Verstappen Wins As Russell Clinches His First Podium At A Rain-Hit Belgian Grand Prix

Max Verstappen won a curtailed wet-race at the 2021 Belgian Grand Prix  with half-points awarded for the race. After a delayed start, the race was suspended. Then after the race resumed after two laps behind the Safety Car, the race was red-flagged again.

George Russell finished in second position for the first podium of his career. Lewis Hamilton finished in third position. The laps completed behind the Safety Car led to a race classification with half-points awarded to the top ten drivers.

The race started under wet and rainy conditions at the iconic Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium. Max Verstappen started in pole position with George Russell joining him on the first row. The championship leader Lewis Hamilton was on the second row with Daniel Ricciardo.

Sebastian Vettel and Pierre Gasly were on the third row. Esteban Ocon, Charles Leclerc and Nicholas Latifi started at the sharp end of the grid.

Sergio Pérez slid into the barriers on the installation lap and did not start the race. Kimi Räikkönen started from the pit lane after a change to the rear-wing.

Lando Norris after the nasty crash in qualification started in fifteenth position after penalties. Valtteri Bottas started in twelfth position after his 5-place grid penalty from the previous race.

The race start was delayed by the rain and started under the Safety Car after a twenty-five minute delay. The drivers were on full wet tyres. But with the rain falling heavily the start was suspended.

The clock was stopped with one hour of the three hour time-limit left using the “force majeur” clause by the stewards.

After a two hour and fifty-two minutes delay, the race was finally resumed at 18:17 local time. The rain was still falling and the conditions had not improved.

Pérez’s car was repaired during the long suspension and he started from the pit lane behind Stroll and Räikkönen.

After three laps behind the Safety Car the session was red-flagged again. The clock was ticking down from the sixty minutes mark. The rain continued to fall and the visibility was very poor.

With the minimum two laps completed for a race classification, half-points were awarded to the drivers. Shortly afterwards, race control brought the race to an end.

Verstappen won the race and clinched twelve and a half points. Russell took his first podium and nine points for second position. Hamilton took seven and a half points for third position.

Ricciardo and Vettel took fourth position and fifth position. Gasly finished in sixth position. All the drivers behind Pérez were promoted by one position.

Ocon, Leclerc, Latifi and Sainz completed the top ten positions and took the half-points awarded.

Verstappen cut Hamilton’s lead in the drivers’ championship to just three points after this win. The Formula 1 circus resumes with the Dutch Grand Prix next weekend (03 -05 September 2021).