2021

Max Verstappen clinched pole position at the Belgian Grand Prix in the twelfth race of the 2021 FIA Formula 1 World Championship. In wet and treacherous conditions, the Dutchman grabbed the ninth pole of his career in the dying minutes of the session. George Russell with a sensational lap took second position ahead of Lewis Hamilton in third position. It was a stellar result for the young Briton to start on the first row. The qualifying session at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium took place under wet and cold conditions with air temperatures at 14 degree C and track temperatures at 16 degree C. The three compounds for this race are from the middle range of the Pirelli tyres – the white-striped hard tyres (C2), the yellow-striped medium tyres (C3) and the red-striped soft tyres (C4). The start of the qualification was delayed by twelve minutes due to standing water on the track. For the first installation lap all the drivers except the two Williams F1 drivers were on full wet tyres. George Russell’s first flying lap was compromised as his team-mate Nicholas Latifi spun and brought out the yellow flags. But on their second lap, Russell and Latifi went to the top of the time charts on the intermediate tyres. The other drivers pitted to take on the intermediate tyres for their next lap. Esteban Ocon then went to third position on the time charts behind the Williams duo. The drivers scrambled to get in their laps before the rain came down again. Lando Norris topped the session ahead of Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton. The second qualification session started with the drivers on the intermediate tyres and the threat of rain hanging over the circuit. Norris set the first timed lap with a 1m57.235s to go to the top of the time charts. With six minutes to go, both the Mercedes drivers were in the drop zone and managed to move themselves into the top ten positions. But with two minutes to go, both Hamilton and Bottas were again in the drop zone. Hamilton and Bottas in a last gasp effort took second and third position. Norris again topped the time charts. In the dying minutes of the session, Daniel Ricciardo and Ocon knocked out the two Ferrari drivers. Norris was the first driver on the track which was very wet now. Vettel behind him told his pit wall that they should red flag the session as it was too dangerous. Norris on his first timed lap crashed heavily at Eau Rouge and the session was red-flagged. The rain intensified and the drivers sat in their cars and waited for the resumption. The session finally resumed at 16:45 local time with eight minutes and fifty-nine seconds left. In very wet conditions, the drivers were out on the intermediate tyres. Hamilton took provisional pole position ahead of Verstappen by 0.973 seconds. But Russell with an outstanding lap took first position. In the dying minutes of the session, Verstappen grabbed pole position from Russell in a sensational end to the wet qualification session. 2021 F1 BELGIAN GRAND PRIX – QUALIFYING RESULTS POS. DRIVER NAT. TEAM Q1 Q2 Q3 1 Max Verstappen NED Red Bull Racing 1m58.717s 1m56.559s 1m59.765s 2 George Russell GBR Williams Racing 1m59.864s 1m56.950s 2m00.086s 3 Lewis Hamilton GBR Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team 1m59.218s 1m56.229s 2m00.099s 4 Daniel Ricciardo AUS McLaren F1 Team 2m01.583s 1m57.127s 2m00.864s 5 Sebastian Vettel GER Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team 2m00.175s 1m56.814s 2m00.935s 6 Pierre Gasly FRA Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda 2m00.387s 1m56.440s 2m01.164s 7 Sergio Perez MEX Red Bull Racing 1m59.334s 1m56.886s 2m02.399s 8 Valtteri Bottas FIN Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team 1m59.870s 1m56.295s 2m02.502s 9 Esteban Ocon FRA Alpine F1 Team 2m01.824s 1m57.354s 2m03.513s 10 Lando Norris GBR McLaren F1 Team 1m58.301s 1m56.025s No Time Set 11 Charles Leclerc MON Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow 2m00.728s 1m57.721s   12 Nicholas Latifi CAN Williams Racing 2m00.966s 1m58.056s   13 Carlos Sainz ESP Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow 2m01.184s 1m58.137s   14 Fernando Alonso ESP Alpine F1 Team 2m01.653s 1m58.205s   15 Lance Stroll CAN Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team 2m01.597s 1m58.231s   16 Antonio Giovinazzi ITA Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen 2m02.306s     17 Yuki Tsunoda JPN Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda 2m02.413s     18 Mick Schumacher GER Uralkali Haas F1 Team 2m03.973s     19 Kimi Raikkonen FIN Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen 2m04.452s     20 Nikita Mazepin RUS Uralkali Haas F1 Team 2m04.939s    

During Q3 of qualifying it starts to rain again, which causes doubts for some drivers. Lando Norris has no doubts, but crashes heavily at the beginning of his fast lap, resulting in a red flag. Normally, wet sessions cause many accidents, but during the qualifying of the Belgian Grand Prix it was remarkably quiet. At least, until Q3 starts. At that moment it starts to rain harder, causing puddles on the track. Lando Norris starts confidently with his first fast lap, but that soon comes to an end. At the top of Eau Rouge, the Brit loses control over his McLaren and crashes into the wall, before returning to the track. Luckily no other drivers arrive at full speed, but Sebastian Vettel comes to check if Norris is okay. Norris will start the race in the top 10, but the McLaren mechanics will have to work hard on Saturday. The car of Norris is total loss and will have to be replaced completely.

Mick Schumacher’s future on the Formula 1 grid could be red, Mattia Binotto admits. However, the Ferrari team boss says another year of learning for the son of F1 legend Michael Schumacher is waiting around the corner for 2022. “Before we decide when he’s ready for Ferrari, he has to finish this year without pressure,” Binotto said. “We don’t have to put pressure on him as that would be wrong. He should learn, as I said,” the Italian told the German broadcaster n-tv. And that learning period will involve another year at Ferrari powered Haas, Binotto revealed. “His second year at Haas will probably be great for him because then he will have the opportunity to show how good he is in Formula 1,” he said. “We know that he’s a good driver. So far he’s been doing well and we’re very happy with him.” Therefore, the door has been opened to a full works Ferrari seat for Schumacher in 2023. “Could be. I think that should be his challenge, no doubt,” Binotto admitted. “I think he has a clear goal and that is part of it.”

Red Bull have decided to continue with their experienced driver Sergio Perez for 2022. The team announced on Friday that the Mexican will continue race alongside Max Verstappen in an unchanged lineup for next season. This will mark the 31-year-old’s 11th season in Formula 1. Since joining from Racing Point at the beginning of this year, Perez has provided valuable points for the team has been able to capitalise on any opportunities. This being evident at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix where he got himself in a position to win the race when his teammate and Lewis Hamilton were out of contention. Perez is buoyed by the news and his looking forward to getting his hands on next years’ car where a raft of technical changes mean it’s all to play for. “I’m really happy to be continuing with a great team like Red Bull into the new era of Formula 1 and it’s a great opportunity for me,” said Perez. “Everyone starts from zero next year with the new regulations, so my only goal is to go all the way to the top with Red Bull. “It always takes time to get on top of everything when you join a new team but things have worked well this season and I really enjoy being a part of the Red Bull family. We’ve been working hard to deliver results so it’s great to see the team have faith in me for the future. “We have so much more to achieve together and we still have a great challenge on our hands this season so I really hope we can finish the year on a high and carry that momentum into 2022. I want to thank all my supporters around the world and especially those in Mexico. From my sponsors to my fans, they have been so enthusiastic since I joined Red Bull so I really hope we can reward them by reaching the top and winning the title.” Red Bull Team principal Christian Horner poured praise on the Mexican’s experience and driving ability highlighting his “seamless integration” into the team. “Checo [Perez] is a highly respected Team member and his experience and race-craft are invaluable as we fight for the Constructors’ Championship,” said Horner. “His integration into the wider Team has been seamless and we have been impressed by his performances during the first half of the season which demonstrate what he’s capable of in our car. “Next year we move into a new era of Formula 1 with completely revised regulations and cars, and with over 200 races and a decade of experience under his belt, Checo will play an integral role in helping the Team navigate this transition and maximise the RB18. “Our current attention is on ending the 2021 season as strongly as possible and we look forward to seeing Checo build on a first successful season with the team.”

Max Verstappen set the fastest time during second practice for Formula 1’s Belgian Grand Prix before crashing out of the session. Verstappen clocked a time of 1:44.472s on Soft tyres in cool conditions at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, following earlier rain, to narrowly head Mercedes pair Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton. Bottas and Hamilton finished just 0.041s and 0.072s behind respectively but did so on the Medium tyres, having been unable to improve on their Soft runs. Verstappen brought the session to an early halt a few minutes from the scheduled conclusion after crashing through Malmedy. Verstappen lost control of the RB16B through the right-hander at the highest point of the track and slid into the barriers, sustaining damage to the rear-right of the car. Charles Leclerc claimed his maiden grand prix victory in Belgium in 2019 but also suffered a crash during the second practice session. Leclerc copped an armful of oversteer exiting Les Combes and as he tried to correct the moment slid into the tyre wall entering Malmedy. The left-front of Leclerc’s Ferrari SF21 sustained terminal damage and his incident brought out the red flags. Leclerc finished the day down in 18th place, in front of only the Haas drivers Nikita Mazepin and Mick Schumacher. Alpine claimed a shock victory in Hungary and while a repeat in Belgium is highly unlikely both Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon displayed encouraging speed. At a circuit where the team was relatively strong under its Renault guise in 2020 Alonso was fourth while Hungary winner Ocon placed seventh, avoiding damage after a spin exiting Fagnes. Pierre Gasly maintained his and AlphaTauri’s strong performance from the opening practice session by classifying fifth, just 0.012s behind Alonso, and within half a second of pacesetter Verstappen. Lance Stroll was sixth for Aston Martin, with team-mate Sebastian Vettel eighth, as McLaren’s Lando Norris and Red Bull’s Sergio Perez rounded out the top 10. It was confirmed earlier on Friday that Perez will be staying within Red Bull’s stable in 2022. 2021 F1 BELGIAN GRAND PRIX – FREE PRACTICE RESULTS (2) POS DRIVER NAT. TEAM TIME 1 Max Verstappen NED Red Bull Racing 1m44.472s 2 Valtteri Bottas FIN Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team 1m44.513s 3 Lewis Hamilton GBR Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team 1m44.544s 4 Fernando Alonso CHI Alpine F1 Team 1m44.953s 5 Pierre Gasly FRA Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda 1m44.965s 6 Lance Stroll CAN Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team 1m45.180s 7 Esteban Ocon FRA Alpine F1 Team 1m45.302s 8 Sebastian Vettel GER Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team 1m45.336s 9 Lando Norris GBR McLaren F1 Team 1m45.386s 10 Sergio Perez MEX Red Bull Racing 1m45.404s 11 Carlos Sainz ESP Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow 1m45.517s 12 Yuki Tsunoda JPN Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda 1m45.758s 13 Antonio Giovinazzi GBR Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen 1m45.789s 14 Kimi Raikkonen FIN Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen 1m45.967s 15 Daniel Ricciardo AUS McLaren F1 Team 1m46.118s 16 Nicholas Latifi CAN Williams Racing 1m46.198s 17 George Russell ISR Williams Racing 1m46.665s 18 Charles Leclerc MON Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow 1m46.836s 19 Nikita Mazepin RUS Uralkali Haas F1 Team 1m47.335s 20 Mick Schumacher GER Uralkali Haas F1 Team 1m47.529s

Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas will battle Red Bull Racing this weekend with new engines. Both drivers have put in their third and final power unit at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit. Logically, the changes are not accompanied by grid penalties. Hamilton and Bottas will drive this weekend with a new exhaust, MGU-H, MGH-K and turbocharger. The engine development for this season is as good as frozen, so it doesn’t look like Mercedes will have a lot of extra horsepower immediately. What could be the case though, is that the engine is more reliable now, which means it can be used for a longer period of time. Especially on Sundays that could be an advantage. The customer teams will also receive new engine components in Belgium. Lando Norris, Daniel Ricciardo, Lance Stroll and Nicholas Latifi will also drive with new parts. Sebastian Vettel and George Russell are already driving the third engine of the 2021 season. Red Bull Racing will also be running with a new engine same as AlphaTauri.

Valtteri Bottas posted the fastest time in first practice for the Belgian Grand Prix as Lewis Hamilton finished 18th. On Formula One’s return to action at Spa-Francorchamps following the sport’s four-week summer break, Bottas edged out Red Bull’s Max Verstappen by 0.164 seconds. Hamilton, who leads Verstappen by eight points in his bid for a record-breaking eighth world championship, ended the running three seconds of the pace after he was forced to abort his fastest lap following a close call with Williams driver Nicholas Latifi. Hamilton, who had just posted the fastest second sector of the one-hour session, approached the back of Latifi’s Williams on the 200mph drag to the Bus Stop chicane. But Latifi was caught unawares and, as Hamilton moved to his left to pass the Canadian, so did Latifi, forcing Hamilton to slam on the anchors to avoid a high-speed collision. Hamilton’s team-mate Bottas stole the early advantage for Mercedes by lapping the 4.34-mile circuit – the longest track on the calendar – faster than anybody else. Rain threatened to disrupt the first action on Friday but, after a light shower, the drivers were able to run on slicks. The rain then arrived again as the chequered flag fell with Spa’s infamous changeable conditions forecast for the remainder of the weekend. Alpha Tauri’s Pierre Gasly finished third, half-a-second back, with the two Ferrari drivers, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, fourth and fifth. British driver Lando Norris, an impressive third in the standings after the opening 11 rounds, finished eighth for McLaren, 1.1 sec down. Kimi Raikkonen spun at La Source and then was left red-faced as he banged the wall on his entry to the pits in a practice to forget for F1’s most-capped driver.

Mick Schumacher says he’s excited to take to track at this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix because it is 30 years on from his father Michael’s Formula 1 debut, but also a track he has performed well at in the junior series’. Seven-time champion Michael Schumacher made his F1 debut at the 1991 Belgian Grand Prix for Jordan. Mick drove his father’s Jordan 191 earlier in the year at Silverstone. Speaking ahead of this weekend’s Belgian GP, he said: “Obviously it is [special], yeah. Not just because of the history of my dad but I’ve had a few good races here. I had my first pole position, my first race win in 2018 with F3 which became a streak with multiple race wins. “It’s a track that I enjoy a lot and I enjoy coming back here. It’s close to home, a lot of fans come here and people support me for numerous years now. It’s a great place.”

Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez are likely to face grid penalties before the end of the 2021 Formula 1 season with both Red Bull drivers losing a power unit due to crash damage. The pair lost the second of their three permitted engines for the season as a result of irreparable damage picked up in separate incidents at the British and Hungarian grands prix. Verstappen’s power unit was damaged in his massive 51G shunt following a controversial first-lap collision with title rival Lewis Hamilton at Silverstone, while Perez’s car took a big hit in the Turn 1 carnage triggered by the other Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas in Hungary. A Honda spokesperson confirmed to Crash.net on Thursday ahead of this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix that both engines were written off in the respective accidents. Speaking at the Hungarian GP, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner admitted there was “very little” chance the power units could be salvaged. “That is hugely frustrating for Honda as it’s not due to reliability; it’s due to accidents that we haven’t caused so they are feeling the brunt of this as we are on the chassis-side and it’s not to be underestimated on the cost cap side,” Horner said. “It does need to be looked at because in a cost cap environment, it’s brutal the incidents we’ve had in the last couple of weeks.” Honda and Red Bull are yet to make a call on when Verstappen and Perez will move onto their fourth power units, a switch that will automatically result in a grid drop. Spa-Francorchamps and Monza are two venues teams have traditionally chosen to make tactical engine changes at in an attempt to limit the hit of a grid penalty due to the overtaking opportunities at both circuits. The news marks a blow to Red Bull, who enter the second half of the 2021 season 12 points behind Mercedes, while Verstappen trails Hamilton by eight points in the drivers’ championship.

Formula 1 has announced that Netflix’s acclaimed series ‘Drive to Survive’ will return for a fourth season next year. The popular ten-episode docuseries will cover the drama of the 2021 season by relying once again on its behind-the-scenes approach to storytelling. Netflix has yet to set a date for ‘Drive to Survive’ Season 4, but the timetable for past releases, with installments usually arriving in late February or early March. The series’ filming crews have been hard at work since the start of the 2021 season in Bahrain, and the drama surrounding this year’s campaign and the fierce title fight between Mercedes and Red Bull, and Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, promises an abundance of intrigue. While the show has made stars of figures such as Haas team principal Guenther Steiner, others have been less happy with the way that they have been depicted in the production’s final edits in the past. But earlier this year, McLaren Racing boss Zak Brown said that he was unbothered by how ‘Drive to Survive’ sometimes distorts the reality going on in F1, insisting the misrepresentation is just “entertainment”. In Brown’s view, the impact of ‘Drive to Survive’ on F1’s core audience is positive while the series’ ability to attract new fans to the sport is indisputable. “I think Netflix has been great for F1,” said the American. “I think it was number one in 25 countries. “So I think the primary goal of Netflix is to entertain and bring new viewers to F1. And I think it’s accomplished that tenfold, which is great.”

This weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix looks set to run in cool and generally damp conditions, with a risk of fog and rain showers. Temperatures will be consistently on the low side, climbing no higher than 17C at any point over the coming three days of track action.Although the race is still three days away, wet conditions are expected during the 12th round of the championship at Spa-Francorchamps. It could be a familiar sight by the time we get to Sunday. Heavy rain is forecast this evening which is likely to leave the circuit damp for the start of running on Friday morning. Cloud cover throughout Friday and the expected return of showers in the afternoon, may further reduce opportunities for the track to dry out. There is also a risk of fog in the morning. Slightly better conditions are expected on Saturday and we could see the sun out in the morning for final practice once the fog dissipates. However, the chance of rain increases into the afternoon, so F1’s qualifying session and the subsequent support races may well take place on a wet track. On Sunday, much as with the previous days, a fairly dry morning is expected to give way to damp conditions in the afternoon. F1 may escape a downpour during the race time but showers remain a threat and the increasingly traditional post-race cloudburst looks possible too. Friday and Sunday will see strong south-easterly winds, at 30-40 kilometres per hour. This is likely to be more of a challenge for drivers in the upper parts of the circuit, around Les Combes and Malmedy, where the track is relatively exposed. Saturday is set for slightly calmer conditions.

If Ferrari had not produced such a poor engine in 2020, Alfa Romeo may never have been “brave” enough to evolve. After a series of technical directives relating to engines in 2019 coincided with a drop in performance for Ferrari, their issues grew further as the Scuderia slumped to the lower reaches of the 2020 midfield. With an underperforming engine, Ferrari were not the only team impacted with their customers Alfa Romeo and Haas also significantly hampered. But this was in fact the wake-up call Alfa Romeo now know they needed, having grown comfortable in their points-scoring ways. That changed in 2020 with only eight scored across the season, compared to 57 in 2019, with that weak power unit a “big player” in that. But fortunes have not really improved in 2021 as Alfa Romeo undergo a large rebuild, placing full focus into the new 2022 regulations as they look to climb back up the grid. Credit goes to Ferrari then for triggering that overhaul at Alfa Romeo. “I think 2020 was a very painful season for us, but there are a lot of positives when I look back because it forces us to question everything and not just take the easy way and say ‘we are all aware of the situation with the power unit’,” Alfa Romeo technical director Jan Monchaux told The Race. “Yes, it was a big player but that was not in our control and we knew they [Ferrari] would come back to recover the performance. “We went through an extremely difficult inspection exercise, a 360-degree review questioning our methodology, wind tunnel, the simulation [tools], absolutely everything. And we also listed the things we should have in place that we didn’t have to make sure that when we develop in the wind tunnel, it translates to performance on the track. “I have seen a lot of very encouraging signs where we have made a step, which I am not sure we would have made if we did not have that blow on the power unit side that spoiled the entire season. “So things have changed internally in terms of methodology, which we were discussing for a few years but were not brave enough to do because in 2018 and 2019 we were scoring points regularly. Changing a system that seems to be progressing and generating positive results is a tough decision that the team was maybe not brave enough to do. “It was quite clear that once you had subtracted the power unit side, those teams who we were closer to the previous season had made a larger step on the car than we did and this forced us to question absolutely everything. “We have already seen a few things this year which are natural consequences of minor changes we have been doing internally and I hope we will see even more of that with the new car.”

Alpine has confirmed that Fernando Alonso will continue to partner Esteban Ocon in 2022. The extension of the Spaniard’s contract signals the continuation of an already strong collaboration, fresh off the back of its historic maiden victory at the Hungarian Grand Prix, in which the two-time world champion played a pivotal role. In just six months following his two-year sabbatical from Formula 1, Alonso has shown equal measures of race craft, guile and speed. His season-best fourth place finish at the Hungarian Grand Prix was not only his best result in Formula 1 since 2014 but a display of resilience and skill, which contributed richly to ensuring the team took its first win in Formula 1 under Alpine colours. Further still, the Spaniard put in a stunning demonstration of overtaking acumen in the race restart to the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, with a similarly skilful performance repeated just a month later in Formula 1’s first ever Sprint Qualifying in Silverstone. With its confirmed driver line-up for 2022, the dynamic driver pairing offers a balance of youth and experience, with Alonso now ranking second on the sport’s all time race starts list with 322, featuring 32 wins, 97 podiums and two world championship titles with the team in 2005 and 2006. “We are very pleased to confirm Fernando for next season, partnering with Esteban,” said Laurent Rossi, CEO, Alpine. “For us it is a perfect driver line-up, amongst the strongest on the grid. It works in a hugely complementary way, with both offering raw talent and speed, yet impeccable team spirit that delivered our first win in Hungary. “Fernando has impressed us all since he returned to the sport at the beginning of this year. His dedication, teamwork and focus to extract the maximum from the team is incredible to be a part of and certainly special to witness. His performance in Hungary was another example of his racing pedigree and reminded everyone how skilled a driver he is. I am convinced we can benefit strongly from Fernando’s insight and experience as we enter the final development and optimization phase of the 2022 chassis and power unit. “He is just as hungry as we are for success and is putting in every effort to translate it to performance. For now, however, we need to focus on delivering a strong second half of the year, extract the maximum at every race and ensure we finish as high up in the constructors’ standings as possible. This will put us in a golden position for next year and the significant opportunity it brings.” “I’m very happy to confirm the contract extension with Alpine F1 Team into 2022,” said Alonso. “I felt at home the moment I returned to this team and have been welcomed back with open arms. It is a pleasure to work again with some of the brightest minds in our sport at Enstone and Viry-Chatillon. “It’s been a tricky season for everyone, but we’ve shown progress as a team and the result in Hungary serves as a good example of this progression. We’re targeting more positive memories for the rest of this season but also crucially from next year onwards with the new regulation changes coming into Formula 1. “I have been a big supporter of the need for a level playing field and change in the sport and the 2022 season will be a great opportunity for that. I am looking forward to the rest of this year and racing alongside Esteban in 2022 for Alpine.”