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Verstappen out to reassert himself in Belgium

Reuters|Published

Red Bull's Max Verstappen is back at one of his favourite tracks this race weekend. Picture: REUTERS, Marton Monus

Max Verstappen returns to his favourite track seeking to end a run of three races without a win by extending a sequence of three successive Belgian Grand Prix victories at Spa-Francorchamps.

Red Bull’s Belgian-born triple world champion cut an unhappy and petulant tone in Budapest last weekend, finishing fifth and peppering the airwaves with swearing and complaints about car and team.

The team and their runaway championship leader, now 76 points clear of McLaren’s Lando Norris after 13 of 24 races, will be looking to go into the August break with momentum restored rather than pressure increased.

“Hungary was a tricky race and a weekend to forget and move forward from,” said Verstappen, who won 19 of 22 races last year and has not had a run of four races without a win since 2020. “We have been working as a team to optimise our performance and get the best out of the car that we possibly can.”

It may not pan out that way. Red Bull’s 2023 domination has been consigned to history, and this year has already seen more winners – seven different drivers from four teams – than any season since 2012.

McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, who like Verstappen has a Belgian mother, finished one-two at the Hungaroring on Sunday and carry the momentum to a track famed for capricious conditions.

“Spa’s not been the happiest of hunting grounds for us recently, but I’m confident we’ll be strong,” said Australian Piastri after his first career win.

“You know, we’ve got a car that’s become a real all-rounder, so I’m super confident and I think the rest of the team should be as well.”

Norris will need to reassert himself after yet another second place – the 12th of his career – this time resulting from the bitter pill of a wasted pole position and the imposition of team orders.

With the top two in the championship each clearly unhappy with how their respective teams handled the previous races, and others sensing an opportunity, Belgium could be a lively weekend.

Mercedes’ seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton secured his 200th career podium finish in Budapest, and will be a threat along with teammate George Russell, another with something to prove after a qualifying nightmare last week.

“Spa is a very different challenge to Budapest. With cooler temperatures and a much more high-speed layout, it will be interesting to see how the W15 performs compared to our rivals,” said team boss Toto Wolff.

Ferrari, pushed out of second place overall by McLaren last weekend, had Charles Leclerc on pole position in Spa last year at the circuit where he took his first win in 2019.

He will be hoping their car proves more competitive at a circuit that is also likely to be faster than ever, with resurfacing work likely to lead to quicker lap times.

“The Spa-Francorchamps circuit will allow us to verify if we have done a good job over the past few weeks to mitigate the side effects in high-speed corners of the update package we introduced recently,” said team boss Fred Vasseur.

“The porpoising effect was very low at the Hungaroring, thanks to the evolution of the floor we introduced in Budapest, and now we will see if we have fixed it at high-speed tracks, too.”

Reuters

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