Stroll and Perez rounded out the points but if Racing Point were disappointed with that return it was nothing compared to Ferrari, who were simply slow all weekend. Perez was asked if he expected the Ferraris to climb through the field from lowly grid positions before the race, and after a long pause where he was trying to think of the most polite way of responding, he said no. And he was right.
Charles Leclerc made an excellent start to run eighth on the opening lap but that only served to put him in a position for the lack of Ferrari speed to be brutally exposed. By lap 10, he was back to 12th. He would finish 14th. With Sebastian Vettel only one place better off, it was a dismal day for Ferrari.
“I think on one hand obviously Spa is one of the most power-sensitive tracks and we struggle this year with power so naturally you would expect to fall a bit behind,” Vettel said. “But I think we were even behind the people we were quite a bit faster than, especially on race day in the last couple of races, speaking of Sauber [Alfa Romeo] and Haas, so there’s probably something that is not exactly clear.
“I hope it will be a bit Spa-specific but we have to work hard, there’s a lot of lessons this weekend, and we need to make sure we stay strong, stay together, and do the best we can. We have two important races coming for the team and that’s where we focus on.
“But you also have to be realistic, you cannot expect miracles, the package is what it is, we are not strong as we would like to be. We need to stay optimistic and see the good things even if at the moment they are not many.”
Still, it can only get better. Next up is an even more power-sensitive circuit in Monza, and then we head to Mugello for Ferrari’s 1000th race. Where on recent form, you’d be a brave person to bet against Hamilton matching Schumacher’s 91.
2020 F1 Belgian Grand Prix race results
Position | Driver | Team | Time | Points |
1 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 44 laps | 25 |
2 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | +8.448sec | 18 |
3 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | +15.455sec | 15 |
4 | Daniel Ricciardo | Renault | +18.877sec | 13* |
5 | Esteban Ocon | Renault | +40.650sec | 10 |
6 | Alex Albon | Red Bull | +42.712sec | 8 |
7 | Lando Norris | McLaren | +43.774sec | 6 |
8 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri | +47.371sec | 4 |
9 | Lance Stroll | Racing Point | +52.603sec | 2 |
10 | Sergio Perez | Racing Point | +53.179sec | 1 |
11 | Daniil Kvyat | AlphaTauri | +1min 10.200sec | |
12 | Kimi Räikkönen | Alfa Romeo | +1min 11.504sec | |
13 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | +1min 12.894sec | |
14 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | +1min 14.920sec | |
15 | Romain Grosjean | Haas | +1min 16.793sec | |
16 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams | +1min 17.795sec | |
17 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | +1min 25.540sec | |
Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo | DNF | ||
George Russell | Williams | DNF | ||
Carlos Sainz | McLaren | DNS |
*Additional point for fastest lap
F1 Drivers’ Championship standings after Round Seven (Belgian GP)
Position | Driver | Team | Points |
1 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 157 |
2 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 110 |
3 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 107 |
4 | Alex Albon | Red Bull | 48 |
5 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 45 |
6 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 45 |
7 | Lance Stroll | Racing Point | 42 |
8 | Daniel Ricciardo | Renault | 33 |
9 | Sergio Perez | Racing Point | 33 |
10 | Esteban Ocon | Renault | 26 |
11 | Carlos Sainz | McLaren | 23 |
12 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri | 18 |
13 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 16 |
14 | Nico Hülkenberg | Racing Point | 6 |
15 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo | 2 |
16 | Daniil Kvyat | AlphaTauri | 2 |
17 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 1 |
18 | Kimi Räikkönen | Alfa Romeo | 0 |
19 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams | 0 |
20 | George Russell | Williams | 0 |
21 | Romain Grosjean | Haas | 0 |
F1 Constructors’ Championship standings after Round Seven (Belgian GP)
Position | Team | Points |
1 | Mercedes | 264 |
2 | Red Bull | 158 |
3 | McLaren | 68 |
4 | Racing Point | 66 |
5 | Ferrari | 61 |
6 | Renault | 59 |
7 | AlphaTauri | 20 |
8 | Alfa Romeo | 2 |
9 | Haas | 1 |
10 | Williams | 0 |