‘A NEEDLESS MISTAKE FOR A DRIVER OF HIS CALIBRE’
Seven drivers just fell short of their best, but perhaps small blemishes at the most celebrated F1 circuit of them all can be forgiven. One error wasn’t so small though…
MERCEDES
Hamilton rose to the occasion in wet qualifying, but was always going to struggle to hold that advantage in the race. The lock-up at the chicane meant he was further behind Vettel than he should have been and cost him a shot at retaking the lead – probably temporarily – after a strong initial restart. Fourth from
17th thanks to taking a new engine package was about as good as he could have hoped for. Bottas’s move on Hartley at Eau Rouge was particularly bold, but he is marked down for smashing into Sirotkin at the start. Only the safety car ensured he didn’t pay a higher price.
FERRARI
On Sunday, save for a dab of wheelspin at the restart, Vettel did everything right. This included a rare on-track pass for the lead against his world title rival. Vettel could have done better in wet qualifying – particularly on the brakes at the chicane – meaning his work wasn’t quite perfect. The phrase ‘looked a credible pole threat before things unravelled in Q3’ is all too familiar, but this time it wasn’t his fault. Raikkonen didn’t have enough fuel for a key final lap and ended up sixth on the grid. His race was ruined at Turn 1, but given his pace he gets a strong rating.
RED BULL
He didn’t have Verstappen’s pace and was at a loss to explain his qualifying deficit. Race day is his trump card, but he lost the chance to make amends thanks to Alonso’s airborne Mclaren clattering his rear wing. His pace was decent enough in the circumstances prior to retirement. The Red Bull was third quickest at Spa, so a podium is another good return. Qualifying wasn’t perfect, but like Raikkonen he didn’t have enough fuel to post a lap in the best conditions. Cleared the Force Indias effectively and ensured he was well out of reach of the recovering Bottas.
FORCE INDIA
Perez set eye-catching times on Friday, and he was disappointed to miss a shot at pole position. Marginally slower than Ocon in qualifying, he got ahead of his team-mate on the opening lap and stayed there. Did what he needed to for his best result since the podium in Baku. Ocon had two hero moments – qualifying third and then briefly threatening to pass Hamilton and Vettel in one move. He might have pulled it off had he not, very wisely, thought better of it. It meant he lost out to Perez, then followed his team-mate, never hinting at an edge on pace, to bank sixth.
WILLIAMS
Stroll was
0.136s slower than Sirotkin in qualifying thanks to a wide moment. He ran behind Sirotkin at a similar pace all race. Missed a shot at an undercut when he was brought in to cover a Carlos Sainz stop, completing an in-lap 0.4s slower than Sirotkin. He was 2.2s behind him at the flag. Had the edge over Stroll both in qualifying and the race, and ran in the points in the early stages. He kept himself close enough to the top 10, and was fast enough when it mattered to ensure Stroll stayed behind. In the hunt to nab a point but needed a little more help from his rivals to score.
RENAULT
Took a relaxed approach to qualifying thanks to a power unit change that ensured he would start at the back, but was still faster than Sainz by 0.344s in Q1. Then made a big error on below-temperature brakes at the start and clattered into Alonso. A needless mistake for a driver of his calibre. Complained about a strange lack of rear grip that led to a Q1 elimination, and was outpaced by his team-mate – who wasn’t even mounting a serious qualifying bid. Finished 12.4s away from the top 10 in the race. The car wasn’t great, but Sainz didn’t appear to get the best out of it.