Why unloved Lotus 76 may be Colin Chapman's most significant car
A wide variety of Lotus cars are often proffered as the ultimate F1 game-changer – but was the Lotus 76 an unusual candidate which trumps them all?
Race results for the 2019 Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix. Contains full classification. Full race report will follow
Photo: Motorsport Images
Charles Leclerc won his first Formula 1 race in Belgium and immediately dedicated the victory to his French compatriot, Anthoine Hubert, who was killed in a Formula 2 race yesterday.
Leclerc emerged emotional from the cockpit after a measured drive from pole position, in which he lost the lead through pit stops, regained it from team-mate Sebastian Vettel, and then watched his mirrors as a charged Lewis Hamilton erode his lead of more than six seconds to less than a second at the line.
The Monaco resident had dominated the weekend, topping all but one of the practice sessions, and each of the three qualifying rounds. He is now the the 39th driver to win an F1 race, and the first Monégasque.
Don’t miss the full race report from Mark Hughes: sign up to the F1 newsletter
The race began with a safety car, when Max Verstappen clipped Kimi Räikkönen at the La Source hairpin at the end of the pit straight. The collision broke his steering column, and Verstappen speared into the barriers at the high-speed Eau Rouge bend.
Once the safety car returned to the pits, Leclerc maintained the lead that he had held from the start, ahead of Vettel, followed by Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas. It remained that way until Vettel pitted on lap 15. With extra performance from his new medium tyres, the gap to Hamilton was immediately less than a pit stop’s-worth. And Vettel also reduced the gap to Leclerc.
When the Frenchman finally pitted on lap 21, he emerged well behind Vettel, as did Hamilton who made his stop two laps later.
But Vettel’s longer stint eventually saw him slow, and he was ordered to let Leclerc pass for the lead, with Hamilton approaching fast. Vettel managed to hold the Mercedes driver off for around three laps before Hamilton moved into second with a DRS-assisted pass on lap 32.
Hamilton then bore down on Leclerc, but the time spent behind Vettel looked to have extended the gap by just enough as the Frenchman tasted victory for the first time.
Leclerc dedicates his victory to Hubert Photo: Motorsport Images
There was disappointment for Lando Norris who drove an impressive race, only to retire from fifth position with a failure, a lap from the end.
It promoted an aggressive Alexander Albon, who had started 17th, to fifth. In his first race for Red Bull, punchy manoeuvres included passing Daniel Ricciardo around the outside of Turn Nine, and bouncing past Sergio Perez on the grass during the final lap, a move that is under investigation.
Read the full story in Mark Hughes’ race report, coming later.
The full race results are below.
Position | Driver | Team | Time | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1hr 23min 45.710sec | 25 |
2 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | +0.981sec | 18 |
3 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | +12.585sec | 16* |
4 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | +26.422sec | 12 |
5 | Alexander Albon | Red Bull | +1min 21.325sec | 10 |
6 | Sergio Perez | Racing Point | +1min 24.448sec | 8 |
7 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso | +1min 29.657sec | 6 |
8 | Nico Hülkenberg | Renault | +1min 46.639sec | 4 |
9 | Pierre Gasly | Toro Rosso | +1min 49.168sec | 2 |
10 | Lance Stroll | Racing Point | +1min 49.838sec | 1 |
11 | Lando Norris | McLaren | DNF | |
12 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | +1 lap | |
13 | Romain Grosjean | Haas | +1 lap | |
14 | Daniel Ricciardo | Renault | +1 lap | |
15 | George Russell | Williams | +1 lap | |
16 | Kimi Räikkönen | Alfa Romeo | +1 lap | |
17 | Robert Kubica | Williams | +1 lap | |
18 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo | DNF | |
DNF | Carlos Sainz | McLaren | ||
DNF | Max Verstappen | Red Bull |
*Fastest lap
Position | Driver | Team | Points |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 268 |
2 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 203 |
3 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 181 |
4 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 169 |
5 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 157 |
6 | Pierre Gasly | Toro Rosso | 65 |
7 | Carlos Sainz | McLaren | 58 |
8 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso | 33 |
9 | Kimi Räikkönen | Alfa Romeo | 31 |
10 | Alexander Albon | Red Bull | 26 |
11 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 24 |
12 | Daniel Ricciardo | Renault | 22 |
13 | Sergio Perez | Racing Point | 21 |
14 | Nico Hülkenberg | Renault | 21 |
15 | Lance Stroll | Racing Point | 19 |
16 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 18 |
17 | Romain Grosjean | Haas | 8 |
18 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo | 1 |
19 | Robert Kubica | Williams | 1 |
20 | George Russell | Williams | 0 |
Position | Team | Points |
---|---|---|
1 | Mercedes | 471 |
2 | Ferrari | 326 |
3 | Red Bull | 254 |
4 | McLaren | 82 |
5 | Toro Rosso | 51 |
6 | Renault | 43 |
7 | Racing Point | 40 |
8 | Alfa Romeo | 32 |
9 | Haas | 26 |
10 | Williams | 1 |
A wide variety of Lotus cars are often proffered as the ultimate F1 game-changer – but was the Lotus 76 an unusual candidate which trumps them all?
Finishing sixth in the Bahrain Grand Prix with broken wrists and a fractured toe, Lance Stroll is the latest racer to block out torturous pain rather than miss a race. Here are some of the most incredible stories
The hot pursuit of keeping up with Red Bull is causing serious headaches for Mercedes and Ferrari, with Aston Martin remaining realistic
Williams was the second-most improved F1 team at the Bahrain GP, with Alex Albon scoring a point. But new team principal James Vowles says that it will take years to break into the midfield fight, as he overcomes the legacy left by seasons of struggle