Formula 1 returns after a three-week long summer break with the 2021 Belgian GP. Here we look back at the previous five editions of the race.
Follow Us
Formula 1 is back and fans will doubtless be feeling a sense of relief. A movie-worthy title feud between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen was interrupted by a well-timed interval. The nearly three-week gap between the Hungarian GP and the Belgian GP has provided rest and relaxation time to the drivers. However, fans of the sport have been itching for its return since the day after Hungary. And to make things even better, the return is taking place at the iconic Spa-Franchorchamps circuit. The circuit at Spa is known to be both speedy and challenging, and a win here is a big deal.
With that in mind, let’s look back at the last five editions of this F1 race.
The 2020 season saw a relatively comfortable race win for the Mercedes drivers, with Lewis Hamilton leading Valtteri Bottas home. Max Verstappen finished in third place, with former teammate Daniel Ricciardo coming fourth. The top three drivers all kept their position from start to finish.
In qualifying Hamilton was a country mile clear of both Bottas and Verstappen. He finished Q3 more than half a second ahead of both drivers. Bottas and Verstappen, however, were only seperated by 0.015 seconds in qualifying.
The race did see a couple of notable incidents. Carlos Sainz was unable to start the race due to an engine power unit issue hat also damaged his exhaust. And on Lap 10, Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi crashed coming out of Turn 14. A wheel from his car slammed into George Russell’s Williams’, forcing him out of the race.
The 2019 Belgian GP is remembered, unfortunately, for being the weekend when F2 driver Anthoine Hubert lost his life on track. Thus, the race was a relatively sombre affair, with drivers mostly in shock due to the incident. Two of the drivers who shared close personal friendships with Hubert were Charles Leclerc and Pierre Gasly, both of whom were clearly affected going into the weekend.
It was an emotional first F1 victory for @Charles_Leclerc in 2019 ❤️#BelgianGP ?? #F1 pic.twitter.com/qjCBvIpxjF
— Formula 1 (@F1) August 25, 2021
The race was an intense one, which was won by Leclerc – his first in the sport. The Monaguesque driver dedicated the win to Herbert, even noting over team radio that he was feeling mixed emotions. The podium celebration was also a muted one, with none of the drivers spraying champagne in respect to Hubert.
In 2018, Sebastian Vettel was still very much in title contention coming into this race. He trailed Hamilton by 24 points but that was a small margin with 9 races still to go. Vettel also knew a win at Belgium would take him past the all-time wins record of the legendary Alain Prost.
The race weekend was also notable for the debut of Racing Point. The team, formerly known as Force India, had entered administration and was bought off by Lawrence Stroll, father of F1 driver Lance. The team are still in the sport under the Aston Martin name, with one of their drivers being Vettel.
It was the German who had the spotlight on him come the end of the race. Hamilton qualified on pole but he would finish the race behind Vettel in second. The win took Vettel past Prost’s count and also brought him closer to Hamilton in the championship race.
Coming into the Belgian GP in 2017, Hamilton was 14 points behind Vettel in the standings. Therefore, a win was paramount if he was to grab his first title since 2015. However, he was also closing in on another notable record. He needed one pole position to equal the record of Michael Schumacher.
Well, Hamilton went out and duly got that pole position and then duly led for most of the race. The major challenge came when there was a safety car deployed due to a crash featuring the Force India’s of Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez. Hamilton didn’t like that the car was deployed and was then forced to defend when the race resumed proper.
However, he hung on till the end and would finish a little over two seconds ahead of Vettel. Third place went to the Red Bull of Ricciardo.
2016 would be the year Nico Rosberg finally won the world driver’s championship. However, coming into the Belgian GP that year, he was behind Hamilton in the points standing. However, a grid penalty for Hamilton due to exceeding his allocation of engine components. Then on race day, he took a further five-place penalty for removing a seal on the gearbox of the car. Thus, he started from the pitlane.
Rosberg knew this was as good a chance as any to win the race and duly took pole. Rosberg would take the win in a race where most of the action took place behind him. Hamilton would eventually make his way up the field but only finished third.
2023 Formula E Hyderabad ePrix: Preview, Dates, Tickets, Live Streaming, all you need to know
