Belgium
RACE REACTIONS
What the teams said after the race weekend in Spa...
McLaren
Oscar
PIASTRI
"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
"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."
Ferrari
Charles
LECLERC
"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
"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."
Red Bull Racing
Max
VERSTAPPEN
“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
“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.”
Mercedes
George
RUSSELL
"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 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."
Kimi
ANTONELLI
"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 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."
Williams
Alex
ALBON
"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
"Following a costly set-up change 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 the new package worked well on Alex’s car, so I look forward to next week."
Racing Bulls
Liam
LAWSON
“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.”
Isack
HADJAR
"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."
Kick Sauber
Gabriel
BORTOLETO
"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. 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."
Nico
HULKENBERG
"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."
Alpine
Pierre
GASLY
“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 ready to go again for the final one before the summer break.”
Franco
COLAPINTO
“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 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.”
Haas
Oliver
BEARMAN
“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.”
Esteban
OCON
“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.”
Aston Martin
lance
STROLL
"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, it's a very different track and hopefully there will be more opportunities for us."
Fernando
ALONSO
"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."
