Andrea Stella: "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."
Laurent Mekies: "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."
On a very wet track all cars started the formation lap on Intermediate tyres. Lewis started from the pitlane due to an engine change. Poor visibility meant the formation lap was red flagged. After a break of 1 hour 20 minutes the cars, all still on Inters drove four recognition laps behind the safety car before racing got properly underway on lap 5 effectively with a rolling start. On lap 11, the track had dried considerably and Lewis pitted early for Medium tyres, as did Charles one lap later, their only pit stop of the race. These early pitstops proved to be a very good call which worked out well for both the drivers. Lewis was on a charge, moving up from 18th to cross the finish line in seventh place. In the closing laps, Charles came under attack from Verstappen, but he fought hard to fend him off to finish third and claim his and the Scuderia's 5th podium finish of the season (48th overall for the Monegasque), 834th overall for the team.
Fred Vasseur: 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.
George Russell finished fifth with Kimi Antonelli P16 in Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix. With rain showers falling on the circuit, the original race start was delayed for over an hour. Once the race did get underway, it did so via a rolling start with George P6 and Kimi P19 on Intermediate tyres. George used this period to make up a position on the Williams of Alex Albon before both George and Kimi boxed for the Medium compound as the track dried. George cycled through still holding P5, a position he would maintain until the flag, with Kimi P17. The Italian attacked over the next few laps, making his way up to P14 before stopping for a second time in an attempt to use fresher rubber to challenge for points. Unfortunately, running a higher downforce rear wing, he became bottled behind the Haas of Esteban Ocon and came home in P16.
The team now heads to the Hungaroring in Budapest for the final race before the summer shutdown
Toto Wolff, Team Principal & CEO: 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.
Andy Cowell, CEO & 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."
Pierre started from P13 on New Intermediates, finished P10. Pit-Stop on Lap 11 for New Mediums. Fastest Lap: 1min 47.177secs.
Franco started from P15 on New Intermediates, finished P19. Pit-Stop on Lap 12 for New Mediums and Lap 28 for New Mediums. Fastest Lap: 1min 46.104secs.
Flavio Briatore: "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."
MoneyGram Haas F1 Team finished with Oliver Bearman 11th and Esteban Ocon 15th, at the Belgian Grand Prix, held Sunday at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps.
Both Ocon and Bearman started the race on Pirelli Cinturato Green intermediate tires, following an 80-minute delay to the scheduled start due to torrential rain, rolling off from 11th and 12th respectively. Ocon and Bearman retained their positions through the opening phase of the race before swapping places on lap 11, with Bearman slotting into P11, and Ocon P12.
Bearman came into the pits on lap 12 for Pirelli P Zero Yellow medium tires, with the circuit having dried sufficiently for slick tires to be fitted to the VF-25. Bearman cycled out in P14, before making gains through the second half of the race, putting moves on Fernando Alonso and Yuki Tsunoda, and profiting from Nico Hulkenberg pitting twice, to slot into P11. Bearman chased Pierre Gasly to the checkered flag and fell just four-tenths of a second shy of a points-paying position.
Ocon ducked into the pits on lap 13, also for medium tires, but relinquished time and emerged at the rear of the 20-car train. Ocon worked his way through into P15, which he retained through to the end of the 44-lap race.
MoneyGram Haas F1 Team holds ninth position in the Constructors' Championship, on 35 points.
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 optimize 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."
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.
It was a one-two finish for McLaren in the Belgian Grand Prix, with Oscar Piastri first past the chequered flag, which incidentally was waved by eight time Grand Prix winner Jacky Ickx, and Lando Norris second. The Australian now also has eight wins to his name and thus joins a group consisting of the aforementioned Belgian, fellow countryman Daniel Ricciardo, his team-mate Norris, Charles Leclerc and New-Zealander Denny Hulme. This was McLaren's fifteenth win in Belgium, the last one dating back to 2012, courtesy of Jenson Button. It was the Woking squad's 55th one-two finish, the sixth in this race, the last one secured by David Coulthard ahead of Mika Hakkinen in 1999.
Charles Leclerc made it to the third step of the podium for the third consecutive time at this race. This was also the venue for the Ferrari driver's maiden win back in 2019.
Because of the poor visibility due to the rain, after a formation lap, the start procedure was red flagged. The race restarted after over an hour's delay, behind the Safety Car. All drivers, including the four starting from pit lane were on Intermediates.
After four laps behind the Safety Car, the race began properly on a track that was drying. The first driver to pit to switch to slicks was Lewis Hamilton on lap 11 and within two laps all the drivers did the same. Lando Norris was the only one to opt for Hards, with all the others going with Mediums.
Six drivers, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Fernando Alonso, Franco Colapinto, Isack Hadjar, Nico Hulkenberg and Carlos Sainz later made a second stop. The Racing Bulls and Williams drivers went with Hards, while the others opted for Mediums.
Mario Isola: "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."
