What the teams said – Race day in Belgium

McLaren

In the wet conditions, Norris led away from a rolling start at Spa. But he got a small snap through La Source, and Piastri closed right in. The Australian admitted that he deliberately lifted less than his team mate through Eau Rouge to ensure the move was on, and swept past down the Kemmel Straight to take the lead. Piastri pitted one lap before Norris for medium tyres, and at a disadvantage Norris opted to switch things up by taking on the hards. Then came the second part of the race, with Norris closing a 10-second gap to his team mate while Piastri tried to get his medium tyres to the end. The Championship leader managed to do just that, as Norris made a few crucial errors when chasing – the gap at the flag just over three seconds.

Oscar Piastri, 1st

"It's a great feeling to win one of my favourite races. I knew Lap One was probably my best chance of winning, so I committed and managed to make it work, which I am proud of. We then managed the rest of the race really well. I struggled a bit towards the end of the Medium, but I felt we had it under control. Thank you to the team for giving us a great car this weekend. I'm excited for Hungary."

Lando Norris, 2nd

"A good result for the team and another one-two, our first here this century so it’s nice to bring that back to the team. There are plenty of positives I can take from my race, and I'll review everything with my engineers before we head to Hungary. Overall, a well-deserved result for everyone involved and a solid performance for the whole team all weekend."

Andrea Stella, Team Principal

"A brilliant 1-2 finish to complete a very strong weekend for the team with consistent performances in every session. This confirms that our car is able to perform at a circuit with the characteristics of Spa and also achieves our first 1-2 at the track since 1999.

"Oscar and Lando both drove impressive races in very difficult, changing conditions. Once the track had dried up, Oscar went with the Medium tyre while Lando wanted to deviate, going onto Hard tyres which is fair racing. At the time Lando seemed to be in a strong position, but Oscar managed to get the Medium to survive until the end and secured a deserved victory.

"Thank you to everyone who made today’s result possible, to the entire team both at track and the factory for their incredible work to deliver upgrades that worked very well on the MCL39. We now turn our attention to Hungary as we look to finish the final double-header before the summer break with another strong result, challenging for victory."

Ferrari

Leclerc did well to hold onto third in the early stages, running a lower downforce package than Verstappen behind. A good pit stop gained him some reprieve from the Red Bull’s attacks, and once the track dried his car came into its own. He held on for his fifth podium of the season, albeit at quite a distance back from the McLaren pair. Hamilton had arguably an even better race, after starting in the pit lane. He was electric in the early stages, scything past a number of cars before being amongst the first to pit for slicks. That position jumped him up to seventh, but then he was unable to find a way past the obdurate Albon late on.

Charles Leclerc, 3rd

"I'm pleased with the steps forward we are making and I think we should all be proud because I know how much work went in to our upgrades from the whole team back home in Maranello. It definitely helped us to get the podium and to keep Max behind today, which was not easy because he was very close until the very end of the race. Once we were on slicks, I knew I just had to keep my head down and push for P3 to be ours, and it is, so I'm very happy we brought it home. Our upgrades brought what we expected and we need to keep learning how to maximise their potential. We will keep pushing and I hope we can put some more pressure on our competitors soon."

Lewis Hamilton, 7th

"Today’s race was a really positive step forward. The strategy and pit stop were executed perfectly, and the overnight changes we made to the set-up really allowed me to get the most out of the car. I felt much more comfortable behind the wheel, and I’m pleased with how everything came together.

"It’s been a challenging weekend overall, so to finish on a high note gives me real confidence heading into Budapest. I want to thank everyone back at Maranello for their continued hard work and for bringing this upgrade — I’m looking forward to building on this momentum in the second half of the season."

Fred Vasseur, Team Principal

"We introduced a new package this weekend that we had to fine-tune and understand, which is not always easy but I think overall, we did a good job. We had decent pace today on both sides of the garage and picked up good points. Now we must target getting closer to McLaren race by race. Charles did very well in defending from Max to get on the podium and Lewis produced a very strong drive, doing a great job overtaking so many cars in the first ten laps. We know what happened in quali was tough but at the end of the day, the pace was good today. We were aggressive on the strategy with the pit-stops and everything went well."

Red Bull

Verstappen was all over Leclerc in the wet at the start, within half a second of the Ferrari. But he could not find a way past, and then lost some time in the pit stops. He had to work hard initially on the mediums to keep Russell at bay, but soon dropped the Mercedes man and set about chasing down Leclerc. In the end, he ran out of tyre life to make a move. As for Tsunoda, he was running comfortably in the points in the early stages. But the team left him out one lap too long when the switch over period arrived, and that cost him a lot of positions when he did pit. The Japanese racer tried to fight back, but after running 11th for a number of laps, faded at the end to finish P13.

Max Verstappen, 4th

“Today was quite disappointing and I think we were a bit unlucky. We set up for the wet and ultimately we didn’t do a wet race. We were pretty impacted because of the rear wing that we chose and because most of the race was dry. It was cautious and I felt like we could have done a few laps behind the safety car and ultimately, we want to make sure we don’t miss out on classic races as we can still have cool wet racing. When we went in with the slick tyres, every lap we saw Charles pulling away; he locked up in the last chicane which made it look closer but ultimately we weren’t fast enough. The race today does also show some of the weaknesses that we have; it is clear that the upgrades did work but we are limited in other areas, including general tyre behaviour and management and the balance of the car. We tried to do the best that we could today but we will just have to keep pushing, keep trying to improve and we will go again.”

Yuki Tsunoda, 13th

“Today has been a bit of a rollercoaster, there was a misunderstanding between myself and the Team and they called me in a little bit late on the last corner. At that point I had passed the pit entry already which was unfortunate. I then tried my best to overtake Pierre but my straight line speed was no where and I didn’t have DRS. Overall a frustrating race and disappointing not to be in the points. There are definitely a couple of things that we can we can take away from the race and we will re-focus for Budapest next weekend.”

Laurent Mekies, Team Principal

"The fact that we got so little wet running today did not help us as a Team. We added more downforce prior to Qualifying, in the expectation of a wet race but we didn’t get much racing in it and for sure, that influenced our race. It is part of the game. In the dry there it was always going to be very difficult for Max to overtake and he spent every single lap in Charles’ gearbox but ultimately became unlikely we would pass the Ferrari in these conditions. For Yuki it was our mistake, we wanted to pit him on the same lap as Max and everything was ready, the crew were out and prepared for a double stop, but we called him too late and it is on us. One lap made a big difference today when it came to switching to the slick and he lost position, which ultimately stopped his fight for the points. A positive is that the Team is happy with the upgrade package, there is no question as to whether we brought performance to the car, we absolutely feel we did. Does it fix all the limitations in the car? No but it is a step forwards. After two weeks at the factory, trying to meet as many people as possible it was nice to be with, and be integrated into the Race Team and enter the race dynamic. It was great to see the flow and processes trackside, as you would imagine it is a Team where everything is done at the highest level and I have met a very tight, strong group. Now, we look forward to seeing what we can deliver in a few days’ time in Budapest, at a track with very different characteristics to this one."

Mercedes

Russell made a good move in the early stages on Albon to steal fifth, and might have hoped for more when he came out right behind Verstappen after the first pit stops. But he did not have the pace to stick with the Red Bull, and from there endured a bit of a lonely race. Antonelli was much more in the thick of the action, after opting for a pit lane start. But he couldn’t follow Hamilton up through the order, despite some entertaining wheel to wheel battles with the likes of Ocon. He has not scored since his podium in Canada.

George Russell, 5th

"P5 was the maximum we could have achieved today. Our pace was not strong compared to our usual competitors and that left us in a lonely race to P5. It is frustrating to be in that position but that was the reality of our weekend.

"It has been an underwhelming weekend for us, so we need to quickly analyse what’s happened here in Spa. We have some on ideas as to where we have lost out to our rivals in recent races. We still have one more Grand Prix before the summer break to put things right and that will be our focus in Budapest next weekend."

Kimi Antonelli, 16th

"We opted to change the set-up in anticipation of a wet race today and, during those first few laps, that proved beneficial. The car felt good, and I was able to make some overtakes and progress up the field. Unfortunately, the track dried quickly and for the rest of the race we were losing out on the straights to some of the cars we were racing. Despite being able to stick close to those we were racing, we were unable to get any overtakes done. That meant we opted to try something different and went to the two-stop, but the result was similar as we got stuck behind the Haas of Esteban Ocon.

"It's been a difficult weekend here in Spa, but we have the chance to reset and come back stronger straight away in Budapest. We want to go into the summer shutdown with some momentum and I, and the team, are focused on doing that."

Toto Wolff, Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport

"There are not many positives we can take from the weekend here in Spa. Our pace has not been good enough to compete with our usual rivals and that has been frustrating. We need to quickly understand why that has been. We also need to ensure we execute the race weekend more cleanly, getting the car in a better place from the first session on track.

"Today, George delivered what was the maximum with the car in P5. It was a race all about damage limitation and he did a good job to secure some points. For Kimi, starting from the back, it was always going to be challenging to fight through. In the wetter conditions, his set-up was useful but that hindered him once it transitioned to the dry. He attempted something different with the two-stop in the closing stages, but his straight-line deficit held him back."

Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director

"This has been a tough weekend for us here in Spa. We haven’t had good pace throughout, so today’s race was very much about damage limitation. George maximised his result with P5, taking advantage of having a lower downforce set-up to pass the Williams of Alex Albon in the closing stages. From there, it was a lonely race for him to the flag.

"For Kimi, he opted for a higher downforce wet set-up which provided dividends in the early stages on the damp circuit. Sadly, as we transitioned to slicks, his pace advantage over cars ahead was negated by a lack of straight-line speed. We rolled the dice with the two-stop strategy, but points would not have been achievable whatever we did.

"After a challenging weekend here in Belgium, it is good to get back on track next weekend in Budapest. We will spend the coming days analysing this weekend and making sure we carry the learnings into our running at the Hungaroring. Hopefully we can go into the summer break with a more positive result than we have managed here in Spa."

Williams

Albon scored some big points for Williams in Spa, not putting a foot wrong in tricky conditions. He couldn’t keep a faster Russell at bay in the wet, but after pitting for slicks, he managed to keep Hamilton behind despite coming under huge pressure for lap after lap from the Ferrari man. Unfortunately, Sainz could not recover to the points after his pit lane start. He opted to two-stop, which proved to be the slower strategy today.

Alex Albon, 6th

"I’m really happy; we’re top of the midfield so that’s always nice and I managed to hold off Lewis, which is never easy. I struggled a little bit in the rain, which is to be expected, so I lost that position to George early on but after that, we settled in and were able to maintain position and finish strong. It was important to not make mistakes with Lewis behind, but I think his downforce worked in our favour. As a team we did a great job as it’s not easy beating those top teams, so it’s good to see our package is working well."

Carlos Sainz, 18th

"Following a costly set-up change yesterday before Qualifying, our starting position meant we had little to lose, so we took a gamble to start from the pit lane, changing the car to a wet configuration. Unfortunately, with the Red Flag during the worst of the weather, the race was dry, and it clearly didn’t work in our favour. We also had an issue with my pit stop, so it was a bit of a disappointing race all together. However, on the positive side, the Sprint was very strong and today the new package worked well on Alex’s car, so I look forward to next week."

James Vowles, Team Principal

"A strong weekend for us, with Alex finishing P6 in today’s Race and Carlos finishing P6 in the Sprint Race yesterday. It was difficult conditions all round. With Alex, he drove a focused race. Didn't put a foot wrong. We did a good pitstop and a good strategy helping him to hold on to that P6, despite having to defend against Lewis for most of the race.

"In the case of Carlos, we took a gamble this morning that the race would be wet for longer. We, like a number of other teams, fitted a slightly larger rear wing at the end. We only did around about ten laps in those wet conditions, and that car set-up is quite a bit slower in drier conditions. So that did not pay off today. But from where we were starting, it was a sensible choice to try and provide some learning, understanding and opportunity to Carlos later in the race.

"We did not execute Carlos’ pitstop well. We’ll review this and make sure that we progress across the season, operating at the highest level possible. Going forward though, what I'm encouraged by is that this package is working. It was a strong weekend, yet it's still a tight midfield, but I’m looking forward to these next races where we'll also deliver."

Racing Bulls

A mixed bag for Racing Bulls, with Lawson scoring for the team as Hadjar propped up the field. It all looked so good in the early stages, Hadjar running eighth and Lawson ninth. But interestingly, the team called Lawson in first who then held position. One lap later when Hadjar came in, the track had dried considerably and he came back out way down the order. While Lawson then drove to the finish in a composed display for more points, Hadjar was forced into a second stop after he couldn’t get his mediums working - and it was later revealed that his lack of pace was due to a technical issue.

Isack Hadjar, 20th

“Unfortunately, we had an issue with the car for almost the whole race and that made me lose quite a lot of lap time. We’ll review the reasons why, but I was aware of it whilst I was driving, so I just tried to make the most out of it, doing my best. It was very frustrating, as I felt like the car underneath me was working really well. It’s a shame for the team, as everyone has done an amazing job, and I think it could have been a double-points finish today after Liam’s result. I’m confident going to Budapest, so we’ll bounce back next week."

Liam Lawson, 8th

"I really enjoyed today. Often in those conditions you just want to survive, so I'm very happy for the team and how everything came together. It's always tricky when you cross over to a dry tyre when it's damp, but the car was fast and in clean air we had great pace. A lot of work goes into little details each weekend when the Championship is this tight, so now we need to keep the momentum rolling forward and make sure we enter the summer break on a high.”

Alan Permane, Team Principal

“First of all, we have to apologise to Isack, he had a problem with his car that we could see from around lap 8, causing him a loss of straight-line speed and costing him a lot of time over the course of the race. It’s a shame because he had a great car all weekend and great pace so if it wasn’t for that, I’m sure it would have been a very different result. Liam had a near-perfect race, he managed his tyres exceptionally well, both on the intermediates and on the dry tyre. He was strong and able to comfortably pull away from Bortoleto behind and was very happy with the car overall.

“There are only a few days to reflect on this race as we’re quickly onto Budapest with a very different track and a very different downforce level. It’ll be much hotter, and we’ve got different tyres, but we expect our car to perform well there, and we will have our usual target of getting both our cars into Q3 and in the points.”

Kick Sauber

Hulkenberg pitted on the perfect lap to switch from the inters to the mediums, and that catapulted him ahead of his team mate and into the points. But Bortoleto seemed to have more pace than his team mate today and Kick Sauber soon swapped their drivers. From there, Bortoleto could not quite catch Lawson but held onto a comfortable P9, while Hulkenberg opted to roll the dice and pit a second time. He picked off Tsunoda late on, but ran out of time to climb back into the points.

Nico Hulkenberg, 12th

"It turned out to be quite an unusual race right from the beginning – waiting over an hour after the first formation lap for the weather conditions to improve. Missing out on points at the end by just a second is obviously disappointing. We had to make a second stop with around 11 laps to go – my front tyres were dropping off significantly, and I was struggling with front locking and understeer. Staying out wasn’t really an option, especially with our higher downforce setup compared to Pierre Gasly behind, who was running lower downforce. We therefore opted for the stop and tried to fight back, but unfortunately it didn’t quite work out. That said, our pace was decent and we made progress. Gabi picked up some valuable points, which is important for the Constructors’ standings. Once again, we showed we’re competitive in the midfield, and that’s a positive takeaway as we head to Budapest next weekend."

Gabriel Bortoleto, 9th

"I'm happy to have made it back into the top ten today. The conditions were quite challenging – a wet start and then the track drying up always make things unpredictable – but we stayed focused, made the right calls, and managed to bring the car home in P9. Overall, I'm happy with how the race went: I feel we extracted everything we could from our package. Our pace has been solid all weekend, and that’s a credit to the whole team for giving me a car that felt good in every session. Of course, as a driver, you always want to be fighting higher up the grid, but this was a solid result and another decent step forward. We scored two more points, and that gives me an extra confidence boost heading into the next round in Budapest in just a few days. I feel we are moving in the right direction, and I’m excited to keep pushing and wrap up the first half of my rookie season on a high."

Jonathan Wheatley, Team Principal

“The race was significantly delayed following heavy rain before the start, which created a lot of debate around tyre choice. In the end, once we got going, the conditions made things relatively straightforward. Both drivers got away cleanly and managed their opening laps well.

“Gabi once again delivered a flawless performance. He was rock solid throughout the weekend – in every practice session, the sprint, and during today's race. Finishing P9 means points for the fifth consecutive race, which is a great achievement and a credit to the hard work from everyone at the factory and trackside.

“Nico’s race turned out to be more challenging. As his pace began to drop off in the second half of the race, it became clear that the original one-stop strategy would leave him exposed, so we made the call to box him a second time. Unfortunately, he rejoined behind Ocon which meant time was lost in traffic, and we weren’t able to maximise the strategy as planned. These are the kinds of calls that are always easier to assess in hindsight, and we’ll review it carefully back at the factory. Overall, it’s been another encouraging weekend for the team, and we’ll look to carry this momentum into Hungary.”

Alpine

Gasly looked delighted to see the rain falling, the Frenchman often doing very well in the wet. That proved the case again in Belgium, as he climbed up through the order to make it to the top 10. From there he had to work very, very hard to keep the chasing cars at bay, with a DRS train forming behind him. In the end, he held onto that last point by just 0.4s. Colapinto had a fun race further back, but his wait for a first point for Alpine continues as he came home 19th.

Pierre Gasly, 10th

“It was a very intense race and I am pleased that we were able to make the right calls to come away with one point, which we can be satisfied with today. We made some very good decisions like opting for an aggressive, low downforce set-up, which allowed us to attack and defend on the straights and also pitting at the right time for dry tyres as the track dried up early on. So, I am very happy with that and that hard work has paid off today. It is only a point but, after a race like that, defending from a number of cars for so long, we can be pleased. Every year, Spa is a special weekend for me for many reasons so it was nice to have my family here alongside Anthoine's mum too. We take a point away and we go into Hungary next week ready to go again for the final one before the summer break.”

Franco Colapinto, 19th

“It was a tough and long race for us. With the conditions, there was always likely to be some opportunity even starting from fifteenth after some cars started from the Pit Lane. It was very wet to begin and the conditions probably came to us as it dried as we opted for a low downforce wing to prioritise straight line speed. The start was good, we caught up the cars in front, before pitting for dry tyres. We seemed to struggle for pace on the Medium in traffic. We then pitted again to cover Carlos [Sainz] but, in the end, we could not make any progress towards him. Well done to Pierre for finishing in tenth and scoring a point for the team. On our side, it was a tricky weekend and I know we will continue to work hard in the week to prepare for the next race in Hungary.”

Flavio Briatore, Executive Advisor

“The conditions were typical of Spa today, as I have seen on many occasions over the years and it made for an interesting race from the pit wall. A big thank you to the fans in the grandstands who waited patiently for the race to start. It was a tough weekend for the team at a track that we know doesn't play to the strengths of our package. We tried something different by running less wing, which wasn't easy in those conditions. So, it's good to at least come away with a point and Pierre did well to keep the Red Bull, Haas and others behind in the closing stages. We pitted Franco to cover Carlos at the end but in the position they were in, it was unlikely to alter the outcome of the race.”

Haas

Ocon was one of a small number of drivers who pitted one lap too late for the slick tyres, and that cost him at Spa. Running a lower downforce set-up than his team mate, he should have been able to gain ground once it dried, but the timing of that stop just left him too much to do. As for Bearman, he looked racy throughout but it took him too much time to get past Tsunoda late on, which meant he ran out of time to fight with Gasly for the last point on offer. He has now finished P11 at the last four Grands Prix.

Esteban Ocon, 15th

“I think we got today completely wrong, sadly. We need to put everything together as a team, as we had decent pace in the car, especially later on when it was dry. We stayed two laps too long on the inters and then I went on to used mediums, which we need to review as it was obviously a performance loss.”

Oliver Bearman, 11th

“I think we were a little bit late in the first stop going onto medium tyres, which put me just out of the points in P11. Unfortunately, I had an engine issue and lost three positions from it, as I was actually ahead of Gasly before that and with Hulkenberg boxing twice, I would’ve been net P10, and I was managing that for the whole race. The car felt fantastic, I was just unable to overtake, it really sucked as the car was good. I think we can still be positive looking ahead to Hungary, we’ve been strong, we’ve been fast this weekend, and I think the Hungaroring is a track that will suit us quite well.”

Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal

“Today has been frustrating, as especially with Ollie we should’ve scored points. He had lots of pace with the downforce level he had, he was really happy with the car, and he had so much confidence. We knew however if you have that set-up and you’re in traffic, you’re not going to overtake, which is unfortunately exactly what happened. On top of that, we had an issue with the car so we couldn’t optimise it, as with his starting position we could’ve scored points.

“On Esteban’s side, we had an operational error and the pit stop timing wasn’t right. The speed is there though, I think we may have the fifth fastest car out there – which is amazing and hats off to the team who delivered it – but we just failed to execute. We have one more race before the shutdown, so we need to focus on the basics, and if we do that extremely well, I honestly have no doubt that we can score with both cars.”

Aston Martin

With Stroll starting last on the grid and Alonso from the pit lane, Belgium always looked a tough ask for Aston Martin in terms of scoring. Both drivers worked hard to move forward, Stroll in particular pulling off some strong overtakes. But with all 20 cars finishing and no more rain arriving, there just wasn’t the chaos that Alonso and Stroll needed to make big strides forward. At least the team have learned plenty about their new upgrade package, which they will try and put to good use next weekend.

Fernando Alonso, 17th

"Unfortunately, things haven't gone our way this weekend in Belgium. We committed to a wet set-up, but the race ended up being mostly dry and sunny. We managed to make up a few places to finish P17, but our pace still wasn't there. We brought a new package to the circuit, but it hasn't delivered the improvements we were hoping for. We will now go back and look at the data to try and find some performance in Hungary."

Lance Stroll, 14th

"It's been a tough weekend for us. We did what we could and it was probably the most we could achieve today. We made all the right strategy calls during the race but ultimately we want to finish in the points. I'm now looking forward to Budapest in a week's time, it's a very different track and hopefully there will be more opportunities for us."

Andy Cowell, Team Principal

"The Belgian Grand Prix comes to a close after a challenging weekend. We opted to split strategies between the two cars. Lance ran a one-stop race, managing his tyres well to make up six places and finish in P14.

"With Fernando, we opted for a two-stop approach, knowing we had little to lose. Unfortunately, it didn't pay off as we'd hoped. We were planning on a wet race, but the long delay in restarting meant it dried out very quickly, and we were also banking on greater tyre degradation from cars around us.

"Despite the outcome, this weekend has provided valuable learning. We're now focused on the Hungarian Grand Prix next weekend, the final race before the summer break."

Pirelli

Mario Isola, Motorsport Director

“We knew the rain would play its part today and indeed it did. Once again, poor visibility was the main problem the drivers had to deal with and that led to a delayed start, until the conditions improved. The track was drying quickly when the race got underway and the laps behind the Safety Car also helped in this. When the race was properly underway the Intermediates worked as expected, but obviously they degraded quickly, so that after just a handful of laps it was time to switch to slicks. There was a surprise at this point as we expected the Medium to be the unanimous choice but McLaren split their choices. It has to be said that the C1 worked very well and while being slower than the C3 it was more consistent in terms of degradation, despite the relatively low temperatures.

“The drivers at the front of the field all tried to get to the end with just the single stop. Therefore, for them, managing degradation on the Medium was very important, with the aim of limiting it as much as possible, which they managed to do. Those who then tried to push in the closing stages to make up positions felt an immediate drop in performance which halted their ambitions in this respect.

"Those who made a second stop towards the end were quicker but not enough to improve their position, because once again today, it was clear that overtaking at this track is not as easy as one might think. We brought an unusual trio of compounds here, with a step between the Hard and the Medium, aiming to provide more strategic options. Clearly, the rain prevented us from fully putting that choice to the test, but we gathered some useful insights to help guide our compound selections for the rest of the season."