Stallion Max Verstappen continues winning
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen is on red hot form clinching his ninth win of the season on his way towards a second world championship title.
Verstappen won the Belgian Grand Prix on Sunday, 28 August, 2022, after starting from the back, for his third straight win in a row. The reigning world champion chiseled his way from 14th on the grid to win at Spa, in remarkable fashion.
“Max was quite simply in a league of his own. And not just today; all weekend. He has excelled here in the past and today he has basically smashed it out of the park,” his team principal, Christian Horner remarked.
The imperious drive in Belgium extended Verstappen’s grip on the driver’s championship to 93 points. His teammate Sergio Perez jumped to second 12 points ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
Despite Carlos Sainz starting on pole, he finished a disappointing third, further characterizing Ferrari’s chaotic season. Leclerc started 15th and finished fifth behind Mercede’s George Russle, but Leclerc dropped to sixth after he was handed a five-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane.
He was shocked by the penalty saying, “I didn’t even know, no one told me.” “Why did I get the penalty?”
Following the penalty, Alpine’s Fernando Alonso, who will join Aston Martin next year, moved to fifth, earning his team’s important points in their midfield battle.
Lewis Hamilton did not finish the race, pulling out after he clipped Alonso and momentarily went airborne. Nicholas Latifi also pulled out after his Williams slid and nudged Alfa Romeo’s Valteri Bottas into the gravel forcing him to retire as well.
Next weekend Formula 1 head to Max Verstappen’s homeland for the Dutch Grand Prix.