One of those two requirements was not satisfied and the Red Bull pitched the Alfa Romeo up into the air. Verstappen continued but the damage done to his steering saw him go straight into the barriers at Eau Rouge.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the garage, newly-promoted Alexander Albon was having a debut race to remember, for the right reasons. He was forced to start from the back of the grid as Honda trialled a new engine. This meant no ultimate qualifying lap to truly gauge how he was matching up to Verstappen but he appeared to be holding his own through the practice sessions and, on race day, would show why Red Bull have chosen to give him this chance.
After a steady first half of the race, making slower progress through the field than he would have liked, he suddenly came alive on the soft tyres. A cunning move around the outside of Daniel Ricciardo was followed by a piece of sheer bravery as Sergio Pérez forced him onto the grass down the Kemmel Straight at over 200mph on the final lap. He kept his foot in and took sixth place, which would become fifth after Lando Norris’s retirement.
From the back of the grid to fifth in his first race for Red Bull? I imagine he’ll take that. Christian Horner and Dr Helmut Marko will be very pleased with a performance that justifies their latest driver swap, or certainly goes along way to doing so in one race.
And More Bad Luck for the Luckless Lando
What does Lando Norris have to do to catch a break?!
At a weekend where it looked like McLaren were struggling – having never really been inside the top 10 during Friday or Saturday – Norris dealt with the first corner drama perfectly and found himself emerging from it in fifth. He then set about holding onto that position and did so expertly. Many watching – and Norris himself, he admitted after the race – were expecting those behind to close in on him. Especially once Pérez, armed with an in-form Racing Point, were up to sixth. But it never happened.
It was a drive that thoroughly deserved what would have been the best result of Norris’s career so far, but it wasn’t to be. Just one lap from the end, his Renault engine decided it was done for the day and Norris ground to a halt. To add salt to the wound, Leclerc finished the race just behind a gaggle of drivers that, if they had been lapped, would have been classifield below Norris and seen him eighth rather than 11th.
This is just the latest in a run of misfortune that has cost him countless points. A slow pit stop in Hungary; mechanical failures in Germany, France and Canada; a poorly-timed safety car in Britain. But the bad luck will surely end and the potential he has is clear to see. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see him up in fifth place again before the end of the season…and this time at the chequered flag.
The Racing Point Update Seems to be On Point
Having somewhat disappointed – or at least been pretty anonymous – this season, the update for Racing Point that hinted at progress in Hungary, showed this weekend that it has certainly pushed them up the pecking order.
Pérez into Q3 and Lance Stroll into Q2 is better than they have generally managed, respectively, this year. And a solid double points finish on Sunday with a deserved sixth place for Pérez, who had to pass a fair few cars on his way, bodes well for the remainder of the season and for the future of what is a team starting afresh since Lawrence Stroll’s buy-out last year.
Answering the Burning Questions
How will Alexander Albon cope with his promotion to Red Bull? Very well, it turns out!
And how will Pierre Gasly do in the Toro Rosso? A solid run to ninth on what was an incredibly hard weekend for him.
Can Ferrari finally win a race? Yes!
Will we find out who gets the Mercedes seat for 2020? (And the Renault one potentially…) Yes and yes. All as expected with Bottas confirmed for Mercedes and Ocon moving to Renault.
Can F1 pick up where it left off with another excellent race? It was another good race, if a very sad weekend for the sport.
