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Formula 1
Belgian GP
F1 Belgian GP Live Commentary and Updates - Race day
Updates from Sunday at Spa-Francorchamps for the Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix
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F1 returns after its summer break with major developments off the track taking focus, headlined by Audi’s announcement it will join the championship as a power unit supplier in 2026 and the latest driver market saga.
On the track, Max Verstappen leads the F1 world drivers’ championship by 80 points over Charles Leclerc thanks to back-to-back wins in France and Hungary before the summer break.
But both serve grid penalties for the Belgian GP due to engine changes, along with five other drivers. Verstappen, who topped qualifying, starts from 14th with Leclerc alongside him in 15th. Carlos Sainz inherited pole position after qualifying and is joined on the front row by Sergio Perez.
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Pit stop
That's a good call by Ferrari, as Leclerc gets out of the pits ahead of Albon who is still holding Ricciardo, Stroll, Norris and Zhou tightly behind him. Leclerc is seventh and chasing after Ocon.
Pit stop
Sainz decides to slip into the pits and collects the hard tyre. Leclerc and Alonso do the same, as they conduct their final scheduled stops.
Leclerc, who is due to pit again, looks set to come out right in the middle of Albon-led DRS train as it stands. That'll be something he'll want to avoid for a smooth end of the race.
It's lap 25 and Verstappen is 9.6s clear of Perez. Sainz is 4.5s behind Perez and 4.5s ahead of Russell - who's continuing to close.
The DRS train invites Stroll for a move on Ricciardo going into Eau Rouge but the Aston Martin driver thinks better of it and backs out.
The race pace of the Williams is rather being exposed now as Albon is creating a DRS train in ninth place with Ricciardo, Stroll, Norris and Zhou tucked up behind him.
Russell's starting to close down Sainz now - Ferrari struggling to find race pace at this point. The British driver closed in by over a second at the end of lap 22, and he's continuing that progress.
Pit stop
Gasly pits for a second time in this race, taking on fresh mediums, and returns to the action in 17th, just ahead of Latifi.
Stroll keeps his foot in around the outside on the entry to Les Combes to dart by Gasly to gain 11th place.
Perez steams past Sainz for second on the 21st lap - Red Bull looks pretty untouchable today.
It's lap 20/44 - Verstappen leads by 4s over Sainz, with Perez closing in on the Ferrari. Russell is fourth, and Leclerc is asked if he can do five more laps before his final stop.
Ocon, who had been tucked by behind Albon for a couple of laps, gets gifted eighth place as the Williams driver locks up and goes wide at La Source.
Pit stop
At the end of lap 18 Tsunoda pits for the first time, swapping his hards for mediums, and drops from eighth to 17th.
Super double move by Ocon who gets by the squabbling Ricciardo and Latifi on the run from Blanchimont to the chicane. He's up to 10th.
Verstappen follows Sainz up the hill, stalks him through Eau Rouge and sweeps past the Ferrari for the lead on the Kemmel Straight. Easy as you like.
Vettel uses DRS to charge by Albon at the end of the Kemmel straight to take eighth place. Given the top speed of the Williams, that's pretty impressive.
"Starting to recover a bit of grip," Sainz reports - and not a moment too soon, as Verstappen's switched on and goes a full 2.5s quicker on that previous lap.
All the midfield runners apart from Tsunoda - who started on the hards from pitlane - have pitted at least once, which sees the Japanese driver up in seventh, but he's just been overtaken by Alonso.
Leclerc seems to be flagging a little on his tyres now, and Russell stabs his Mercedes past at Les Combes and collects fourth place.
Pit stop
Verstappen now pits from the lead. Solid stop, he'll lose the lead but gets out ahead of Perez.
Leclerc tries to pass Perez on the Kemmel Straight after the Mexican comes out of the pits, but gives Leclerc no quarter and holds on. Perez remains third.
Pit stop
"Just try to extend a little bit," says Verstappen, happy with his tyres at the moment. He'll presumably cede the lead when he comes in, but he'll have fresher boots over Sainz. Perez pits at the end of lap 14.
Leclerc gets up to fifth now, flying by Stroll, who is yet to pit.
Leclerc has benefitted from those ahead pitting to climb to sixth place, but rather obviously he has much older tyres to deal with for the rest of the race.
Pit stop
Russell pits at the end of lap 13 from third, and thus promotes Sainz into the top three as the polesitter clears Vettel.
Sainz clears Ricciardo into Pouhon, but that will have nullified any advantage from the undercut. Red Bull continues on, however, deciding to pit later.
Verstappen now passes Perez for the lead. Alonso also pits, and Sainz comes out of the pits behind the slower Ricciardo - not ideal for the Ferrari driver.
Pit stop
"We're losing a silly amount of time now," Verstappen says, hoping for a switch. Sainz, meanwhile, pits from the lead.
Perez doesn't seem particularly willing to move aside for Verstappen at the moment. Maybe they're going for the Talladega Nights slingshot on Sainz...
Pit stop
Albon and Gasly have pitted at the end of lap 10 and both take on fresh hards that they'll aim to get to the end of the race with.
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Verstappen also reports high deg, so it's tough on the softs out there. "Degradation higher than expected, that's for everybody," Leclerc gets told.
Leclerc is now 12th, getting ahead of Magnussen, but the less good news for him is he's already 20 seconds behind the leaders.
Norris takes to the front of the DRS train in the midfield, getting by Magnussen to take 11th place. Leclerc is following through at pace, as he gets by Zhou.
That's one done, as Leclerc gets by Gasly, and then later on the same lap he dives past Tsunoda at the final chicane to take 14th place - pretty much where he started the race. Just don't tell him where Verstappen is.
Sainz reports high degradation on the softs, which will be music to Verstappen's ears. Only Perez stands between them - but that won't be for long.
Leclerc is stuck in a long DRS train. He's 16th tucked up behind a line of cars led by Magnussen up in 11th.
Stopwatch
Verstappen's lap 7 time was a 1m51.954s, 0.8s faster than the leading Sainz, and he's passed Russell already.
Verstappen dispatches Vettel with ease into the chicane, and crosses the line for the seventh lap in fifth place. Alonso is next up and is easy meat into Les Combes - as there's no further action on Alonso and Hamilton.
Schumacher has endured a poor restart to the race and is running in last place having been passed by Leclerc and Latifi.
Albon gets by Ricciardo now for seventh, using superior top speed to charge by on the Kemmel straight.
By: autosport.com
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