Belgian Grand Prix – Race: Four laps and they’re off, Verstappen winner of the shortest GP in history

During the grid formation lap, Sergio Pérez saw his race come to a halt before it even started… The Mexican crashed his Red Bull after the Kemmel straight. Verstappen could have been the only representative of the Red Bull team for this Belgian Grand Prix.

Delayed departure

Obviously, the dreadful weather conditions forced the organizers to postpone the start by ten, then fifteen… then twenty minutes compared to the scheduled time. Lewis Hamilton decided to get out of the car – you never know, a pressing need… The start was finally postponed until further notice, waiting for a break in the rain. The Belgian Ardennes being very overcast, the helicopters couldn’t take off. A scenario reminiscent of last year’s canceled Nürburgring qualifications.

The tension was therefore able to increase by a few degrees, especially for George Russell, who claimed a fantastic second place in qualifying!

Red Bull mechanics were able to work on Sergio Pérez’s car… but the warm-up lap was started at 3:25 pm. No time for Pérez to resume the race… for now.

Warm-up laps behind the safety car, then red flag.

If Max Verstappen had wanted it to start, visibility behind was extremely poor, to the point of interrupting the starting procedure. Everyone returned to the pits waiting for the resumption and the actual start of the race.

After an absolutely END-LESS wait, the Belgian Grand Prix finally started at 6:17 pm for an hour, no more! The management managed to find an arrangement to freeze the timer in order to get this hour that everyone was eagerly waiting for!

This wait gave Red Bull all the time to repair Sergio Pérez’s car, who had to start from the last place.

Start of the Grand Prix

It was therefore certain that the 75% of the race distance would not be covered. Thus, only half of the points will be awarded at the end of this Grand Prix.

But after two laps, the red flag was raised again, sounding the end of this Belgian Grand Prix.

It was then the shortest Grand Prix in history, if we exclude the huge delay due to the conditions. Only four laps were completed.

No one will be able to hide a certain disappointment at not having had a real race. So we find the order of qualifications as the final ranking, except for Pérez, normally 7th then last, and Lando Norris, in Q3 on Saturday but 14th after relegation.

Max Verstappen therefore wins the sixteenth victory of his career. George Russell, thanks to his incredible second place in qualifying, secures the first podium of his young career, the first for Williams since Lance Stroll in Azerbaijan in 2017. Lewis Hamilton completes the top 3.

In the drivers’ standings, Max Verstappen is just 3 points behind Lewis Hamilton. We hope for a much livelier Dutch Grand Prix next weekend.