(Motorsports news) Verstappen advanced to the front by lap 16 and passed teammate Sergio Perez of Red Bull, who had held the lead since overtaking poleman Charles Leclerc of Ferrari, who had started from the third row due to a grid penalty for a new gearbox. On the run to Turn 1, Leclerc maintained his pole-position advantage to pull ahead of Perez and Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes. Oscar Piastri, who was following them, crashed his McLaren into Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari and into the wall on the inside of the La Source hairpin, causing damage, and was forced off the track.

Leclerc was quickly overtaken by Perez for the lead on the Kemmel Straight. Verstappen immediately moved up to fourth after the Sainz/Piastri collision from sixth. Verstappen originally became entangled in a DRS train behind Leclerc and Hamilton, but Perez scampered through by three seconds. At Les Combes on lap four, Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) passed a wobbly Sainz, who had a hole in his sidepod. The Ferrari thereafter fell down the order, and Sainz retired soon after halfway.

Verstappen moved up to second early in the race after passing Hamilton on the inside at Les Combes on lap 6 and passing Leclerc on the outside three laps later. On lap 14, Hamilton was the first of the leaders to pit, followed by Leclerc and Perez a lap later and Verstappen a lap after that. By lap 16, Verstappen had caught Perez and was able to pass him using the DRS. He then took the lead well before halfway.

Lance Stroll of Aston Martin lost more positions to Pierre Gasly of Alpine and Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri) before pitting for new soft tires, moving George Russell (Mercedes) up to sixth on lap 17. Then Tsunoda passed Gasly. As the rain started to get heavier after lap 18, Verstappen nearly lost control of his vehicle right after Eau Rouge. The intermediate tires, however, remained in the garages because it turned out to be a brief shower.

Leclerc reacted after Hamilton made his soft tire pit stop with 16 circuits remaining, but Lewis was hampered in his undercut attempt by having to pass Alonso. Verstappen returned to the race with a 9-second lead, which he increased to 22-seconds at the finish. The Red Bulls completed their final pit stops without incident. 

In front of Alonso, Russell, and Norris, Leclerc outlasted Hamilton’s attack to finish second behind Perez. With five laps remaining, Esteban Ocon (Alpine) shrewdly moved Tsunoda for ninth at Les Combes before passing Stroll for eighth two laps later. Verstappen lost the fastest lap to Hamilton on the final lap as he pitted for new medium tires close to the finish line.

Also read: ‘As awful as ever’ visibility concerns during the wet Spa F1 dash