2018 Belgian Grand Prix

The 2018 Belgian Grand Prix (formally the Formula 1 2018 Johnnie Walker Belgian Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held on 26 August 2018 at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Stavelot, Belgium.^[2] The race was the thirteenth round of the 2018 Formula One World Championship and marked the 74th running of the Belgian Grand Prix and the 61st time the race was held at Spa-Francorchamps and 51st time as a round of the World Championship.

2018 Belgian Grand Prix
Race 13 of 21 in the 2018 Formula One World Championship ← Previous race Next race →
Layout of the Spa-Francorchamps circuit
Race details[1]
Date	26 August 2018
Official name	Formula 1 2018 Johnnie Walker Belgian Grand Prix
Location	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps Stavelot, Belgium
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	7.004 km (4.352 miles)
Distance	44 laps, 308.052 km (191.415 miles)
Weather	Cloudy
Pole position
Driver	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes
Time	1:58.179
Fastest lap
Driver	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes
Time	1:46.286 on lap 32
Podium
First	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari
Second	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes
Third	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer
Lap leaders

The race was won by Scuderia Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel ahead of Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen. The victory moved Vettel ahead of Alain Prost in all-time career Formula One victories and would be his last win for over a year until the 2019 Singapore Grand Prix.

Report

Background

After going into administration during the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend, Force India arrived in Belgium under new ownership. A consortium led by Lawrence Stroll purchased the racing assets and operations of Force India through a company named Racing Point UK Ltd.^[3] The original team, Sahara Force India, was excluded from the Constructors' Championship due to their inability to participate in the remaining races, allowing the new team known as Racing Point Force India to apply for a late entry and start their participation in the championship in Belgium.^[4]

Championship standings before the race

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton entered the round with a 24-point lead over Sebastian Vettel in the Drivers' Championship. In the World Constructors' Championship, Mercedes led Ferrari by 10 points.^[5]

Practice

McLaren reserve driver Lando Norris made his first appearance at a Grand Prix weekend, replacing Fernando Alonso during the first practice session.^[6]

Race

The race was won by Scuderia Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel ahead of Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen. With the win Vettel took his 52nd and overtook Alain Prost for third in the ranking of drivers with the most Formula One wins.^[7] The race featured a first lap crash involving Fernando Alonso, Nico Hülkenberg, and Charles Leclerc. Hülkenberg misjudged his braking before ramming into the back of Alonso, before flying over Leclerc's car and landing on the halo.^[8]

After the first corner incidents, Vettel passed Hamilton on the Kemmel straight on lap 1. Hamilton tried to repass at the end of the straight, as did the two Racing Point cars of Esteban Ocon and Sergio Pérez, and they were four abreast in the braking zone, with Vettel staying ahead. Hamilton was not able to challenge Vettel again.^[9]

Classification

Qualifying

Pos.	No.	Driver	Constructor	Qualifying times			Final grid
				Q1	Q2	Q3
1	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:42.977	1:41.553	1:58.179	1
2	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	1:43.035	1:41.501	1:58.905	2
3	31	Esteban Ocon	Force India-Mercedes[note 1]	1:44.003	1:43.302	2:01.851	3
4	11	Sergio Pérez	Force India-Mercedes[note 1]	1:44.004	1:43.014	2:01.894	4
5	8	Romain Grosjean	Haas-Ferrari	1:43.597	1:43.042	2:02.122	5
6	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	1:42.585	1:41.533	2:02.671	6
7	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer	1:43.199	1:42.554	2:02.769	7
8	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer	1:43.604	1:43.126	2:02.939	8
9	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas-Ferrari	1:43.834	1:43.320	2:04.933	9
10	77	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	1:42.805	1:42.191	No time	171
11	10	Pierre Gasly	Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda	1:44.221	1:43.844		10
12	28	Brendon Hartley	Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda	1:44.153	1:43.865		11
13	16	Charles Leclerc	Sauber-Ferrari	1:43.654	1:44.062		12
14	9	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber-Ferrari	1:43.846	1:44.301		13
15	27	Nico Hülkenberg	Renault	1:44.145	No time		181
16	55	Carlos Sainz Jr.	Renault	1:44.489			191
17	14	Fernando Alonso	McLaren-Renault	1:44.917			14
18	35	Sergey Sirotkin	Williams-Mercedes	1:44.998			15
19	18	Lance Stroll	Williams-Mercedes	1:45.134			16
20	2	Stoffel Vandoorne	McLaren-Renault	1:45.307			201
107% time: 1:49.765
Source:[10]

Notes

• ^1 – Valtteri Bottas, Nico Hülkenberg, Carlos Sainz Jr. and Stoffel Vandoorne all received a 30-place grid penalty for exceeding their quota of power unit elements.

Race

Pos.	No.	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	44	1:23:34.476	2	25
2	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	44	+11.061	1	18
3	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer	44	+31.372	7	15
4	77	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	44	+1:08.6051	17	12
5	11	Sergio Pérez	Force India-Mercedes[note 1]	44	+1:11.023	4	10
6	31	Esteban Ocon	Force India-Mercedes[note 1]	44	+1:19.520	3	8
7	8	Romain Grosjean	Haas-Ferrari	44	+1:25.953	5	6
8	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas-Ferrari	44	+1:27.639	9	4
9	10	Pierre Gasly	Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda	44	+1:45.892	10	2
10	9	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber-Ferrari	43	+1 lap	13	1
11	55	Carlos Sainz Jr.	Renault	43	+1 lap	19
12	35	Sergey Sirotkin	Williams-Mercedes	43	+1 lap	15
13	18	Lance Stroll	Williams-Mercedes	43	+1 lap	16
14	28	Brendon Hartley	Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda	43	+1 lap	11
15	2	Stoffel Vandoorne	McLaren-Renault	43	+1 lap	20
Ret	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer	31	Collision damage	8
Ret	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	9	Collision damage	6
Ret	16	Charles Leclerc	Sauber-Ferrari	0	Collision	12
Ret	14	Fernando Alonso	McLaren-Renault	0	Collision	14
Ret	27	Nico Hülkenberg	Renault	0	Collision	18
Source:[11]

Notes

• ^1  – Valtteri Bottas received a 5-second time penalty for causing a collision with Sergey Sirotkin.

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos. Driver Points 1 Lewis Hamilton 231 2 Sebastian Vettel 214 3 Kimi Räikkönen 146 4 Valtteri Bottas 144 1 5 Max Verstappen 120 Source:[12]

Constructors' Championship standings Pos. Constructor Points 1 Mercedes 375 2 Ferrari 360 3 Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer 238 4 Renault 82 5 Haas-Ferrari 76 Source:[12]

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

See also

• 2018 Spa-Francorchamps Formula 2 round
• 2018 Spa-Francorchamps GP3 Series round

Notes

1. Competing as Racing Point Force India.