The 2018 Belgian Grand Prix (officially the Formula 1 2018 Johnnie Walker Belgian Grand Prix)[1] was the thirteenth race of the 2018 Formula One season, and the sixty-second time the Belgian Grand Prix was held on the Formula One calendar. It was held between 24 August and 26 August 2018.
In qualifying, Lewis Hamilton took his seventy-eighth pole position following a light rain shower in the middle of the third qualifying session, surpassing Juan Manuel Fangio and Ayrton Senna's number of four pole positions at the circuit, while Sebastian Vettel qualified alongside him on the front row. Esteban Ocon qualified third ahead of teammate Sergio Pérez to bring both of Force India's cars onto the second row following strategic errors for Kimi Räikkönen, Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo.
In the race, Bottas damaged his front wing after hitting the back of Sergey Sirotkin, while Nico Hülkenberg crashed into the back of Fernando Alonso at La Source, causing Alonso to hit the top of Charles Leclerc's car and damage Ricciardo's rear wing before Ricciardo also punctured Räikkönen's tyre and damaged his endplate, deploying the safety car after Vettel took the lead from Hamilton on the Kemmel Straight in a similar fashion to the 2013 Belgian Grand Prix. Ricciardo and Räikkönen would later also retire from the race after Ricciardo had his rear wing replaced and rejoined a few laps down, while Räikkönen suffered a malfunction with his DRS. After the safety car came in at the end of lap 4, Vettel led every lap to take his fifty-second victory, Ferrari's first win at the circuit since 2009. Hamilton had to settle for second place, leading the Drivers' Championship by seventeen points ahead of Vettel, while Verstappen finished third and took his first podium at his home circuit after overtaking Romain Grosjean, Pérez and Ocon in the first half of the race.
Background[]
During the Hungarian Grand Prix, Force India entered administration,[2] but were later bought by investors led by Lawrence Stroll.[3] The team was later recognised as a new team called "Racing Point Force India F1 Team", while Sahara Force India was excluded from the championship,[4] thus also excluding all of Force India's points scored in the season prior to the Belgian Grand Prix.[5]
Mercedes and Ferrari brought their third upgraded engines to the Grand Prix,[6] although Valtteri Bottas was faced with exceeding the use of his power unit components, thus giving him grid penalties that put him at the back of the grid alongside Nico Hülkenberg, who had the same situation.[7]
McLaren's reserve driver Lando Norris also made his Grand Prix weekend debut, taking Fernando Alonso's place for just the first practice session.[8]
Entry list[]
Practice Overview[]
FP1[]
FP2[]
FP3[]
Practice Results[]
No | Driver | Team | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Time | Pos | Time | Pos | Time | Pos | ||||||||
2 | Stoffel Vandoorne | McLaren-Renault | 1:47.452 | 20 | 1:46.496 | 20 | 1:47.061 | 20 | |||||
3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull-TAG Heuer | 1:45.558 | 6 | 1:44.250 | 6 | 1:44.479 | 6 | |||||
5 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1:44.358 | 1 | 1:44.129 | 5 | 1:42.661 | 1 | |||||
7 | Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari | 1:44.718 | 4 | 1:43.355 | 1 | 1:42.724 | 2 | |||||
8 | Romain Grosjean | Haas-Ferrari | 1:46.387 | 12 | 1:45.817 | 12 | 1:45.814 | 12 | |||||
9 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber-Ferrari | 1:46.557 | 14 | 1:45.537 | 9 | 1:45.536 | 11 | |||||
10 | Pierre Gasly | Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda | 1:46.300 | 11 | 1:46.080 | 15 | 1:46.182 | 15 | |||||
11 | Sergio Pérez | Force India-Mercedes | 1:46.169 | 9 | 1:44.662 | 7 | 1:45.341 | 8 | |||||
14 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren-Renault | 1:46.153 | 16 | 1:46.942 | 19 | |||||||
16 | Charles Leclerc | Sauber-Ferrari | 1:46.554 | 13 | 1:45.622 | 10 | 1:44.963 | 7 | |||||
18 | Lance Stroll | Williams-Mercedes | 1:46.965 | 16 | 1:46.470 | 19 | 1:46.502 | 17 | |||||
20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas-Ferrari | 1:47.012 | 17 | 1:46.078 | 14 | 1:46.087 | 14 | |||||
27 | Nico Hülkenberg | Renault | 1:45.951 | 8 | 1:45.753 | 11 | 1:45.464 | 9 | |||||
28 | Brendon Hartley | Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda | 1:46.932 | 15 | 1:46.337 | 17 | 1:46.259 | 16 | |||||
31 | Esteban Ocon | Force India-Mercedes | 1:45.786 | 7 | 1:45.935 | 13 | 1:45.485 | 10 | |||||
33 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull-TAG Heuer | 1:44.509 | 2 | 1:44.046 | 4 | 1:44.048 | 5 | |||||
35 | Sergey Sirotkin | Williams-Mercedes | 1:47.367 | 19 | 1:46.451 | 18 | 1:46.630 | 18 | |||||
44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:44.676 | 3 | 1:43.523 | 2 | 1:42.798 | 3 | |||||
47 | Lando Norris | McLaren-Renault | 1:47.364 | 18 | |||||||||
55 | Carlos Sainz, Jr. | Renault | 1:46.210 | 10 | 1:45.481 | 8 | 1:45.925 | 13 | |||||
77 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1:44.724 | 5 | 1:43.803 | 3 | 1:43.464 | 4 | |||||
Source: [9][10][11] |
Qualifying[]
Q1[]
Q2[]
Q3[]
Qualifying Results[]
Pos. | No. | Driver | Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Grid | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pos | Time | Pos | Time | Pos | Time | ||||||||
1 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 3 | 1:42.977 | 3 | 1:41.553 | 1 | 1:58.179 | 1 | |||
2 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 4 | 1:43.035 | 1 | 1:41.501 | 2 | 1:58.905 | 2 | |||
3 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Force India-Mercedes | 11 | 1:44.003 | 9 | 1:43.302 | 3 | 2:01.851 | 3 | |||
4 | 11 | Sergio Pérez | Force India-Mercedes | 12 | 1:44.004 | 6 | 1:43.014 | 4 | 2:01.894 | 4 | |||
5 | 8 | Romain Grosjean | Haas-Ferrari | 6 | 1:43.597 | 7 | 1:43.042 | 5 | 2:02.122 | 5 | |||
6 | 7 | Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari | 1 | 1:42.585 | 2 | 1:41.533 | 6 | 2:02.671 | 6 | |||
7 | 33 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull-TAG Heuer | 5 | 1:43.199 | 5 | 1:42.554 | 7 | 2:02.769 | 7 | |||
8 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull-TAG Heuer | 7 | 1:43.604 | 8 | 1:43.126 | 8 | 2:02.939 | 8 | |||
9 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas-Ferrari | 9 | 1:43.834 | 10 | 1:43.320 | 9 | 2:04.933 | 9 | |||
10 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 2 | 1:42.805 | 4 | 1:42.191 | 10 | no time | 17* | |||
11 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda | 15 | 1:44.221 | 11 | 1:43.844 | 10 | |||||
12 | 28 | Brendon Hartley | Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda | 14 | 1:44.153 | 12 | 1:43.865 | 11 | |||||
13 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Sauber-Ferrari | 8 | 1:43.654 | 13 | 1:44.062 | 12 | |||||
14 | 9 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber-Ferrari | 10 | 1:43.846 | 14 | 1:44.301 | 13 | |||||
15 | 27 | Nico Hülkenberg | Renault | 13 | 1:44.145 | 15 | no time | 18† | |||||
16 | 55 | Carlos Sainz, Jr. | Renault | 16 | 1:44.489 | 19‡ | |||||||
17 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren-Renault | 17 | 1:44.917 | 14 | |||||||
18 | 35 | Sergey Sirotkin | Williams-Mercedes | 18 | 1:44.998 | 15 | |||||||
19 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Williams-Mercedes | 19 | 1:45.134 | 16 | |||||||
20 | 2 | Stoffel Vandoorne | McLaren-Renault | 20 | 1:45.307 | 20§ | |||||||
107% time: 1:49.765 | |||||||||||||
Source: [12] |
- * Bottas was forced to start from the back of the grid after using his fourth ICE, fourth TC, fourth MGU-H, third MGU-K, third ES and third CE.[13]
- † Hülkenberg was forced to start from the back of the grid after using his fourth ICE, fourth and fifth TC, fourth MGU-H, third MGU-K, third ES and third CE.[14][15]
- ‡ Sainz was forced to start from the back of the grid after using his fourth turbocharger, fourth MGH-H, third MGH-K, third ES and third CE.[16]
- § Vandoorne was forced to start from the back of the grid after using his fourth ICE, fourth turbocharger, fourth MGU-H, third MGU-K, third ES and third CE.[16]
Grid[]
Pos. | Pos. | |
---|---|---|
Driver | Driver | |
______________ | ||
Row 1 | ______________ | 1 |
2 | Lewis Hamilton | |
Sebastian Vettel | ______________ | |
Row 2 | ______________ | 3 |
4 | Esteban Ocon | |
Sergio Pérez | ______________ | |
Row 3 | ______________ | 5 |
6 | Romain Grosjean | |
Kimi Räikkönen | ______________ | |
Row 4 | ______________ | 7 |
8 | Max Verstappen | |
Daniel Ricciardo | ______________ | |
Row 5 | ______________ | 9 |
10 | Kevin Magnussen | |
Pierre Gasly | ______________ | |
Row 6 | ______________ | 11 |
12 | Brendon Hartley | |
Charles Leclerc | ______________ | |
Row 7 | ______________ | 13 |
14 | Marcus Ericsson | |
Fernando Alonso | ______________ | |
Row 8 | ______________ | 15 |
16 | Sergey Sirotkin | |
Lance Stroll | ______________ | |
Row 9 | ______________ | 17 |
18 | Valtteri Bottas* | |
Nico Hülkenberg† | ______________ | |
Row 10 | ______________ | 19 |
20 | Carlos Sainz, Jr.‡ | |
Stoffel Vandoorne§ | ______________ |
- * Bottas was forced to start from the back of the grid after using his fourth ICE, fourth TC, fourth MGU-H, third MGU-K, third ES and third CE.[13]
- † Hülkenberg was forced to start from the back of the grid after using his fourth ICE, fourth and fifth TC, fourth MGU-H, third MGU-K, third ES and third CE.[14][15]
- ‡ Sainz was forced to start from the back of the grid after using his fourth turbocharger, fourth MGH-H, third MGH-K, third ES and third CE.[16]
- § Vandoorne was forced to start from the back of the grid after using his fourth ICE, fourth turbocharger, fourth MGU-H, third MGU-K, third ES and third CE.[16]
Race[]
Report[]
Results[]
- * Bottas was given a five-second time penalty for causing a collision with Sirotkin.[17]
Milestones[]
- Racing Point Force India's first race with a new license.
- Sergio Pérez's 150th entry (147th start).
- Nico Hülkenberg's 150th entry (148th start).
- Lewis Hamilton's 111th race for Mercedes, surpassing his 110 races for McLaren.
- Marcus Ericsson scores his fifteenth point.
- Sergio Pérez scores 500 points.
- Sebastian Vettel overtakes Alain Prost for the third highest number of wins and podiums.
Standings[]
|
|
- * Force India’s original 2018 entry (Sahara Force India F1 Team) was excluded from the championship prior to the Belgian Grand Prix, with the loss of all 2018 constructors’ points. As a new entity with a new championship entry, Racing Point Force India F1 Team began accruing points from the Belgian Grand Prix onwards.
Notes[]
- ↑ "Formula 1 2018 Johnnie Walker Belgian Grand Prix". formula1.com. Formula One Administration. https://www.formula1.com/en/championship/races/2018/Belgium.html. Retrieved 23 August 2018.
- ↑ "Perez explains Force India's financial position – Speedcafe". 29 July 2018. https://www.speedcafe.com/2018/07/29/perez-explains-force-indias-financial-position/. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
- ↑ "Force India set to exit administration". Formula One Administration. 7 August 2018. https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/headlines/2018/8/force-india-set-to-exit-administration-.html. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
- ↑ "FIA approves mid-season entry from Racing Point Force India". Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 23 August 2018. https://www.fia.com/news/fia-approves-mid-season-entry-racing-point-force-india. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
- ↑ Noble, Jonathan (23 August 2018). "New Racing Point Force India team granted official F1 entry". Autosport. Motorsport Network. https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/138205/new-racing-point-force-india-team-granted-entry. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
- ↑ "Mercedes and Ferrari to introduce upgraded engines in Belgium". Formula1.com (FOM). 24 August 2018. https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/headlines/2018/8/mercedes---ferrari-to-introduce-upgraded-engines-in-belgium.html. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
- ↑ "Bottas and Hulkenberg set to start from back of Belgian grid". Formula1.com (FOM). 24 August 2018. https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/headlines/2018/8/bottas-and-hulkenberg-set-to-start-from-back-of-belgian-grid.html. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
- ↑ "Norris to make Grand Prix weekend debut in Belgium". Formula1.com (FOM). 20 August 2018. https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/headlines/2018/8/norris-to-make-grand-prix-weekend-debut-in-belgium-.html. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
- ↑ "2018 Belgian Grand Prix – Practice 1 results". Formula1.com (Formula One Administration). 24 August 2018. https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2018/races/991/belgium/practice-1.html. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
- ↑ "2018 Belgian Grand Prix – Practice 2 results". Formula1.com (Formula One Administration). 24 August 2018. https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2018/races/991/belgium/practice-2.html. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
- ↑ "2018 Belgian Grand Prix – Practice 3 results". Formula1.com (Formula One Administration). 25 August 2018. https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2018/races/991/belgium/practice-3.html. Retrieved 25 August 2018.
- ↑ "2018 Belgian Grand Prix – Qualifying results". Formula1.com (Formula One Administration). 25 August 2018. https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2018/races/991/belgium/qualifying.html. Retrieved 25 August 2018.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 "FIA Stewards Decision — Document No. 8". FIA.com. Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 24 August 2018. https://www.fia.com/file/72033/download?token=CPc5XuLY. Retrieved 25 August 2018.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 "FIA Stewards Decision — Document No. 7". FIA.com. Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 24 August 2018. https://www.fia.com/file/72032/download?token=1H1QWnXw. Retrieved 25 August 2018.
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 "FIA Stewards Decision — Document No. 17". FIA.com. Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 25 August 2018. https://www.fia.com/file/72069/download?token=JAEgGrI8. Retrieved 25 August 2018.
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 "Engine changes relegate Sainz and Vandoorne to back row of Belgian grid". Formula1.com (FOM). 26 August 2018. https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/headlines/2018/8/sainz---vandoorne-drop-to-back-of-belgian-grid.html. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 "Belgium Grand Prix 2018 Race Results". formula1.com (Formula One Administration). 26 August 2018. https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2018/races/991/belgium/race-result.html. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
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