Verstappen becomes the second driver to win eight consecutive races and equals the record for wins from the most different grid slots while Tsunoda returns to the points for the first time in eight races. Here are the facts and statistics from qualifying at the 2023 Belgian Grand Prix!
VERSTAPPEN WINS THE 2023 BELGIAN GRAND PRIX
Max 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.
Extending their consecutive win streak record to 13 races, Red Bull became the first team to take victory at all of the first 12 races of a Formula 1 season.
Verstappen won the 2023 Belgian Grand Prix from sixth on the grid. It’s the ninth different grid slot from which he has won in his Formula 1 career. 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. In total, it was the 40th victory from sixth on the grid – and the sixth win from sixth on the grid at Spa-Francorchamps. The other drivers to win at Spa from sixth on the grid are Jim Clark in 1964, Bruce McLaren in 1968, Pedro Rodriguez in 1970, Alain Prost in 1987 and Kimi Raikkonen in 2009.
Recording his 23rd win from a position other than pole, Verstappen moves 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.
With his win, Verstappen finished on the podium for the 13th consecutive race – the fourth longest streak in F1 history. It’s the longest podium streak since Lewis Hamilton’s 16-race streak of top three finishes between the 2014 Italian Grand Prix and the 2015 British Grand Prix.
After the 2023 Belgian Grand Prix, Red Bull lead the Constructors’ Championship by 256 points. It’s the largest margin by which they’ve led the title race – 20 points more than their previous largest lead after the 2013 Brazilian Grand Prix.
ON THE PODIUM
Max Verstappen was joined on the 2023 Belgian Grand Prix podium by Sergio Perez and Charles Leclerc, with the trio finishing in the same order as they did at the 2022 Japanese Grand Prix.
Sergio Perez recorded his 33rd podium finish, equalling Denny Hulme and Jody Scheckter for 28th in the all-time list of most top three results.
With Verstappen winning and Perez second, the duo recorded Red Bull’s 27th 1-2 finish in Formula 1. It’s the team’s first 1-2 result since the 2023 Miami Grand Prix.
Having also finished 1-2 last year, Red Bull become the first team to record 1-2 results in consecutive seasons at the Belgian Grand Prix since McLaren did so in 1988 and 1989.
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.
With his 27th podium result, Charles Leclerc has now had as many top three finishes in his career as Bruce McLaren and Ralf Schumacher. This was Lelcerc’s third podium finish of the year.
Leclerc’s third place finish in the 2023 Belgian Grand Prix marked Ferrari’s 50th podium result at the Belgian Grand Prix. The points scored by Leclerc ensured Ferrari would become the first team to score 400 points at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps.
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.
Leclerc’s third place ensured that the streak of every Belgian Grand Prix polesitter finishing on the podium since 2007 continued.
IN THE POINTS
With Lewis Hamilton fourth and George Russell sixth, the 2023 Belgian Grand Prix was the 50th consecutive race in which Mercedes scored. It’s only the sixth time in Formula 1 that a team has scored points in 50 successive races.
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.
The 2023 Belgian Grand Prix marks the first time that Hamilton has recorded a result other than a podium or a retirement at Spa since 2007, when he also finished fourth.
Fernando Alonso returned to the top five for the first time since the Austrian Grand Prix with a fifth place result. It’s the second consecutive season in which Alonso has 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.
Lando Norris scored for a fourth race in a row, finishing in seventh place.
With eighth place, Esteban Ocon scored points for the first time since the Canadian Grand Prix. 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.
The 2023 Belgian Grand Prix is Ocon’s sixth consecutive points-scoring Spa appearance.
Finishing ninth, Lance Stroll became the 51st driver to score points at 50 Formula 1 race weekends.
2023 is the first time that Stroll has scored points at the Belgian Grand Prix since 2020. 2019 is the only other season in which Stroll has scored points at Spa.
This was the first time since 2018 that both of the Silverstone-based team’s cars finished in the top nine at the Belgian Grand Prix.
Yuki Tsunoda enjoyed a strong afternoon, 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 is the seventh consecutive season in which the Red Bull junior team has scored at the Belgian Grand Prix.
THE OTHER FINISHERS
Pierre Gasly finished in 11th place, marking the first time in his career that he has finished outside of the points at the Belgian Grand Prix.
With Valtteri Bottas 12th and Zhou Guanyu 13th, Alfa Romeo failed to score for a fourth race in succession. It’s the team’s longest point-less streak since the six races between the 2022 British and Dutch Grands Prix.
Haas also continued their point-less streak, with neither Kevin Magnussen (15th) nor Nico Hulkenberg (18th) scoring for the seventh Grand Prix in a row.
2018 remains the last time that Haas scored points in the Belgian Grand Prix.
Hulkenberg started from the pit lane and finished 18th. It’s the first time he has gained a position from where he started since the Monaco Grand Prix.
Finishing 14th, Alex Albon finished outside of the top ten at the Belgian Grand Prix for the first time in his career.
Daniel Ricciardo gained three positions from where he started to finish 16th in the 2023 Belgian Grand Prix. It’s the first time since 2017 that he has finished the Belgian Grand Prix in a better position than where he started.
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.
THE RETIREES
Oscar 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.
Carlos Sainz was the second and final retirement from the 2023 Belgian Grand Prix. He recorded his first retirement of the 2023 season; his first DNF since the 2022 United States Grand Prix.
The 2023 Belgian Grand Prix is 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.
Despite the two retirements, there were no Safety Car or Virtual Safety Car periods in the Belgian Grand Prix for the first time since 2014.
