Even after his 200 Formula 1 podiums, the sport still finds ways to surprise Lewis Hamilton. The 39-year-old has become one of the top contenders in the recent Grands Prix ever since Mercedes upgraded their car. At the British GP a couple of weeks ago, he even clinched his 104th race victory. And last weekend in Hungary, he raced against Max Verstappen for the third spot on the podium. After these amazing results, Hamilton has yet another chance to wow his fans at the Belgian GP this weekend.
During the Qualifying at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Lewis fared quite well. After finishing the Hungarian GP behind the McLaren duo, he exacted revenge on Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri by beating them during Q3. However, both the Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez got past Lewis Hamilton and so did Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
In the end, the results showed that the Mercedes racer would be starting the Main Race in Belgium at P4. But there was a surprise in store for him. Yesterday, Red Bull announced they will give a new power unit to Max Verstappen. As per FIA’s rules, a driver will incur a penalty for using new parts in his car at any of the races. Hence, it was announced that Max would get a 10-place grid penalty at the Belgian GP.
Since he came first during the Quali, it means that he will start 11th in the Main Race after his penalty. And that has resulted in Lewis Hamilton being bumped up by one place. So, the Silver Arrows racer will be in the third spot on the starting grid now.
Funnily enough, Lewis had forgotten all about Max’s penalty. When he gave an interview after the Quali, the Briton realized he would be starting from a top 3 position tomorrow. Taken aback by the good news, he said, “Sorry, P3 tomorrow? Oh yeah, I hadn’t thought about his penalty.” But the Mercedes racer should not get too comfortable with this result either.
The Red Bulls have shown off some good speed during the FPs at Spa earlier this week, and Max Verstappen has previously grabbed a race win after starting outside the points too—are you wondering when this happened?
Why is Max Verstappen still in contention for a race win at the Belgian GP?
Current World Champion Max Verstappen might be starting outside the points at tomorrow’s race but that doesn’t mean he is any less of a threat to his rivals. The Dutchman has failed to win any of the last Grands Prix and he has to grab victory in Belgium before the summer break begins. If you are wondering how that would happen since the Dutchman will start the race at P11, don’t worry. In 2022, he was 14th in the starting grid, and he still managed to pass every single racer ahead of him to finish at P1.
While Lewis Hamilton might have forgotten about Max’s penalty at first, he knows the P11 start might not hold the Red Bull racer back from winning in Spa. He said, “Obviously Max [Verstappen] is going to make his way through because I think they are the quickest this weekend, so holding on to the podium is going to be a hell of a fight. But I’m ready for it.” Of course, Hamilton ended up ahead of the McLarens in Quali but the FP results show they were both faster than him on some occasions. Hence, Norris and Piastri might surpass the Briton tomorrow if he’s not too careful.
With the starting grid reshuffle thanks to Max Verstappen’s penalty, the Belgian GP has become all the more interesting now. While all eyes will be on him to see how he works his way up the grid, his teammate Sergio Perez might impress everyone too since he’s starting from the front row. So, please share your comments below if you think Red Bull can get a 1-2 in Belgium just like McLaren did a week ago at Hungaroring.