2022 Belgian GP Story: Flying Dutchman

After a long summer break, Formula 1 returned to fan favorite Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchams Circuit. Spa is a favorite among motorsport fans due to its unpredictable weather, massive elevation changes and beautiful landscape. Dutch RedBull driver Max Verstappen enters the race as championship leader, 80 points ahead of his rival and Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc, as the weekend advanced both Max and Charles had to change their worn out car engine for a new and faster one, this resulted in a penalty that would send them to the back of the line at the start of the race, being at the back of the pack makes it pretty much impossible for a driver to win, no matter the car or talent one may have. But never bet against the Flying Dutchman.

Race day arrived and Verstappen and Leclerc were set to start 15th and 16th respectively, when the race started Verstappen quickly made overtakes and after an unreal start he was already in 8th place at the end of the first lap, while Leclerc got left behind, as the race continued Verstappen overtook faster and better drivers, and one by one he managed to even pass his teammate for the lead by the 10th lap of the race. It was smooth sailing from this point towards the end, he not only won the race, but he finished 30 seconds before second place Sergio Perez, which in Formula one each second is a lot. He earned the win along with 25 points in the championship battle, making it pretty much impossible for Ferrari and Leclerc to catch up.

Next weekend Formula 1 goes to Zandvoort Circuit in the Netherlands, although Max Verstappen has been on a whole other level, this is his most important and sentimental race, since it is in his home country, it will be now or never for Ferrari and Leclerc to try and scrap a few points in what it seems to be an already lost fight. The season seems to be pretty much resolved with Verstappen’s dominance, so many teams will stop focusing on 2022 and spend all their time and resources towards next years season hoping to have a faster and more reliable car.

This season has been a unique one, no one really likes when a single team or person dominates a sport, it takes away the spark of the game, but what Max Verstappen is doing has to be appritiated, his level is beyond everyone else’s and we might not see any single season from a driver in the next following years. Teams like Ferrari, Mercedes and McLaren will be give Max a greater challenge in future seasons with rising talent of their own. 

Thank you for reading and I will be covering the Dutch Grand Prix storylines and aftermath in my following blog.