Verstappen makes this the first time in over 60 years that two consecutive races have been won from the lower half of the grid, Vettel becomes the driver to race the most laps at Spa and Gasly breaks a 69 year old record. Here are the facts and statistics from the 2022 Belgian Grand Prix!
VERSTAPPEN DOMINATES FROM 14th ON THE GRID
Max Verstappen dominated the 2022 Belgian Grand Prix, taking victory from 14th on the grid. This was the 29th victory of Verstappen’s career. He became the eighth driver to take consecutive wins at Spa-Francorchamps and the first to win successive races at the track since Kimi Raikkonen won three in a row between 2004 and 2007.
Verstappen’s victory was Red Bull’s 85th win in F1. They become the fifth team to record 85 wins in the sport.
Verstappen’s win from 14th marks only the fifth time that a race at Spa has been won by a driver who started from further back than sixth on the grid. In total, it is the seventh time that a World Championship race has been won from 14th on the grid. It’s the first time it has happened since Lewis Hamilton’s victory at the 2018 German Grand Prix.
Verstappen is the 14th driver to win from 14th or further back in World Championship history. John Watson remains the only driver to have won from 14th or further back twice.
This is only the second time in F1 history that consecutive races have been won from 10th or lower on the grid. It last happened over 60 years ago, at the 1959 United States Grand Prix and the 1960 Argentine Grand Prix. Strangely, Bruce McLaren won both of those races having been 10th and 13th respectively in the starting order. Verstappen also won having been 10th and 13th to cross the starting line in Hungary and Belgium respectively.
Verstappen is the third driver to record a podium finish from 14th on the grid at Spa. Bruce McLaren did so in 1960, while Ivan Capelli did so in 1988.
Verstappen’s win from 14th on the grid marks the first time that the driver starting 14th has scored a point since George Russell finished 9th at last year’s Italian Grand Prix.
With his victory, Verstappen becomes the first driver to score having started 14th on the grid at Spa since Felipe Massa in 2012.
Taking the win for a third successive race, Verstappen became the ninth driver to record three separate streaks of three or more consecutive victories during his career.
With Verstappen having led 31 laps of the race, the Belgian Grand Prix is the seventh consecutive race in which the Dutchman has led a lap. It is the longest streak of races in which he has led. He becomes the 18th driver to lead seven or more races in a row.
Verstappen set the fastest lap of the race for the 20th time in his career. He is the 15th driver to record 20 fastest laps during his Formula 1 career and only the eighth to set the fastest lap at 17 different venues.
ON THE PODIUM
Sergio Perez and Carlos Sainz joined Max Verstappen on the Belgian Grand Prix podium. Both drivers recorded their first podium finishes at Spa, taking the total number of top three finishers at the venue to 75. Only Monza (95) and Monaco (85) have had more different podium finishers in their F1 histories.
Perez’s second place made this the 21st race in which Red Bull have recorded a 1-2 finish. It was the team’s first 1-2 result at the Belgian Grand Prix since 2011.
Before the 2022 Belgian Grand Prix, Perez had never previously finished above fifth place at Spa. This was the first time that Perez has finished a race at this track in the same position as where he started.
Carlos Sainz finished in third place having started from pole position. This was the first time Sainz has finished above tenth place at Spa. It marked his first podium result since his victory at the British Grand Prix.
Sainz’s third place marked the first time that the polesitter has finished third at two consecutive races since the 2012 Australian and Malaysian Grands Prix.
Sainz’s podium was the 40th top three finish for Ferrari at Spa-Francorchamps. Ferrari are the only team to have taken 40 or more podiums at a single circuit and they have now done so at five different tracks: Monaco, Monza, Silverstone, the Nurburgring and Spa.
IN THE POINTS
With George Russell fourth and Lewis Hamilton failing to finish, this was the first Belgian Grand Prix since 2012 in which neither Mercedes driver finished on the podium.
Fernando Alonso finished in fifth place, recording his best Belgian Grand Prix result since his last podium finish here in 2013.
Alonso scored points for the ninth race in a row, continuing his longest point-scoring streak since the 15 races between the 2013 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and the 2014 Belgian Grand Prix.
With Alonso fifth and Esteban Ocon seventh, this was the first time since 2010 that both of the Enstone team’s drivers have picked up points at the Belgian Grand Prix. The Alpine duo have picked up points at all of the last four races in 2022, making this the first time that the team has scored with both cars at four successive races since the first four races of the 2013 season.
Coming home in sixth place after a five-second pit lane speeding penalty was applied, Charles Leclerc became the first driver to score at Spa having started from 15th on the grid since Jean-Eric Vergne in 2012.
It was a history-making afternoon for Sebastian Vettel, who recorded his second-best result of the season to date with eighth place. During the race, Vettel overtook Michael Schumacher as the driver to have completed the most racing laps at Spa. Vettel’s tally of laps complete here now stands at 622. He also equalled Schumacher as the driver to have scored on the most occasions at the venue. This was Vettel’s 12th points-scoring Belgian Grand Prix.
Vettel’s eighth place finish made this the 14th consecutive season in which the Silverstone-based team have picked up a point at the Belgian Grand Prix.
On his 100th race start, Pierre Gasly ended the equal-longest point-less streak of his career with a ninth place finish. This was the first time Gasly has scored since the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Gasly gained ten positions from his pit lane start over the course of the race. It’s the equal-most places he has gained in a single race. He also gained ten places at the 2018 Mexican Grand Prix.
Gasly’s ninth place made this the sixth consecutive season in which the Red Bull junior team has scored at Spa.
Alex Albon scored for the third time this year, with his tenth place marking his first points-scoring appearance since the Miami Grand Prix. This was Albon’s worst result in Belgium. He had never previously finished outside of the top six at Spa.
Both Gasly and Albon maintained their 100% points scoring records at the Spa circuit. Impressively, Gasly became the first driver in F1 history to score on all of his first five appearances at Spa, overtaking a long-standing record held by Alberto Ascari since 1953.
THE OTHER FINISHERS
McLaren failed to score at the Belgian Grand Prix for the first time since 2019. Lando Norris finished 12th, coming home outside of the points for the first time since the Canadian Grand Prix. Daniel Ricciardo finished 15th for a second race in succession. This was the fourth race in 2022 at which neither McLaren driver has scored points.
Competing in his 133rd Grand Prix, Kevin Magnussen moved ahead of Eddie Cheever to second in the list of most starts without leading a lap. Only Martin Brundle has appeared at more races without ever leading.
TWO DRIVERS OUT ON LAP 1
Lewis Hamilton was the first driver to retire from the Belgian Grand Prix. This was his first retirement of the year, meaning that every driver has now failed to finish at least one race during the 2022 season.
Hamilton’s retirement ends a 21 race streak of consecutive finishes for the Mercedes driver, the third longest finishing streak of his career. His last retirement came at the 2021 Italian Grand Prix.
This was the third time that Hamilton has retired on the opening lap at Spa. He sets a new record of most first lap retirements at the venue. Hamilton was previously out on the opening lap at the Belgian Grand Prix in 2009 and 2012.
2022 is the first year in which Hamilton has not finished on the podium at the Belgian Grand Prix since he last retired from the event in 2014.
This was only the third retirement for a Mercedes driver at Spa. In addition to Hamilton’s 2014 and 2022 non-finishes, Karl Kling also failed to finish the 1955 Belgian Grand Prix.
Valtteri Bottas was also out on the first lap of the race. This marked the first time that the Finn has failed to reach the chequered flag at the Belgian Grand Prix.
Bottas’ retirement made this the sixth time in the last seven seasons that a driver for the former Sauber team has failed to reach the chequered flag at the Belgian Grand Prix.
This is the first time Bottas has recorded retirements in successive races since the 2015 Russian and United States Grands Prix.
Racing on his 33rd birthday, Bottas made this the 28th occasion on which a driver has failed to finish a Grand Prix on their birthday. It’s the third time that a driver celebrating their 33rd birthday has retired, after Philippe Alliot at the 1986 German Grand Prix and Andrea de Cesaris at the 1992 Monaco Grand Prix.