2023-07-29 16:28:30
Due to unstable weather, the start time was greatly delayed and the Belgian GP sprint was shortened to 11 laps. Max Verstappen, who grabbed the pole position, was crowned king, and the rookie Oscar Piastri, who finished second, wrote the masterpiece of the season.
Qualifying for the sprint race: The rain disrupted the field again Verstappen narrowly beat Piastri by 0.011 seconds
F1 arranges an exclusive qualifying match at noon on the Saturday of the sprint competition week to determine the starting order of the sprint race. Although this qualifying match adopts the same three-section elimination system as the general qualifying match, the time of each section is shortened to 12 minutes. 10 minutes versus 8 minutes.
Although the qualifying session was not officially started until 12:35 of the track time due to the unstable weather at the Spa track, and the original compound tire use restrictions were canceled due to the track being in a wet environment. Not as expected, and the Aston Martin team’s decision at the end of SQ2 cost Stroll, and the slick tires did not get a chance to play until SQ3.
Compared with the big gap in qualifying on Friday, the gap between the top three in the sprint qualifying is only 0.024 seconds. The competition is very fierce. Although Verstappen did not win any time period, his relatively stable speed allowed him to In 0.011 seconds, Piastri took the pole position in the sprint race.
Sprint race: Verstappen dominates wetlands, Piastri the biggest highlight
Due to the delay in qualifying, the sprint race was rescheduled to 17:05 on Saturday, with 15 laps or 30 minutes, and annual points were given to the top eight finishers. There was another shower on the unstable Spa track Next, the warm-up lap was held 30 minutes later than the revised plan, and was led by the safety car.
After 5 laps led by the safety car, the sprint race, which was shortened to 11 laps, finally officially started with a dynamic start. However, under the assistance of the car, half of the drivers headed by Piastri immediately pitted and changed to semi-wet tires, causing a burst of traffic in the pit lane. confusion.
On the second lap, the other half of the drivers headed by Verstappen also followed up and changed to semi-wet tires, causing another wave of chaos in the maintenance area. After the two waves of pit stops, Piastri took the lead, and Verstappen ranked second with a difference of 1.7 seconds , Gasly third, Perez fourth, Hamilton fifth.
On lap 3, although Verstappen, who has the advantage in speed, has completely widened the gap with Gasly and started to attack the leading Piastri, but Alonso’s skid and run aground at Turn 11 allowed the safety car to come on again, and Verstappen could only temporarily stop offensive.
After 2 laps of working time, the race continued on the 6th lap in the second half. Verstappen immediately attacked Piastri’s defensive range after restarting, and overtook with hard power to return to the leading position in a straight line.
Not long after, there was an offensive and defensive battle between Perez and Hamilton in the middle of the team, and a collision on the downhill caused Perez’s car to be damaged. Although Perez still tried his best to fight on the field, he was forced to leave the point after losing his grip and rushing off the track. lap, and decided to retire on the 9th lap, Hamilton was issued a 5-second penalty after the race started an investigation.
Verstappen, who passed Piastri and then left, finally won the sprint race after a twists and turns with a difference of 6.677 seconds. Piastri won the second place, Gasly was third, and Hamilton received an additional penalty of 5 seconds. The other five members are Sainz, Leclerc, Norris, Hamilton and Russell.
The biggest highlight of the day is none other than Piastri: Although the sprint race results are calculated separately, this is the first time for the rookie to start in the front row and finish in the top three for the first time. Gasly is for the recent turmoil The Alpine team boosted a little morale.
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