Verstappen becomes the fifth driver to take three successive Belgian Grand Prix wins, Hamilton records a result other than a podium or retirement at Spa for the first time since 2007 and Gasly and Albon fail to score at the track for the first time in their careers. Here’s a statistic from each driver’s 2023 Belgian Grand Prix weekend!
🇳🇱 Max VERSTAPPEN
On the weekend he overtook Kimi Raikkonen for third in the list of most starts with a single team, Max Verstappen also became the eighth driver to make 175 consecutive Grand Prix starts.
For the second year in a row, Max Verstappen set the fastest qualifying lap time at the Belgian Grand Prix. Verstappen secured the fastest qualifying time by 0.820 seconds – the largest margin by which a driver has set the fastest lap time in qualifying at Spa since Juan Pablo Montoya took pole for the 2002 Belgian Grand Prix by 0.887 seconds. However, for the second year in a row, a grid penalty meant that he did not start from pole. He dropped to sixth on the final grid.
After winning Saturday’s Sprint from pole position, Verstappen took victory at the 2023 Belgian Grand Prix, winning for the eighth race in a row. Verstappen is only the second driver, after Sebastian Vettel in 2013, to record eight consecutive Formula 1 victories. 2023 becomes the third consecutive season in which Verstappen has won ten or more races. As it stands, he has won 83% of races held this season.
Verstappen won the Belgian Grand Prix for the third year in a row. That saw him become the fifth driver – after Jim Clark, Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher and Kimi Raikkonen – to record three consecutive Belgian Grand Prix victories.
Winning from sixth on the grid, Verstappen won from a ninth different grid slot. Fernando Alonso is the only other driver to have won from nine different grid positions in his career. Verstappen is the first driver to win from sixth on the grid since Sergio Perez did so at the 2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix and the first driver to win from sixth at Spa since Kimi Raikkonen in 2009. Recording his 23rd win from a position other than pole, Verstappen moved ahead of Sebastian Vettel to fourth in the list of most wins away from pole.
Verstappen won the 2023 Belgian Grand Prix by 22.305 seconds – the largest win margin at Spa since 2005, when Kimi Raikkonen won by 28.394 seconds.
🇲🇽 Sergio PEREZ
Setting the third fastest time in Q3, the 2023 Belgian Grand Prix marked Sergio Perez’s first top three qualification since he took pole position for the Miami Grand Prix. Perez equalled his best Belgian Grand Prix qualifying result, having also qualified third in 2022.
Finishing the race as runner-up, Perez recorded his 33rd podium finish, equalling Denny Hulme and Jody Scheckter for 28th in the all-time list of most top three results. Perez scored points for the 163rd race, which saw him overtake Jenson Button as the driver who has scored in the seventh most Formula 1 races.
🇲🇨 Charles LECLERC
Charles Leclerc inherited pole position from Max Verstappen, taking the 20th pole of his career. That saw him equal Valtteri Bottas as the non-champion to have started from pole on the most occasions. Leclerc became the 11th driver to take multiple poles at Spa-Francorchamps.
Leclerc’s third place in the race ensured that the streak of every Belgian Grand Prix polesitter finishing on the podium since 2007 continued. With his 27th podium result, Leclerc has now had as many top three finishes in his career as Bruce McLaren and Ralf Schumacher. This was Leclerc’s third podium finish of the year. This was the first time Leclerc finished on the podium at Spa since taking his maiden win at the track at the 2019 Belgian Grand Prix.
🇪🇸 Carlos SAINZ
Carlos Sainz retired from the 2023 Belgian Grand Prix as a result of damage sustained in a first corner incident. He recorded his first retirement of the 2023 season; his first DNF since the 2022 United States Grand Prix. The 2023 Belgian Grand Prix was the fifth time that Sainz has failed to finish at Spa-Francorchamps. Sainz recorded Ferrari’s first retirement at the Belgian Grand Prix since Kimi Raikkonen failed to finish in 2018.
🇬🇧 Lewis HAMILTON
Lewis Hamilton made his 322nd Formula 1 start at the 2023 Belgian Grand Prix, equalling Rubens Barrichello as the driver to have started the third-most Formula 1 races. In the race, Hamilton equalled Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel as the driver who has scored in the most Grands Prix at Spa. This was his 12th points-scoring appearance at the circuit. Finishing fourth, the 2023 Belgian Grand Prix marked the first time that Hamilton recorded a result other than a podium or a retirement at Spa since 2007, when he also finished fourth.
🇬🇧 George RUSSELL
After qualifying eighth for the second year in a row, George Russell finished sixth at the 2023 Belgian Grand Prix; his worst Spa result since retiring in 2020.
🇫🇷 Esteban OCON
Qualifying only 15th for the 2023 Belgian Grand Prix, Esteban Ocon recorded his worst qualifying result of the season to date – and his worst qualifying result in a conventional qualifying session since setting the 18th fastest time at the 2022 United States Grand Prix. This was the first time since his first appearance in 2016 that Ocon failed to reach Q3 at the Belgian Grand Prix.
With eighth place in the race, Ocon scored points for the first time since the Canadian Grand Prix. The 2023 Belgian Grand Prix is Ocon’s sixth consecutive points-scoring Spa appearance. All of his last three points scoring results have been eighth place finishes. This was the first time since the Azerbaijan Grand Prix that Ocon finished in a better position than where he started.
🇫🇷 Pierre GASLY
Pierre Gasly recorded his fourth Q2 exit at Spa in qualifying for the 2023 Belgian Grand Prix, equalling the record for most Q2 exits at the circuit. Adrian Sutil, Nico Hulkenberg and Romain Grosjean have also recorded four Q2 exits here. The 2023 Belgian Grand Prix marked the third time in the last four years that Gasly has qualified 12th at Spa.
Gasly impressed in the Sprint, finishing in third place. It marked the first time he scored points in a Sprint event. He failed to score in the Grand Prix, finishing 11th. It marked the first time in his career that he finished outside of the points at the Belgian Grand Prix.
🇬🇧 Lando NORRIS
With seventh place, 2023 was the first time that Norris has qualified above tenth at the Belgian Grand Prix. He qualified tenth at the event in all of the previous three seasons. After an up and down race, Norris finished where he started and scored for a fourth race in a row.
🇦🇺 Oscar PIASTRI
Oscar Piastri out-qualified his team-mate for the second time this season. The 2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix is the only other race at which the Australian has qualified ahead of his team-mate.
The Australian out-qualified his team-mate again in the Sprint Shootout. He started the Saturday race from the front row and led the early laps in the race. He finished as runner-up.
On Sunday, Piastri retired on the opening lap of the 2023 Belgian Grand Prix. This was the Australian’s first retirement since his debut at the 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix. Piastri became the first driver to retire on the first lap since Charles Leclerc at the 2023 Australian Grand Prix.
🇫🇮 Valtteri BOTTAS
Valtteri Bottas qualified 14th for the 2023 Belgian Grand Prix, out-qualifying his team-mate at Spa for the first time since 2016.
🇨🇳 ZHOU Guanyu
Zhou Guanyu overtook Gianni Morbidelli as the driver to have made the second most starts in car number 24 at the 2023 Belgian Grand Prix. Only Timo Glock has now made more starts in car 24, with 58
🇪🇸 Fernando ALONSO
At the 2023 Belgian Grand Prix, Fernando Alonso became the first driver to make 18 appearances at Spa Francorchamps in his Formula 1 career. He also become the first driver to start the Belgian Grand Prix on 17 occasions.
Qualifying ninth for the 2023 Belgian Grand Prix, Alonso equalled his worst qualifying result of the season for a second consecutive race. He remains the only driver to reach Q3 at every race this year – though he was out in Q2 during the Sprint Shootout.
After failing to finish Saturday’s Sprint, Alonso returned to the top five on Sunday for the first time since the Austrian Grand Prix with a fifth place result. 2023 is the second consecutive season in which Alonso finished fifth at the Belgian Grand Prix.
During the 2023 Belgian Grand Prix, Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton joined a group of only five other drivers who’ve raced more than 500 Grand Prix laps at Spa during their Formula 1 careers. Sebastian Vettel, Michael Schumacher, Kimi Raikkonen, Felipe Massa and Rubens Barrichello are the only other drivers in the group.
🇨🇦 Lance STROLL
Lance Stroll reached Q3 at Spa for only the second time in his career. He last reached the top ten in qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix in 2020, when he qualified ninth. Finishing the race ninth, Stroll became the 51st driver to score points at 50 Formula 1 race weekends. 2023 is the first time that Stroll scored points at the Belgian Grand Prix since 2020. 2019 is the only other season in which Stroll scored points at Spa.
🇩🇰 Kevin MAGNUSSEN
Kevin Magnussen qualified in 13th place for the 2023 Belgian Grand Prix, making this the first time since the Canadian Grand Prix that he did not qualify on the back row of the grid. Magnussen received a three-place grid penalty and dropped to 16th on the final grid.
🇩🇪 Nico HULKENBERG
Nico Hulkenberg was eliminated in Q1 for the third time this season at the 2023 Belgian Grand Prix. This was Hulkenberg’s first Q1 exit at the Belgian Grand Prix since 2014 and his first back row qualification since the 2020 Eifel Grand Prix, as well as the first time he qualified outside of the top 18 at the Belgian Grand Prix. After a change of power unit and gearbox, Hulkenberg started the Grand Prix from the pit lane. He finished 18th, marking the first time he gained a position from where he started since the Monaco Grand Prix.
🇯🇵 Yuki TSUNODA
With 11th place, Yuki Tsunoda reached Q2 for the first time since the 2023 Spanish Grand Prix. 11th is his best qualifying result since he last reached Q3 at the Monaco Grand Prix.
Tsunoda enjoyed a strong Grand Prix, running as high as sixth during the race. He finished tenth, picking up his third point of the season. He last scored at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, where he also finished tenth. This is the first time in his three Belgian Grand Prix appearances that Tsunoda has scored a point. Tsunoda’s point ensured 2023 would become the seventh consecutive season in which the Red Bull junior team scored at the Belgian Grand Prix.
🇦🇺 Daniel RICCIARDO
After having his top ten lap time deleted for exceeding track limits, Daniel Ricciardo was out in Q1 at the 2023 Belgian Grand Prix. This marked his first Q1 exit since the 2022 United States Grand Prix and his first Q1 elimination at the Belgian Grand Prix since 2013; his last appearance here with the Red Bull junior team. This was the first time Ricciardo qualified on the back row since qualifying last at the 2017 British Grand Prix and his first back row qualification at the Belgian Grand Prix since qualifying 23rd with HRT in 2011.
Ricciardo gained three positions from where he started to finish 16th in the 2023 Belgian Grand Prix. It was the first time since 2017 that he finished the Belgian Grand Prix in a better position than where he started.
🇹🇭 Alex ALBON
Alex Albon was eliminated in Q1 at the 2023 Belgian Grand Prix for the first time in his career. He reached Q3 at Spa in each of the previous two seasons. Finishing 14th, Albon finished outside of the top ten at the Belgian Grand Prix for the first time in his career.
🇺🇸 Logan SARGEANT
With neither Williams driver scoring, the 2023 Belgian Grand Prix is the first Spa race since 2020 in which neither Williams car picked up a point.